The Bahr Yussef (; "the waterway of Joseph") is a canal which connects the

Nile River 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 longest river i ...

with Faiyum Oasis 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 ...

. In ancient times it was called Tomis () by the Greeks, which was derived from its Egyptian name ''Tm.t'' ("ending canal"). That name was still in use after the Arab conquest, translated into Arabic as al-Manhi (). It was also known as "the Great canal" () or "the canal of Moeris". The modern Arabic name refers to the prophet

Yusuf Yusuf ( ') is a male name meaning " God increases" (in piety, power and influence).From the Hebrew יהוה להוסיף ''YHWH Lhosif'' meaning " YHWH will increase/add". It is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew name Yosef and the English na ...

, the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

ic counterpart of the biblical

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

. In prehistoric times, the canal was a natural offshoot of the Nile which created a lake to the west during high floods. Beginning with the Twelfth Dynasty, the waterway was enlarged and the Fayyum was developed to enlarge Lake Moeris (now Birket Qarun). The canal was built into the natural incline of the valley, creating a channel 15 km long and 5 m deep that sloped into the Fayyum depression. The canal was controlled by the Ha-Uar Dam, which was actually two dams that regulated the flow into the lake and out of the Nile. As the surrounding area changed at about 230 BC, the Bahr Yussef eventually became neglected, leaving most of Lake Moeris to dry up, creating the depression that exists today and the modern Faiyum Oasis. During the medieval period, the canal was still a major communication axis to connect Fayyum to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. The Bahr Yussef still exists today, feeding water northwards into the Faiyum Oasis, parallel with the Nile.

References

Canals in Egypt Faiyum Faiyum Governorate River bifurcations {{Egypt-geo-stub

See also

References