Beni Suef (Governorate) - Beni Suef (Gouvernement)

The egyptian Governorate Beni Suef (Arabic:محافظة بني سويف‎, Muḥāfaẓat Banī Suwaif) located in Middle Egypt. It borders the governorates to the north el-Faiyūm and el-Gīza, in the east to the governorate Red Sea, in the south to the governorate el-Minyā and in the west back to the governorate el-Gīza. The eastern part of the governorate extends into the Arabian desert. The administrative center is Beni Suef.

places

The locations are listed from north to south. The cities are all on the west bank of the Nile.

• 29.334331.20311 el-Wāsṭā, ‏الواسطى- District town in the north of the governorate and a transport hub.
• 29.148531.12862 Nāṣir, ‏ناصر, Earlier Bush, ‏بوش- District town in the north of Beni Suef, in which the Anthony Monastery and the Paul Monastery Maintain branches.
• 29.073631.09923 Beni Suef, ‏بني سويف- Capital of the governorate. There has been one here since 1997 archaeological museum showing finds from Sidmant and Abū Ṣīr el-Malaq, among others. On the east bank, the new town of Beni Suef is under construction.
• 29.083330.954 Ihnāsyā el-Madīna, ‏إهناسيا المدينة- District town and inaccessible archaeological site, the ancient one Herakleopolis Magna.
• 28.92681530.9844495 Bibā, ‏ببا- The church of St. George.
• 28.82211730.8988766 el-Faschn, ‏الفشن- County town. The Church of St. Virgin,كنيسة السيدة العذراء, Has two bell towers.

Other goals

The destinations are listed from north to south.

West bank of the Nile

North and northwest of Beni Suef

• 29.373131.17161 Pyramid of Meidūm, ‏هرم ميدوم- Archaeological site
• el-Wāsṭā, ‏الواسطى- District town (see under places).
• 29.30050931.1682992 Qiman el-ʿArūs, ‏قمن العروس- Village where St. Anthony, founder of the monastery Deir el-Meimun and des Anthony Monastery on the Red Sea. Nothing in the village reminds of the saint anymore. Important buildings are the tomb mosques of Sheikh ʿAmrūn and Sheikh ichafā.
• 29.251731.09193 Abū Ṣīr el-Malaq, ‏أبو صير الملق- Village and inaccessible archaeological site. According to tradition, the last Umayyad caliph was here Marwan II buried, but there are no remains of his burial place. To the west of the village, north of the archaeological site, is the Monastery of St. George.
• 29.23203631.014494 Deir el-ammām, ‏دير الحمام- In the north-west of the village is the monastery of Abā Isḥāq and St. Virgin on a heavily perforated rock. These holes are the origin of the legend of the wasp miracle.
• 29.18573731.1346535 Dalāṣ, ‏دلاص- village. To the north of the Great Mosque are the remains of a minaret from Fatimid times.
• Nāṣir, ‏ناصر- District town (see under places).
• 29.1207431.0505396 Bilifiyā, ‏بلفيا- Village with the remains of an ancient Egyptian temple from the Middle Kingdom and the 30th Dynasty.
• Ihnāsyā el-Madīna, ‏إهناسيا المدينة- District town (see under places).
• 29.085530.93457 Sidmant el-Gebel, ‏سدمنت الجبل- Village and inaccessible archaeological site.

South and southwest of Beni Suef

• 28.983130.84938 Dishashah, ‏دشاشة- Village and archaeological site. The rock tomb necropolis has already been developed for tourism, but is not yet accessible.
• Bibā, ‏ببا- District town (see under places).
• el-Faschn, ‏الفشن- District town with car ferry to the east side of the Nile.
• 28.75244130.8767869 el-Fant, ‏الفنت- Village in the south of the governorate with the Church of St. Aba / Apa Klog (Kolluthus), a priest and martyr born in el-Fant. Every year on January 28th (20th Tūba) and on June 27th (20th Baūna) there are pilgrimages in honor of this saint.

In the western desert

• 28.908630.505310 Deir el-Anbā amūʾīl, ‏دير الأنبا صموئيل- Samuel Monastery.

East bank of the Nile

North and northeast of Beni Suef

• Already to the governorate el-Gīza belongs to the county seat 29.407531.252511 Aṭfīḥ, ‏أطفيح. The city was located here in ancient times Aphroditopolis.
• 29.227631.218512 Deir el-Meimun, ‏دير الميمون- Monastery of St. Antony. The monastery and the name-giving village el-Meimun lies on the west bank. It is the first monastery founded by St. Antony.
• 29.09532731.14779613 Sharīf Bāshā cemetery, ‏مدفن شريف باشا- To the north of the cemetery of Sharīf Bāshā village are the remains of a small step pyramid.
• 29.0646131.12111314 Deir el-ʿAdhrāʾ, ‏دير السيدة العذراء- The nunnery for St. Virgo is across from Beni Suef. A delightful boat trip can be undertaken from a jetty below the monastery.
• 29.04356431.1198047 New Beni Suef, ‏بني سويف الجديدة- Neustadt on the east bank.

South and southeast of Beni Suef

• 28.946231.029715 Gebel en-Nūr, ‏جبل النور- Village and archaeological site with the remains of an Isis temple from the time of Ptolemy ’II. The temple, which was only uncovered in 2014, is to be made accessible to tourists.^[1]
• 28.773830.924916 el-Hiba, ‏الحيبة- Village and archaeological site difficult to access. A little further north is the lovely village 28.82680730.92196517 Deir el-Hadid, ‏دير الحديد‎.

In the Arabian desert

• Protected area 28.623231.286518 Wādī Sannūr Cave, ‏كهف وادي سنور- In the area of ​​the pharaonic quarries for calcite alabaster there is the stalactite cave that gave it its name.

background

location

The governorate is located south of the governorate of el-Gīza as well as north of the governorate el-Minyā. Beni Suef represents an important traffic junction with connections to the neighboring governorates Red Sea about Raʾs Zaʿfarāna and el-Faiyūm as well as to Upper Egypt.

In 2017, around 3.2 million people lived in the governorate, around two thirds of them in rural areas.

history

As the pyramid of Meidum impressively shows, the governorate has been populated since the ancient Egyptian Empire. Its uninterrupted use continued in the Coptic and Islamic times to the present day.

economy

As in all governorates that are located on the Nile, agriculture with plant and animal production is the main branch of the economy. Are cultivated inter alia. Wheat, corn, summer rice and clover. The governorate also has a high degree of industrialization. Various industrial zones have been designated for this purpose. The industries located here include z. B. the heavy industry in Gebel Gharib, the limestone and calcite-alabaster quarrying on the east side of the Nile, the cement and brick industry as well as the production of linen, cotton and carpets. Major international companies such as Samsung have set up factories in the governorate. In 2017, a gas and steam turbine power plant from Siemens with an output of 1.2 GW was put into operation. Tourism only plays a subordinate role in the governorate.

15 kilometers northwest of Beni Suef there is the EAF Airbase Busch, an important base of the Egyptian Air Force.

getting there

You can arrive by bus or train. The 29.07615831.0947421 Beni Suef train station at the line Cairo–Aswan is located in the north of the old town.

mobility

There is one in the town of Beni Suef 29.05701431.0978422 Nile bridge. The one that opened in 2019 is located about 5.7 kilometers to the northeast 29.09382731.1391063 new bridge over the Nile, ‏كوبري بني سويف الجديد. The northernmost 29.34701831.2136174 Nile bridge, ‏كوبري الواسطى, Located in el-Wāsṭā.

North of Beni Suef at 29.20707731.2023315 Ashant, ‏أشمنت, And south of Beni Suef at Bibā and 28.81132530.9076316 el-Faschn, ‏الفشن, There are car and passenger ferries.

Microbuses run between the big cities. The onward journey to the villages can be done with motor rickshaws called Tuqtuq in Egypt. You should tell the driver that you want to go to several places, as there is hardly any other public transport in the villages themselves.

Tourist Attractions

There are numerous monuments in the governorate Pharaonic times. In the north is the pyramid of Meidum, surrounded by the mastaba tombs of members of the royal family.

In the governorate there are several famous necropolises. However, none of these cemeteries can be visited. Just the cemetery of Dishashah is already prepared for tourism, but not yet opened. There are temples in Ihnāsyā el-Madīna and Gebel en-Nūr.

Note: The Meidum cemetery is the only archaeological site in the Beni Suef governorate that has so far been developed for tourism. For all others you need a permit from the Supreme Authority for Antiquities in Cairo. You can use it to visit the sites in the company of the antiquities inspector responsible.

Some of the finds from Abu Sir el-Malaq and Sidmant el-Gebel can be viewed in the archaeological museum in Beni Suef.

The governorate has numerous Coptic monasteries. The historically most significant is that Deir el-Meimun. The monasteries are usually not accessible during Lent.

Almost all of the historically significant Mosques are located in the city of Beni Suef itself. The oldest monument is the Fatimid minaret in Dalāṣ.

The landscape is similar to that of all governorates located on the Nile. There are agricultural areas on both sides of the Nile. The Wādī Sannūr Cave. It can be visited with the permission of the Ministry of the Environment.

activities

Only in Beni Suef are there opportunities to go out in the evening. Many restaurants can be found near the Corniche.

holiday

The governorate national day is celebrated on March 15. The demonstrations against the British occupation forces on March 15, 1919 are commemorated. During the nationwide unrest in mid-March 1919, which was caused by the arrest and deportation of the leader of the nationalist Wafd party, Saʿd Zaghlūl Pasha, and three of his companions were raised, about 3,000 people were killed. The events went down in history as the 1919 revolution. Railway lines have been interrupted in the Beni Suef governorate. British soldiers died in the derailed trains.

security

The governorate is considered safe. You can move around freely here without being accompanied by police or military vehicles.

climate

Egypt belongs to the subtropical climate zone. This zone is characterized by a warm and dry desert climate.

Beni Suef	Jan	Feb	March	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Mean highest air temperature in ° C	20	22	25	30	34	37	37	37	35	31	25	21	O	29.5
Average air temperature in ° C	12	14	17	22	26	29	29	29	27	24	18	14	O	21.8
Mean lowest air temperature in ° C	6	7	10	14	17	20	22	21	20	17	12	7	O	14.4
Precipitation in mm	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	Σ	6
Beni Suef A., Egypt: Climate, Global Warming, and Daylight Charts and Data, accessed November 17, 2009.

trips

Excursions are offered in the nearby el-Faiyūm, to other pyramid complexes in the Memphite necropolis and to the neighboring government to the south el-Minyā at.

literature

• Old Egypt
  • Gomaà, Farouk; Müller-Wollermann, Renate; Schenkel, Wolfgang: Middle Egypt between Samalūṭ and the Gabal Abū Ṣīr: Contributions to the historical topography of the Pharaonic period. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 1991, Tübingen Atlas of the Middle East: TAVO / Beihefte / B; 69, ISBN 978-3-88226-467-8 . Topographical description of archaeological sites in the Beni Suef governorate and in the north of the el-Minyā governorate.

• Cards:
  • There are road maps from various map providers on a scale of around 1: 1,500,000, but they can only be used as a rough guide.
  • Russian general staff maps, Scale 1: 200,000, maps H-36-20 (Хелуан, Ḫeluan), H-36-25 (Эль-Файюм, El'-Fajjum), H-36-26 (Бени Суэйф, Beni Suejf) and H-36 -XXXI (Эль Минья [El 'Min'ja]) (labeled in Russian).
  • U.S. Army Map, Scale 1: 250,000, map NH-36-9 (Al-Fayyūm), 1953, map NH-36-13 (El-Minya), 1960.

Individual evidence