Asyut

 

(äsyūt') , city (1986 pop. 272,986), E central Egypt, on the Nile. An industrial and trading center and also the seat of a university, it is famed for pottery, carved bone and wood, leatherwork, and silk shawls. Nearby is the Asyut Barrage, which helps regulate the Nile's flow and impounds water for irrigational use. Asyut was the ancient Greek city of Lycopolis and later a station of the caravan trade. The city has a large Coptic Christian population, although many have left.

Lycopolis and Lykopolis redirect here; for the ancient city bearing those names located in the delta of the Nile, see Lycopolis (Delta).

Asyut (Arabic: أسيوط), is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate, Egypt. The modern city is located at: 27°11′00″N, 31°10′00″E, while the ancient city is located at: 27°10′00″N, 31°08′00″E.

Etymology

The name of the city is derived from early Egyptian Zawty (Z3JW.TJ) (late Egyptian, Səyáwt) into the Coptic Syowt. In Graeco-Roman Egypt, it was called Lycopolis or Lykopolis (Greek: ἡ Λύκων πόλις), ^[1] Lycon, ^[2] or Lyco ^[3].

Ancient Asyut

Ancient Asyut was the capital of the Thirteenth Nome of Upper Egypt (Lycopolites Nome), seated on the western bank of the Nile. The two most prominent gods of pre-Christian Asyut were Anubis and Wepwawet, both funerary deities.

During the First Intermediate Period, the rulers of "Zawty"; Khety I, Itefibi, and Khety II were supporters of the Herakleopolitan kings, of whose domain the Nome formed the southern limits. The conflict between this Nome and the southern Nomes under the rule of the Eleventh dynasty ended with the victory of Thebes and the decline of Asyut's importance.

The shield of a king named Recamai, who reigned in Upper Egypt (probably during the "shepherd dynasty" in the "Lower Country"), has been discovered in Asyut ^[4]. Lycopolis has no remarkable ruins, but in the excavated chambers of the adjacent rocks are found mummies of wolves, confirming the origin of its name, as well as a tradition preserved by Diodorus Siculus ^[5], to the effect that an Aethiopian army, invading Egypt, was repelled beyond the city of Elephantine by herds of wolves. Osiris was worshipped under the symbol of a wolf at Lycopolis. He having, according to a myth, come "from the shades" under that form, to aid Isis and Horus in their combat with Typhon ^[6]. Other Ancient Egyptian monuments discovered in Asyut include; the Asyut necropolis (west of the modern city), tombs which date to dynasties Nine, Ten and Twelve, and Ramessid tombs of Siese and Amenhotep.

In Graeco-Roman times, there was a distinct dialect of Coptic spoken in Asyut, known as "Lycopolitan", after the Greek name for the city. Lesser-used names for this dialect are "Sub-Akhmimic" and "Assiutic".

Modern Asyut

Today, the city of Asyut comprises about one and a half million inhabitants. It is the Egyptian city with the highest Coptic Christian concentration. It is also home to the University of Asyut, one of the largest universities in Egypt, and to the Lillian Trasher Orphanage.

The Virgin Mary is reported to have appeared in Asyut. This apparition is recognized as official by the Coptic Orthodox Church.

People from Asyut

• Gamal Abdel Nasser - The second Egyptian president.
• His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, current Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
• Ahmed Lutfi Al Sayed - Egyptian nationalist.

Twinnings

• Iaşi, Romania

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1857).

1. ^ Ptol. iv. 5. § 63; Steph. B. s. v.; Strabo xvii. p. 813)
2. ^ (Plin. v. 9. s. 11)
3. ^ (Itin. Anton. p. 157)
4. ^ (Rosellini, Mon. Civ. i. 81.)
5. ^ (ii. 88; comp. Aelian. Hist. An. x. 28)
6. ^ (Champollion, Descript. de l'Egypte, vol. i. p. 276; Jollois, Egypte, vol. ii. ch. 13.)

Bibliography

• Loprieno Antonio 1996: Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Oxford U Press. ISBN 0-521-44849-2

• Baines & Malek Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt, 2000. ISBN 0-8160-4036-2

Coordinates: 27°11′N, 31°10′E

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