Faiyum

Originally founded by the ancient Egyptians as Shedet, its current name in English is also spelled as Fayum, Faiyum or al-Faiyūm. Faiyum was also previously officially named Madīnat al-Faiyūm (Arabic for The City of Faiyum). The name Faiyum (and its spelling variations) may also refer to the Faiyum Oasis, although it is commonly used by Egyptians today to refer to the city. The modern name of the city comes from Coptic ̀Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ /Ⲡⲉⲓⲟⲙ epʰiom/peiom (whence also the personal name Ⲡⲁⲓⲟⲙ payom), meaning the Sea or the Lake, which in turn comes from late Egyptian pꜣ-ym of the same meaning, a reference to the nearby Lake Moeris; the extinct elephant ancestor Phiomia was named after it.

Archaeological evidence has found occupations around the Faiyum dating back to at least the Epipalaeolithic. Middle Holocene occupations of the area are most widely studied on the north shore of Lake Moeris, where Gertrude Caton Thompson and Elinor Wight Gardner did a number of excavations of Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic sites, as well as a general survey of the area. Recently the area has been further investigated by a team from the UCLA/RUG/UOA Fayum Project. According to Roger S. Bagnall, habitation began in the fifth millennium BC and a settlement was established by the Old Kingdom (c. 2685–2180 BC) called Shedet (Medinet el-Fayyum). It was the most significant centre of the cult of the crocodile god Sobek (borrowed from the Demotic pronunciation as Koine Greek: Σοῦχος Soûkhos, and then into Latin as Suchus). …

The Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh). The highest record temperatures was 46 °C (115 °F) on June 13, 1965, and the lowest record temperature was 2 °C (36 °F) on January 8, 1966.

People from Faiyum may be known as al-Fayyumi: Tefta Tashko-Koço (1910-1947), well-known Albanian singer, was born in Faiyum, where her family lived at that time. Saadia Gaon (882/892-942), the influential Jewish teacher of the early 10th century, was originally from Faiyum and often called al-Fayyumi. Youssef Wahbi (1898-1982), a notable Egyptian actor, well known for his influence on the development of Egyptian cinema and theater. Mohamed Ihab (b. 1989), Egypt's most decorated weightlifter. He is a World Champion competing in the 77 kg category until 2018 and currently in the 81 kg class. Mariam Fakhr Eddine (1933-2014), An Egyptian actress born in Fayoum, she was nicknamed "The Screen Beauty" for her foreign features. She appeared in over 240 films and died on November 3, 2014, due to a heart attack. …