Zagazig (, , ) is a city in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Situated in the eastern part of the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

delta, it is the capital of the

governorate A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions ...

of Sharqia. It is located on the Muweis Canal and is a hub of the corn and cotton trade. There is a museum, the Museum of Tal Basta Antiquities, that contains many important archaeological exhibits.

Zagazig University Zagazig University () is a public university located in the city of Zagazig, Egypt. History Zagazig University began as a branch of Ain Shams University in 1970. On April 14, 1974, it gained independence through a decree, becoming a stand ...

, 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. 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 Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian 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. Bubastis is the

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

version of the

Egyptian language The Egyptian language, or Ancient Egyptian (; ), is an extinct branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages 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 ...

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 Usermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon II was the fifth pharaoh, king of the Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt, Twenty-second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt and the son of King Takelot I and Queen Kapes. He ruled Egypt from approximately 872 BC to 837 BC from Ta ...

and

Nectanebo II Nectanebo II (Egyptian language, Egyptian: ; ) was the last native ruler of ancient Egypt, as well as the third and last pharaoh of the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt, Thirtieth Dynasty, reigning from 358 to c.340 BC. During the reign of Nectanebo ...

. 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 –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 Dynast ...

chapel from the period of

Pepi I Meryre Pepi I Meryre (also Pepy I; died 2283 BC) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, king, third king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled for over 40 years from the 24th to the 23rd century BC, toward the end of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Ki ...

Geography

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh), as the rest of Egypt.

Notable people

* The

Abaza family The Abaza family (; , or , ; ) is an Egyptians, Egyptian aristocratic family of maternal Abazin, Circassians, Circassian, and paternal Egyptians, Egyptian origins whose historical stronghold is in the Nile Delta. It has been described as "deep ...

, the largest family in Sharqia and Egypt's largest Circassian community. * Abdelhalim Hafez, Egyptian singer and actor * Ahmed Urabi, colonel who led the

revolt Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

against the British in 1882 * Carmen Suleiman, 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

origin * Rushdy Abaza, actor * Fekry Pasha Abaza, journalist and political activist * Mohamed Abdelmonem, football Player

References

External links

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