Asyūṭ

Asyūṭ, also spelled Asiut, or Assiout, capital of Asyūṭ muḥāfaẓah (governorate) and one of the largest settlements of Upper Egypt. It lies on the west bank of the Nile River, almost midway between Cairo and Aswān. The irrigated Nile River valley is about 12 miles (20 km) wide at that point.

Known as Syut in ancient Egypt, the city was a centre of worship of the jackal-headed god Wepwawet. In the Middle Kingdom (1938–c. 1630 bce), it was capital of the 17th nome (province) of Upper Egypt. While never able to challenge the power of Thebes, it was commercially prominent as a terminus of caravan routes traversing the Eastern and Western deserts. In Hellenistic times it was known as Lycopolis (“Wolf City”), an allusion to the worship of the jackal-headed god. It was the birthplace of the Neoplatonist philosopher Plotinus (c. 205–269/270 ce). Asyūṭ’s quality textiles and the fine fruits and grain grown nearby were exported southward to Darfur and elsewhere in the Sudan. Returning caravans brought slaves, ivory, and dyestuffs.

Asyūṭ is one of the few remaining places where silver appliqué-work shawls are still made. It also still turns out fine pottery, inlaid woodwork, and rugs. In addition, there are modern textile mills and a chemical plant producing fertilizer. Just north of the city and its river port of Al-Ḥamrāʾ is the Asyūṭ Dam across the Nile (1902), an open limestone weir 2,730 feet (832 metres) long. It feeds the Al-Ibrāhīmiyyah Canal, which parallels the Nile for about 200 miles (320 km) to the north, irrigating much of Middle Egypt. A westward branch, the Yūsuf Canal, extends from Dayrūṭ to the oasis of Al-Fayyūm. In the 1980s the dam was improved, and a hydroelectric plant was added.

Centres of higher education at Asyūṭ include a national university (opened 1957), a branch of al-Azhar University, and a teacher-training college. An important Coptic centre, the see of Asyūṭ is administered from Cairo by a metropolitan. The limestone hills rising southwest of the city have numerous rock tombs of the 12th dynasty (1938–1756 bce). Pop. (2006) 389,307.