City · middle-egypt · from pharaonic Shedet to the present
Oasis-like province whose very name preserves Coptic: Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ phiom means 'the sea', recalling the lake that waters the region. Monasteries such as Naqlun kept Coptic scriptorial traditions here for centuries.
Also known as: Faiyum · Fayoum · Shedet
Pharaonic era: known as Shedet, then by the Greek name Crocodilopolis, centred on the lake that gives the region its Coptic name.
Byzantine and Islamic centuries: monasteries such as Naqlun sustain Coptic copying communities around the oasis.
