Bibā - Bibā

no picture on Wikidata: Add picture afterwards
Bibā · ‏ببا‎
GovernorateBeni Suef
Residents
57.716 (2006)
height
37 m
no tourist info on Wikidata: Add tourist information
location
Location map of Egypt
Reddot.svg
Bibā

Biba, also Beba, Baba, Bibbeh, Arabic:ببا‎, Bibā, is a county seat in egyptian Governorate Beni Suef. One of its main attractions is the Church of St. George and the Mūlid, the birth festival, of St. George a week before Ascension Day.

background

Location and importance

City map of Bibā

The lower egyptian Bibā is located on the western bank of the Nile, about one kilometer from the river, 22 kilometers south of Beni Suef and 140 kilometers south of Cairo. The runs through the city Ibrāhīmīya Channel, the trunk road on its west side and the railway line on the east side. The old town, which extends from north to south, is located east of the canal.

A branch of the Nile separates the mainland from the large island 1 Gazīrat Bibā, ‏جزيرة ببا‎.

The origin of the place name is controversial. Occasionally it is speculated that the name comes from the ancient Egyptian king Pepi I. derived from the 6th ancient Egyptian dynasty, but this is hardly understandable.

Agriculture is practiced in the vicinity of the city. Among other things, bananas and aromatic and medicinal plants are grown. On the east side of the Nile is the new gas and steam turbine power plant, which went into operation in 2017, with an output of 1.2 GW, 2 Beni Suef Power Station called, which is equipped with Siemens gas turbines.[1]

history

The beginnings of the city of Bibā, Coptic: Ⲡⲁⲡⲟ, Papo, Greek: Πάπα, Father, lie in the dark. Farouk Gomaà thinks it is quite possible that the place with the similarly sounding ancient Egyptian places PꜢ-mꜢ, Pa-ma, or. Pr-pꜢ-mꜢ, Per-pa-ma, could be identical. However, there is no archaeological evidence from ancient Egyptian times. The Greek name has been around since the 2nd century BC. Occupied.[2]

Like the French coptologist Émile Amélineau (1850-1915) carried out,[3] one of the earliest datable references comes from the Coptic Synaxar, the Martyrology, from 25 Abib.[4] The saint and martyr Andūnīyā / Andoniya came from Banā / Babā. His parents were described as pious and gracious. When he learned of the torture of martyrs at the time of the Diocletian persecution of Christians at the beginning of the 4th century, he went to the governor in Anṣinā / Antinoë to confirm his Christian faith before him. Since the torture on the spot could not harm him, he was only released after Alexandria and later to Pelusium / el-Faramā in the west of the North Sinai where he was finally beheaded.

In the Middle Ages, so also with Arab historians el-Maqrīzī (1364–1442) in his church list[5], the place and a Georgskloster or a Georgskirche were mentioned several times. Bibā has been the administrative center of the district of the same name since 1890.

A special feature of Bibā is that St. George is venerated by Christians and Muslims alike.[6]

Amélineau described in 1893,[3] that in Bibā [1886] there were 3,525 inhabitants plus 212 Bedouins and that there was a railway line with a train station, a school, a post office and a telegraph office as well as the church for St. Georg gave. In 2006 there were about 57,700 inhabitants in this city.

getting there

In the street

Of Beni Suef coming you stay on the (old) trunk road 02, the Aswan Agricultural Road, on the Ibrāhīmīya canal - you do not follow the city bypass - and cross it 1 Canal bridge in Bibā and then the track systems. You follow the street in an arch without turning and you get directly to the Church of St. George.

By bus

The county seat is made with microbuses Beni Suef reachable. The 2 Bibā bus station, ‏موقف ببا, Is located west of the canal near the train station.

By train

The 3 Bibā Railway Station, ‏محطة ببا, Where mainly regional trains stop, is in the south of the city. A little north of the station building there is a pedestrian overpass over the tracks.

mobility

To get to the east bank, there are car ferries in the south and north of the city.

Tourist Attractions

3  Church of St. George (‏كنيسة مارجرجس‎, Kanīsat Mār Girgis). The cathedral with its high bell tower on the west side was built in the 19th century. The church has only one altar, just for St. George. To the left and right of it are prayer rooms for men and women, respectively, which St. Virgin and St. Anthony are consecrated. The screen wall still contains parts of the earlier, medieval screen wall with ivory inlays. The church also has two icons from the 17th century depicting the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection. The wall and dome painting is of course modern.(28 ° 55 ′ 17 ″ N.30 ° 59 ′ 12 ″ E)

activities

A week before Ascension Day, usually in May, the Mūlid, a pilgrimage, takes place in honor of St. Georg instead.

shop

There is a weekly market in the city.

kitchen

accommodation

There are hotels in the nearby town Beni Suef.

health

Practical advice

trips

From Bibā it is easy to get Beni Suef, el-Faschn and el-Fant to reach. With the Nile ferries is also the archaeological site of el-Ḥība reachable. In the southwest of the city you can get to the west via the villages of Ṭarschūb,طرشوب, Ṣafṭ Rāschīn,صفط راشين, And Daschṭūṭ,دشطوط, After Dishashah. However, the archaeological site there has not yet been released to travelers.

literature

  • Timm, Stefan: Baba. In:Christian Coptic Egypt in Arab times; Vol. 1: A - C. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 1984, Supplements to the Tübingen Atlas of the Middle East: Series B, Geisteswissenschaften; 41.1, ISBN 978-3-88226-208-7 , Pp. 271-273.
  • Meinardus, Otto F. A.: Christian Egypt, ancient and modern. Cairo: American University at Cairo Press, 1977 (2nd edition), ISBN 978-977-201-496-5 , P. 359.
  • Ramzī, Muḥammad: al-Qāmūs al-ǧuġrāfī li-’l-bilād al-miṣrīya min ʿahd qudamāʾ al-miṣrīyīn ilā sanat 1945; Vol. 2, Book 3: Mudīrīyāt al-Ǧīza wa-Banī Suwaif wa-’l-Faiyūm wa-’l-Minyā. Cairo: Maṭbaʿat Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣrīya, 1960, P. 137 (page numbers above).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑Commercial operation of Siemens power plants to begin next week, Message from Daily News Egypt dated March 23, 2017.
  2. ↑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 , P. 92.
  3. ↑ 3,03,1Amélineau, É [mile]: La geographie de l’Égypte à l’époque copte. Paris: Impr. National, 1893, P. 74 f.
  4. ↑Lives of Saints: Abib 25, Coptic Synaxarium (Martyrologium) for the 25th Abib.
  5. ↑[Abū al-Makārim]; Evetts, B [asil] T [homas] A [lfred] (ed., Transl.); Butler, Alfred J [oshua]: The churches and monasteries of Egypt and some neighboring countries attributed to Abû Sâliḥ, the Armenian. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895, P. 341 f. (No. 30 in the church list). Various reprints, e.g. B. Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0-9715986-7-6 .
  6. ↑Leeder, S.H.: Modern sons of the pharaohs: a study of the manners and customs of the copts in Egypt. London, New York: Hodder and Stoughton, 1918, P. 136 f. — Wilkinson, John Gardner: Modern Egypt and Thebes: being a description of Egypt; including the information required for travelers in that country; Vol.2. London: Murray, 1843, P. 20 f.
Usable articleThis is a useful article. There are still some places where information is missing. If you have something to add be brave and complete them.