Beni Mur (, also spelled Bani Murr) is an Egyptian town in

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

located 8 kilometers north of the city of

Asyut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut''. ( ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , while the ancient city i ...

History

The town is believed to be the site of Deir Abu as-Sira (a corrupted form of the name Theodor ()), a monastery dedicated to

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

. Today Beni Mur is the site of the Church of Saint George which is visited annually on 1 May by local Coptic pilgrims. The church is small, with two altars, dedicated to

and the Mary. According to local tradition, the town was named after the Beni Mur

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

s who hailed from the Hejaz region, ruled over the rural town during the

Muslim conquest The Muslim conquests, Muslim invasions, Islamic conquests, including Arab conquests, Arab Islamic conquests, also Iranian Muslim conquests, Turkic Muslim conquests etc. *Early Muslim conquests **Ridda Wars **Muslim conquest of Persia ***Muslim conq ...

of North Africa, and are attributed with promoting the Classical Arabic language and early teachings of Islam among the locals.Aburish, 2004, p.12. The former Egyptian president

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

's father was born in 1888 in Beni Mur. A small mosque was built in the town in 1898 and the first primary school was opened in 1900, consisting of a single room.Joesten, 1974, p. 14.

References

Bibliography

* * * * Populated places in Asyut Governorate {{Egypt-geo-stub