The Faiyum (or Fayum) Depression (Fig. 3.6), located about 60 km southwest of Cairo, is a huge (1,700 km2), geological depression (below sea level) that begins 20 km west of the Nile Valley, extending into the Western Libyan desert region. A vast saltwater lake (Lake Moeris) was in the heart of this region until the Paleolithic Period. Historically, a natural channel, the Bahr Yusuf, branched off the Nile River about 334 km south of the Faiyum Depression and located along the valley’s western escarpment and connected the Faiyum to the Nile River through the Hawara Channel. High water levels in the Nile resulted in the formation of a lake within the Faiyum. During the Old Kingdom a permanent lake existed in part of the depression. In the Middle Kingdom the kings directed that the Hawara Channel be cleared to permit excess flood waters from the Nile to enter the depression, sparing the Delta from flooding. After the flood the water drained from the Faiyum back to the Nile. Flood control was no longer deemed necessary by the time of the Ptolemaic kings (Graeco-Roman period) and the Faiyum was exploited for agriculture. The Bahr Yusef was used to convey irrigation water into the depression and then was dispersed by canals across the fields. Drainage water was conveyed to the deepest part of the depression to collect in the Lake Qarun. Prior to the time of the lowering of the lake, the Faiyum Depression was a natural storage for a large portion of the floodwaters that protected lands of Lower Egypt.
Fig. 3.6 Faiyum Depression Showing the Birket Qamn (Mehringer et al., 1979)
World History
