Faiyum Oasis

Faiyum Oasis is a natural depression in Egypt's Faiyum Governorate, located about 100 km (62 miles) southwest of Cairo. The Bahr Yussef canal brings Nile water into this closed basin, feeding Lake Qarun and wide cultivated areas with citrus groves and crops.

Pharaohs of the Twelfth Dynasty built irrigation systems to harness the natural lake basin as a water reservoir. Romans later commissioned portrait mummies with faces painted on wooden panels and placed over the wrappings.

The area takes its name from Arabic Fayyūm, derived from ancient Egyptian Pa-yuum meaning lake or sea. Date palms and green fields still define the landscape between sand dunes, while farmers use traditional irrigation methods and markets offer local produce.

The best time to visit runs from October through April, when temperatures are milder and walking becomes more comfortable. Sturdy footwear helps on farm tracks and in fossil areas, where ground can be uneven.

In the western section called Wadi al-Hitan, complete skeletons of early whales lie on the dry desert floor, remnants of a sea from millions of years ago. Visitors can see the bones directly, some still embedded in their original position in the sand.