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Zagazig ( ar, الزقازيق '  , rural: ) is a city in
Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ar, مصر السفلى '; ) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, ...
. Situated in the eastern part of the
Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...
delta, it is the capital of the
governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is often used in translation from ...
of Sharqia. It is located on the Muweis Canal and is a hub of the corn and cotton trade. There is a museum of antiquities, the Sharkeya National Museum (sometimes called the Amed Orabi Museum, at Herriat Raznah) that contains many important archaeological exhibits (currently closed for restoration). Zagazig University, one of the largest universities in Egypt, is also located in the city, with colleges in different fields of science and arts. The Archaeological Museum of the University of Zagazig exhibits significant finds from the nearby sites, Bubastis (Tell Basta) and Kufur Nigm. Also there is a branch for
Al-Azhar University , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...
, the largest
Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ma ...
university in the world. Zagazig is the birthplace of famous Coptic Egyptian journalist, philosopher and social critic, Salama Moussa, and famous Egyptian songwriter Morsi Gameel Aziz. The most notable streets in Zagazig are Farouk Street, Government Street, Abu Hamad and El Kawmia Street.


History

The city was founded in the 19th century on the site of a village called ''Nazlat az-Zaqāzīq'' which was named after the Zaqzuq family. The family's name itself comes from a dialectal word ''zaqzuq'' or ''ziqziq'' which means "a small creature" (e.g. a fish or a mouse) and comes from a Coptic word ϫⲉⲕϫⲓⲕ "ant or other insect". The ruins of the ancient Egyptian city of Bubastis are located southeast of town. Bubastis was the ancient capital of the 18th nome, and is home to the feast celebrating the cat goddess
Bastet Bastet or Bast ( egy, bꜣstjt, cop, Ⲟⲩⲃⲁⲥⲧⲉ, Oubaste , Phoenician: 𐤀𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: ’bst, or 𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: bst) was a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (2 ...
. Bubastis is the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
version of the
Egyptian language The Egyptian language or Ancient Egyptian ( ) is a dead Afro-Asiatic language that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts which were made accessible to the modern world following the deciphe ...
name '' Pr-Bastet'' "House empleof Bastet". Bubastis became the capital of Egypt in the 22nd and 23rd Dynasties. There are remains of the temples built by Osorkon II and Nectanebo II. Catacombs where the sacred cats were buried are located behind the remains of an
Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...
chapel from the period of Pepi I Meryre.


Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as
hot desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one ...
(BWh), as the rest of Egypt.


Notable people

*
Abaza family The Abaza family ( ar, الأسرة الأباظية) is an Egyptian family of maternal Circassians, Circassian origin. They have had an influence in the late 18th century to modern times. They are believed to have a net worth of over US$800 mi ...
, the largest family in Sharqia and Egypt's largest Circassian community. *
Abdelhalim Hafez Abdel Halim Ali Shabana ( ar, عبد الحليم علي شبانة), commonly known as Abdel Halim Hafez ( ar, عبد الحليم حافظ,) (June 21, 1929 – March 30, 1977), was an Egyptian singer, actor, conductor, businessman, music teach ...
, Egyptian singer and actor *
Ahmed Orabi Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
, colonel who led the revolt against the British in 1882 *
Carmen Suleiman Carmen Essam Soliman ( ar, كارمن عصام سليمان ; born on 7 October 1994), better known by her stage name Carmen Suleiman ( ar, كارمن سليمان ), is an Egyptian singer. Soliman won the first season of Arab Idol song conte ...
, singer *
Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Salama Moussa, Coptic Egyptian journalist, philosopher and social critic * Ahmed Zaki, actor * John Traicos, International cricketer of
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
origin *
Rushdy Abaza Rushdy Saiid El Bughdady Abaza ( arz, رشدي سعيد البوغدادي أباظة) (3 August 1926 – 27 July 1980) was an Egyptian film and television actor. He was considered one of the most charming actors in the Egyptian film industry. He ...
, actor * Fekry Pasha Abaza, journalist and political activist


See also

*
List of cities and towns in Egypt A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...


References


External links


LookLex: Egypt: Zagazig
* {{Authority control Governorate capitals in Egypt Populated places in Sharqia Governorate Nile Delta