Fuwwah (; ) is a city in the Kafr El Sheikh Governorate,

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 ...

Name

The name of the town is attested in and , although it's also claimed that the name is derived from the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

word for

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of '' Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent ...

, ''fuwa''.

History

Medieval Fuwwah grew to become one of the most important cities in al-Dimashqi's time, when he compared its size to that of

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 ...

. Fuwwah's prosperity owed largely to the decline of

Rosetta Rosetta ( ) or Rashid (, ; ) is a port city of the Nile Delta, east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira governorate. The Rosetta Stone was discovered there in 1799. Founded around the 9th century on the site of the ancient town of Bolbitine, R ...

at that time. Fuwwah was the capital of a province variously called ''Fuwwah'' or '' Al-Muzahamiyatayn''. Fuwwah's Christian bishopric remained active through the late thirteenth century, indicating the presence of a large Christian population at the time. Its location on the

branch 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 ...

meant that residents could easily travel by

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

, the main mode of transport in the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta (, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the eas ...

at the time - overland travel was potentially dangerous, as evidenced by the inability of Yusab, the bishop of Fuwwah, to travel to the Synod of 1250 due to

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

raids. One of the most important monuments in Fuwwah is the Fez factory established in 1824 by an order from Muhammed Ali Pasha. The 1885 Census of Egypt recorded Fuwwah as a

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

under the district of Desouk in

Gharbia Governorate Gharbia ( ', , "the western governorate") is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north of the country, south of Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, and north of Monufia Governorate. Its capital is Tanta, which is 90 km north of ...

; at that time, the population of the town was 9,902 (4,805 men and 5,097 women).

References

Populated places in Kafr El Sheikh Governorate Cities in Egypt {{Egypt-geo-stub