The Fayoum as it is known is the only artificial oasis, created not by water springing forth from the ground but by a long canal, naturally formed by the flooding Nile, that dates from Biblical times, called Joseph’s canal.
This stretches from the Nile to the great lake of Birket Qarun. It is this huge lake, which on a rough day looks very much like the sea that gives a special character to the Fayoum. The lake used to be a major place for duck hunting and the hotels on its southern shore hosted such luminaries as Winston Churchill and King Farouk as they took potshots at flying birds. Though there is still some duck shooting there is far more bird watching both on this lake and the nearby Wadi Rayyan another artificially created expanse of water.
Lake Qarun was a freshwater lake until recent times. This has been proven by the fish skeletons and freshwater plankton remains found in mud deposits. In ancient times the flood of the Nile was powerful enough to charge the lake with new water. However, since the 1900s, when the British introduced both a dam at Aswan (anticipating the later high dam) and a system of irrigation by more extensive canalization along the Nile, the water entering the lake has been more runoff from agriculture than fresher water direct from the Nile.
The growth in salinity means the fish now caught in Lake Qarun is predominantly sea fish introduced from the Mediterranean.
In the Fayoum Oasis itself, you will find a reasonably modern central town surrounded by masses of palm tree plantations. There are ancient water wheels to view and plenty of ruins of Pharaonic and Roman origin- some in the desert north of Lake Qarun.
Camels do a lot of the donkey work, so to speak, these being oasis camels that live on green
fodder knew as berseem rather than on the tangled thorns of the desert.
Fayoum includes the protected area of Wadi Rayyan, a desert area that surrounds two lakes connected by a small waterfall the only one in the Egyptian desert. As well as wadis and hills to explore there is also the monastery of Wadi Rayyan where modern-day monks carry on the traditions of their forebears who originally dug rock caves here at the dawn of Christianity.
At the visitor center of Wadi Rayyan, it is possible to view the lake which is often favored by birds migrating south and north from Africa to Egypt who glimpse this vast stretch of water as a natural resting place.
Away to the west of the Fayoum is the Whale Valley, which is part of a tour described later in this guide.
For now, it should be mentioned that Whale Valley, or Wadi Hitan, contains some of the best-preserved fossil skeletons of extinct whales anywhere in the world. Huge and strange this haunting place is well worth a visit.
Egypt Oases
- Farafra Oasis Egypt
- Siwa Oasis Egypt
- Bahariya Oasis Egypt
- Dakhla Oasis Egypt
- Kharga Oasis Egypt
- El Fayoum Oasis Egypt
- Oases Practical information
- Valley of El Heiz Western Desert
- English Mountain in Bahariya Oasis
- Black Desert in Egypt
- Badr’s Heritage Museum in Farafra
- White Desert Bahariya Oasis Egypt
- Crystal Mountain Bahariya Egypt
- Whale Valley
- Agabat
Red Sea and Sinai
- Dahab and Nabq Bay Sharm El Sheikh
- Taba and Taba Heights
- What to do in Hurghada
- Sharm El-Sheikh Egypt
- Port Ghalib Red Sea
- Mount Sinai & St. Catherine's Monastery
- El Gouna in Hurghada Red Sea
- Ras Mohamed National Park
- Things to do in The Red Sea and Sinai
- Safaga Port Red Sea Egypt
- Marsa Alam Red Sea Egypt
- The colored canyon and Pharoah Island in Sinai
- Red Sea Snorkeling
- Soma Bay Resort, Red Sea
- Sindbad Submarines Hurghada
- Burning Bush St. Catherine Monastery
- Red Sea & Sinai Practical info
- Do's & Don'ts
- Makadi Bay in Hurghada
Alexandria Attractions
Cairo Attractions
- Hanging Church (El Muallaqa, Sitt Mariam, St Mary)
- Bent Pyramid at Dahshur
- Djoser Step Pyramid in Saqqara
- Saint George Church, Old Cairo
- The Egyptian Museum in Cairo
- The Great Pyramids of Giza
- Khan El Khalili Bazaar in Cairo
- Ben-Ezra Synagogue in Cairo
- Suez Canal Egypt
- The church of Saint Barbara in Egypt
- The Great Sphinx in Giza
- Fortress of Babylon in Old Cairo
- Traditional Tanoura Show in Cairo
- Saqqara Stepped Pyramid
- Saladin Citadel & Mohammad Aly Mosque
- Memphis Necropolis in Egypt
- Coptic Cairo
- The Solar Khufu Ship Museum in Egypt
- Sound and Light Show at the Pyramids of Giza
- The Valley Temple in Giza Cairo
- Pyramid of Teti at Saqqara
- Snofru’s northern Red Pyramid
- Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo
- Al-Hakim Mosque, Cairo
- Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo
- Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo
- Al Rifai Mosque in Cairo
- Bab Al Futuh in Cairo
- Bab zwayla in Cairo
- Al muizz Street, Cairo
- Al-Hussein Mosque, Cairo
Luxor Attractions
- Mummification Museum in Luxor
- Colossi of Memnon in Luxor
- Hatshepsut Temple in Luxor
- Valley of the Kings
- Kom Ombo Temple
- Dendera Temple Egypt
- Temple of Edfu
- Temple of Khnum in Esna
- Luxor Temple of Egypt
- Luxor Museum Egypt
- Karnak Temple in Luxor Egypt
- Kalabsha Temple Near Aswan
- Edfu Sound and Light Show
- Sound and Light Show at Karnak Temple Luxor Egypt
- The Temple of Abydos in Egypt
- Temple of Hathor Egypt
- Valley of the Queens in Luxor
- Hot Air Balloon Ride in Luxor Egypt
- Ramses II Mortuary Temple
- Temple of Horus
- Seti I Temple
- Luxor Bird Watching
- Medinet Habu
- Ptolemaic Temple of Deir El-Medina
- Temple of Amenhotep III
- Howard Carter House
- Valley of the Nobles
- Asasif Tombs in Luxor
- Tomb of Tutankhamun
Egypt information
Diving in Egypt
Fayoum Attractions
The Nile Valley
- Abu Simbel Temples Egypt
- Cairo and Giza Egypt
- Do's & Don'ts Egypt | Know before you go Egypt
- Aswan City Egypt
- Long Nile Cruise Journey
- Luxor City Egypt (Attractions and Things to Do)
- Felucca Ride on the Nile River
- Which Nile Cruise is the Best for you | Best Nile Cruises
- Dammam City: The Eastern Province's Coastal Jewel:
Aswan Attractions
- Lake Nasser Egypt
- The majestic Philae temple of Aswan
- Abu Simbel Temples
- Aswan City Egypt
- The High Dam in Aswan Egypt
- The Unfinished Obelisk in Aswan
- Philae Sound and Light show
- Kitchener's Island in Aswan
- Nubian Museum in Aswan
- Nubian Villages in Aswan Egypt
- Aswan souk | Aswan Old Market
- Elephantine Island
- Fishing in Lake Nasser
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