Minya, Egypt
Encyclopedia
Minya is the capital of Minya Governorate
in Upper Egypt
. It is located approximately 245 km (152.2 mi) south of Cairo
on the western bank of the Nile River, which flows north through the city. The name of the city is derived from its Ancient Egyptian
name Men'at Khufu meaning the nursing city of Khufu, linking it to the Pharoah Khufu
or Cheops, founder of the Great Pyramid
at Giza.
The name Minya may also have originated from the city's name in Sahidic Coptic
Tmoone and in Bohairic Thmonē , meaning "the residence", in reference to an early monastery
formerly in the area. It is the city where the Codex Tchacos
was discovered.
Minya is dubbed by the locals "Bride of Upper Egypt
", in reference to its strategic location in Middle Egypt
as a vital link between the north and the south of Egypt
. Minya has one of the highest concentration of Christian Coptic population in Egypt (approximately 50% of total population). It is the home city of the Minya University
, Suzanne Mubarak
Center for Arts, the new Minya Museum, and the regional North of Upper Egypt Radio and TV.
), the area encompassing modern day Minya and its surrounding lands formed the 16th nome
(district). It remained an autonomous city-state until the ruler Menes
unified Egypt around 3,200 BC
. At the time of its unification, Egypt was divided into 42 nomes. The 16th nome was also called the Oryx
nome, probably due to the prevalence of the Oryx, one of the antelope
species that inhibited the area.
along which the Levantine traders carrying their goods from Sinai and Canaan
travelled. During later times of the Old Kingdom, the name of the city was changed to Men'at Khufu, linking it to the Pharoah Khufu
or Cheops (reigning around 2550 BC) founder of the Great Pyramid at Giza as it was believed that he was born there. The city of Men'at Khufu has not been located but it is thought to be located on the west bank of the Nile
in the vicinity of the modern day Minya.
Following the collapse of the Old Kingdom
, and during the First Intermediate Period, rulers of Men'at Khufu became wealthy and powerful and enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy in relation to the central power of Pharoahs. The princes of the Oryx nome initially remained neutral during the long struggle that dominated the First Intermediate Period between the Herakleopolitan
and Theban
kingdoms, but eventually during the reign of Baket III they formed an alliance with the Thebans in the time of Mentuhotep II
. This pro-Theban policy worked to their advantage in that power over the Oryx nome continued to be wielded by the same family after the Theban conquest. The power of the rulers of Men'at Khufu reached its height during the 11th Dynasty.
Like Pharoahs, rulers of the Oryx nome
were deeply concerned with their lives after death. Because the pyramid building age was over or maybe because they could not afford to construct their own pyramids, the rulers of Mena'at Khufu chose the limestone cliffs of the eastern desert overlooking a gentle curve in the Nile
as an ideal spot on which to carve their tombs. These chapel-tombs at Beni Hasan
are the only remnant of the era when Minya rulers wielded power and wealth. Today these thirty nine rock-cut tombs can be visited in the limestone cliffs above the modern day village of Beni Hasan
. Though not as great and magnificent as other monuments of ancient Egypt
, the Beni Hasan tombs are rather extremely important as their walls reveal more information about life in Egypt 4,000 years ago more than any other monument in Egypt. In fact these tombs provide more insight about daily life in Egypt than about the rulers who constructed them.
With the rise of the 12th Dynasty, the powers of Minya rulers were forcibly reduced by the Pharaoh
Amenemhat II
(1929–1895 BC). By the end of the 12th dynasty, the role and the power of the rulers of Minya were functionally eliminated.
During the Second Intermediate Period, Minya with the rest of Lower and Middle Egypt fell under the control of the Hyksos
. It appears that Minya's rulers actually supported the Hyksos 15th Dynasty
rulers against the native Egyptian pharaohs of the 16th
and 17th dynasties
. Towards the end of the Second Intermediate Period when the Theban Pharaohs started their struggle to expel the Hyksos out of Egypt, Minya was the site where the first major battle of this conflict took place. In 1552 B.C. Kamose
, the last Pharaoh of the 17th dynasty
marched his Medjay
troops north to Nefrusy few miles to the south of Minya and there he defeated the army of a man called Teti son of Pepi, who is said to have transformed Minya into a "nest of the Asiatics". This was the first major defeat for the Hyksos which later would encourage Ahmose I
, the younger brother of Kamose
, to march north and expel the Hyksos out of Egypt for good around 1540 B.C.
As for the Beni Hasan tombs, most of them were later ravaged. Some were defaced by rulers that followed. Mutilation of the tomb chamber was the fate of many monuments during the centuries following the demise of Pharaonic Egypt. Tombs were converted into dwellings, quarried as a ready source of stone, or deliberately damaged by early Christians and Muslims.
to name a reward for his good deeds, he chose Minya where he would retire and die few years later. Ibn Khasib is credited for expanding Minya and transferring it from a large village to a robust Medieval
city. Since Ibn Khasib years, Minya has been referred to as Munyat ibn Khasib (Ibn Khasib's Minya). During the rule of the Fatimid Caliphate in the 10th and 11th centuries, Minya continued to expand and it included large mosques, schools, a bazar, and public baths. It was during this period that two landmarks of Minya, the EL-Lamaty and EL-Amrawy mosques, were built. In 1326 A.D. Ibn Battuta
, the famous medieval travellar, visited Minya and was impressed by what he saw there. Minya was noted and regarded with high praise in Ibn Battuta's account of his travels called the Rihla
because of the school it used to have when he visited the city. Ibn Battuta's described Minya as a town that "excels all the other towns of Upper Egypt."
's rule, Minya gained importance due to its fertile lands and its large agricultural production. The importance of the City increased during the reign of Ismail
who owned large cotton and sugar cane plantations around Minya. Ismail constructed a royal residence in Minya and beginning with 1870 he started modernizing the city and constructed its first residential extensions. In the year 1873, the Ibrahimiya Canal
was built to provide perennial irrigation to Ismail's vast lands. The canal led to a noticeable development in the urban growth especially in the western areas of the city. Improvement of the transportation network, particularly the introduction of the building of bridges across the Ibrahimiya, permitted developments of housing to grow haphazardly on private agricultural lands of the west suburban banks of the canal.
With the break of the American Civil War
in 1861, Egyptian cotton
became an expensive commodity that was in high demand. Minya, which produced large quantities of high quality cotton benefitted from this high demand for its cottons. The influx of wealth created a new wealthy upper class that consisted of native land lords, senior officials and Greek
and Armenian merchants. Confident about their status, the wealthy families took residence at what would become known later as the Colonial part of the City (the area roughly bounded by Abd el Al el Garhy Street in the south and Port Said Street in the north). There they built palaces and high-end houses that were designed by Italian architects who borrowed decorative features from Classical and Rococo
architecture in addition to western-type apartment houses.
Around the turn of the 20th Century, land speculations and a general building boom marked the beginning of Minya's dramatic Twentieth-Century expansion. In the beginning of the century, the establishment of the railway to join Cairo began. Later, the city extended east and west on the railway sides, which penetrated the current city. By that time Great Britain
established a consulate in Minya mainly to promote cotton trade. In 1907 the Ottoman Bank
opened a branch in the city in recognition of its increasing economic importance. Utilities, serving mainly the new developments, were introduced under long-term franchises granted to foreign enterprises: a courthouse in 1927, the fire department in 1931, the city council and the administration building in 1937. The wide paved streets of the modern city diverted commercial activity away from the old city, hastening its deterioration.
Following the revolution of 1952, the Suez Crisis
of 1956 and the subsequent nationalization of many industries from 1957, the vast majority of Greek and Armenian communities of Minya left Egypt. This led to the beginning of the decline for the colonial district. During this period, the internal population movements further accentuated disparities between the two parts of the city: the old city with its legacy of obsolescence and poverty, and the colonial district with its modern buildings and services. Densities continued to increase in the old city, where there were inadequate community facilities. The resultant overcrowding accelerated deterioration of both infrastructure and the standing housing stock.
In the Sixties, Ard AL-Mowled was developed as a public housing scheme to accommodate the exploding population growth of lower income residents of the old city. Around the beginning of the Seventies the modern district of Ard Sultan began to be established according to land subdivision and zoning laws. Because of the high land price in the area, it attracted upper and middle-income groups who left the deteriorating colonial city. Ard Sultan was carved in by a number of new urban corridor streets, which were complemented by a system of perpendicular and circular roads. These main new axes are parallel to the Nile River and bordered by freestanding buildings with heights of up to 30 metres. The north-south access of Taha Hussein Street formed a new linear central area that was intended to represent modern Minya.
. Hence, these conditions give the city, nearby towns and villages a typical properties of continental climate
. Meaning that the city has harsh and chilly cold
winter
weather, and very hot but non-humid summer
s. During summertime, temperatures could reach 40C, while winter in Minya sees temperatures drop to sub-zero levels at night. While hail
or snow
are extremely rare due to Minya's low precipitation averages, frost frost
will occasionally form on cold winter nights. The average annual rainfall in Minya is 5.3 mm.
Minya Governorate
Minya Governorate is one of the governorates of Upper Egypt. The name originates from the chief city of the governorate, originally known in Sahidic Coptic as Tmoone and in Bohairic as Thmonē , meaning “the residence”, in reference to a monastery formerly in the area...
in Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...
. It is located approximately 245 km (152.2 mi) south of Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
on the western bank of the Nile River, which flows north through the city. The name of the city is derived from its Ancient Egyptian
Egyptian language
Egyptian is the oldest known indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 17th century AD in the...
name Men'at Khufu meaning the nursing city of Khufu, linking it to the Pharoah Khufu
Khufu
Khufu , also known as Cheops or, in Manetho, Suphis , was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589 to 2566 BC. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty. He is generally accepted as being the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of...
or Cheops, founder of the Great Pyramid
Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact...
at Giza.
The name Minya may also have originated from the city's name in Sahidic Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
Tmoone and in Bohairic Thmonē , meaning "the residence", in reference to an early monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
formerly in the area. It is the city where the Codex Tchacos
Codex Tchacos
The Codex Tchacos is an ancient Egyptian Coptic papyrus containing early Christian Gnostic texts from approximately 300 AD:*The Gospel of Judas*The First Apocalypse of James*The Letter of Peter to Philip...
was discovered.
Minya is dubbed by the locals "Bride of Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...
", in reference to its strategic location in Middle Egypt
Middle Egypt
Middle Egypt is the section of land between Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt, stretching upstream from Asyut in the south to Memphis in the north. At the time, Ancient Egypt was divided into Lower and Upper Egypt, though Middle Egypt was technically a subdivision of Upper Egypt. It was not until the...
as a vital link between the north and the south of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Minya has one of the highest concentration of Christian Coptic population in Egypt (approximately 50% of total population). It is the home city of the Minya University
Al-Minya University
Minia University was established in Minya, Egypt by virtue of Republican Decree No. of 1976. The University currently includes the following faculties:Faculty of AgricultureFaculty of EducationFaculty of ScienceFaculty of ArtsFaculty of Fine Arts...
, Suzanne Mubarak
Suzanne Mubarak
Suzanne Mubarak is married to the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and was First Lady of Egypt until his ouster on 11 February 2011.-Early life and education:...
Center for Arts, the new Minya Museum, and the regional North of Upper Egypt Radio and TV.
Earliest History
During the Predynastic Period (before 3100 BC32nd century BC
-Events:* c. 3150 BC: Narmer started to rule in Ancient Egypt.* c. 3125 BC: Narmer died.* 3102 BC: The Beginning of Kali Yuga according to Vedic Scriptures....
), the area encompassing modern day Minya and its surrounding lands formed the 16th nome
Nome (Egypt)
A nome was a subnational administrative division of ancient Egypt. Today's use of the Greek nome rather than the Egyptian term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic period. Fascinated with Egypt, Greeks created many historical records about the country...
(district). It remained an autonomous city-state until the ruler Menes
Menes
Menes was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the early dynastic period, credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower Egypt, and as the founder of the first dynasty ....
unified Egypt around 3,200 BC
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
. At the time of its unification, Egypt was divided into 42 nomes. The 16th nome was also called the Oryx
Oryx
Oryx is one of four large antelope species of the genus Oryx. Three of the species are native to arid parts of Africa, with a fourth native to the Arabian Peninsula. Their pelage is pale with contrasing dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight...
nome, probably due to the prevalence of the Oryx, one of the antelope
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
species that inhibited the area.
Ancient Egyptian
After the unification of Egypt, the provincial capital of the 16th nome emerged as an important center of trade. It was opposite a trade route to the Red SeaRed Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
along which the Levantine traders carrying their goods from Sinai and Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
travelled. During later times of the Old Kingdom, the name of the city was changed to Men'at Khufu, linking it to the Pharoah Khufu
Khufu
Khufu , also known as Cheops or, in Manetho, Suphis , was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589 to 2566 BC. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty. He is generally accepted as being the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of...
or Cheops (reigning around 2550 BC) founder of the Great Pyramid at Giza as it was believed that he was born there. The city of Men'at Khufu has not been located but it is thought to be located on the west bank of the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
in the vicinity of the modern day Minya.
Following the collapse of the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley .The term itself was...
, and during the First Intermediate Period, rulers of Men'at Khufu became wealthy and powerful and enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy in relation to the central power of Pharoahs. The princes of the Oryx nome initially remained neutral during the long struggle that dominated the First Intermediate Period between the Herakleopolitan
Herakleopolis Magna
Heracleopolis or Herakleopolis Magna is the Greek name of the capital of the Twentieth nome of ancient Egypt. It was called Henen-nesut, Nen-nesu, or Hwt-nen-nesu in ancient Egyptian, meaning 'house of the royal child.' Later, it was called Hnas in Coptic, and Ahnas in medieval Arabic writings...
and Theban
Luxor
Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 , with an area of approximately . As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple...
kingdoms, but eventually during the reign of Baket III they formed an alliance with the Thebans in the time of Mentuhotep II
Mentuhotep II
Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II was a Pharaoh of the 11th dynasty, the son of Intef III of Egypt and a minor queen called Iah. His own wife was the 'king's mother' Tem. Other wives were Neferu and several secondary wives, one or more who it has been suggested were possibly Nubian, buried in his...
. This pro-Theban policy worked to their advantage in that power over the Oryx nome continued to be wielded by the same family after the Theban conquest. The power of the rulers of Men'at Khufu reached its height during the 11th Dynasty.
Nome (Egypt)
A nome was a subnational administrative division of ancient Egypt. Today's use of the Greek nome rather than the Egyptian term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic period. Fascinated with Egypt, Greeks created many historical records about the country...
were deeply concerned with their lives after death. Because the pyramid building age was over or maybe because they could not afford to construct their own pyramids, the rulers of Mena'at Khufu chose the limestone cliffs of the eastern desert overlooking a gentle curve in the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
as an ideal spot on which to carve their tombs. These chapel-tombs at Beni Hasan
Beni Hasan
Beni Hasan is an Ancient Egyptian cemetery site. It is located approximately 20 kilometers to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Memphis.While there are some Old Kingdom burials at the site, it was primarily used during the Middle...
are the only remnant of the era when Minya rulers wielded power and wealth. Today these thirty nine rock-cut tombs can be visited in the limestone cliffs above the modern day village of Beni Hasan
Beni Hasan
Beni Hasan is an Ancient Egyptian cemetery site. It is located approximately 20 kilometers to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Memphis.While there are some Old Kingdom burials at the site, it was primarily used during the Middle...
. Though not as great and magnificent as other monuments of ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, the Beni Hasan tombs are rather extremely important as their walls reveal more information about life in Egypt 4,000 years ago more than any other monument in Egypt. In fact these tombs provide more insight about daily life in Egypt than about the rulers who constructed them.
With the rise of the 12th Dynasty, the powers of Minya rulers were forcibly reduced by the Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
Amenemhat II
Amenemhat II
Nubkhaure Amenemhat II was the third pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Not much is known about his reign. He ruled Egypt for 35 years from 1929 BC to 1895 BC and was the son of Senusret I through the latter's chief wife, Queen Nefru. His queen is not known; although recently a...
(1929–1895 BC). By the end of the 12th dynasty, the role and the power of the rulers of Minya were functionally eliminated.
During the Second Intermediate Period, Minya with the rest of Lower and Middle Egypt fell under the control of the Hyksos
Hyksos
The Hyksos were an Asiatic people who took over the eastern Nile Delta during the twelfth dynasty, initiating the Second Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt....
. It appears that Minya's rulers actually supported the Hyksos 15th Dynasty
Fifteenth dynasty of Egypt
The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period. The Fifteenth Dynasty dates approximately from 1650 to 1550 BC.-Rulers:...
rulers against the native Egyptian pharaohs of the 16th
Sixteenth dynasty of Egypt
The sixteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in Upper Egypt for 50 years during the Second Intermediate Period The sixteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XVI) was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in Upper Egypt for 50 years during the Second Intermediate...
and 17th dynasties
Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt
The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period. The Seventeenth Dynasty dates approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC.-Rulers:...
. Towards the end of the Second Intermediate Period when the Theban Pharaohs started their struggle to expel the Hyksos out of Egypt, Minya was the site where the first major battle of this conflict took place. In 1552 B.C. Kamose
Kamose
Kamose was the last king of the Theban Seventeenth Dynasty. He was probably the son of Seqenenre Tao II and Ahhotep I and the full brother of Ahmose I, founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty. His reign fell at the very end of the Second Intermediate Period...
, the last Pharaoh of the 17th dynasty
Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt
The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period. The Seventeenth Dynasty dates approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC.-Rulers:...
marched his Medjay
Medjay
The Medjay –from mDA, represents the name Ancient Egyptians gave to a region in northern Sudan–where an ancient people of Nubia inhabited...
troops north to Nefrusy few miles to the south of Minya and there he defeated the army of a man called Teti son of Pepi, who is said to have transformed Minya into a "nest of the Asiatics". This was the first major defeat for the Hyksos which later would encourage Ahmose I
Ahmose I
Ahmose I was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty. He was a member of the Theban royal house, the son of pharaoh Tao II Seqenenre and brother of the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth dynasty, King Kamose...
, the younger brother of Kamose
Kamose
Kamose was the last king of the Theban Seventeenth Dynasty. He was probably the son of Seqenenre Tao II and Ahhotep I and the full brother of Ahmose I, founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty. His reign fell at the very end of the Second Intermediate Period...
, to march north and expel the Hyksos out of Egypt for good around 1540 B.C.
As for the Beni Hasan tombs, most of them were later ravaged. Some were defaced by rulers that followed. Mutilation of the tomb chamber was the fate of many monuments during the centuries following the demise of Pharaonic Egypt. Tombs were converted into dwellings, quarried as a ready source of stone, or deliberately damaged by early Christians and Muslims.
Islamic History
During the rule of the Abbasids, Minya's name became attached to Ibn Khasib, the appointed benevolent and almost legendary ruler of Egypt in the early 9th century. Ibn Khasib loved Minya so much that when was asked by the CaliphCaliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
to name a reward for his good deeds, he chose Minya where he would retire and die few years later. Ibn Khasib is credited for expanding Minya and transferring it from a large village to a robust Medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
city. Since Ibn Khasib years, Minya has been referred to as Munyat ibn Khasib (Ibn Khasib's Minya). During the rule of the Fatimid Caliphate in the 10th and 11th centuries, Minya continued to expand and it included large mosques, schools, a bazar, and public baths. It was during this period that two landmarks of Minya, the EL-Lamaty and EL-Amrawy mosques, were built. In 1326 A.D. Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta , or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din , was a Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer, known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla...
, the famous medieval travellar, visited Minya and was impressed by what he saw there. Minya was noted and regarded with high praise in Ibn Battuta's account of his travels called the Rihla
Rihla
Rihla is a medieval book which recounts the journey of the 14th-century Berber Moroccan scholar and traveler Ibn Battuta.The oeuvre was written by Ibn Juzayy after he was commissioned by the Marinid Sultan Abu Inan who was impressed by the story and journey of Ibn Battuta.The term Rihla is a...
because of the school it used to have when he visited the city. Ibn Battuta's described Minya as a town that "excels all the other towns of Upper Egypt."
Modern History
During Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali of Egypt
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was a commander in the Ottoman army, who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan...
's rule, Minya gained importance due to its fertile lands and its large agricultural production. The importance of the City increased during the reign of Ismail
Isma'il Pasha
Isma'il Pasha , known as Ismail the Magnificent , was the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of the United Kingdom...
who owned large cotton and sugar cane plantations around Minya. Ismail constructed a royal residence in Minya and beginning with 1870 he started modernizing the city and constructed its first residential extensions. In the year 1873, the Ibrahimiya Canal
Ibrahimiya Canal
The Ibrahimiyah Canal is an irrigation canal in Egypt built in 1873. It was the most important public work executed under the then newly established Ministry of Public Works. It was built during the reign of Ismail Pasha when he was Khedive of Egypt...
was built to provide perennial irrigation to Ismail's vast lands. The canal led to a noticeable development in the urban growth especially in the western areas of the city. Improvement of the transportation network, particularly the introduction of the building of bridges across the Ibrahimiya, permitted developments of housing to grow haphazardly on private agricultural lands of the west suburban banks of the canal.
With the break of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in 1861, Egyptian cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
became an expensive commodity that was in high demand. Minya, which produced large quantities of high quality cotton benefitted from this high demand for its cottons. The influx of wealth created a new wealthy upper class that consisted of native land lords, senior officials and Greek
Greeks in Egypt
-Antiquity:Greeks have been living in Egypt since the ancient times. Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century BC, claimed that the Greeks were one of the first foreigners that ever lived in Egypt. Diodorus Siculus attested that Rhodian Actis, one of the Heliadae built the city of Heliopolis...
and Armenian merchants. Confident about their status, the wealthy families took residence at what would become known later as the Colonial part of the City (the area roughly bounded by Abd el Al el Garhy Street in the south and Port Said Street in the north). There they built palaces and high-end houses that were designed by Italian architects who borrowed decorative features from Classical and Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
architecture in addition to western-type apartment houses.
Around the turn of the 20th Century, land speculations and a general building boom marked the beginning of Minya's dramatic Twentieth-Century expansion. In the beginning of the century, the establishment of the railway to join Cairo began. Later, the city extended east and west on the railway sides, which penetrated the current city. By that time Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
established a consulate in Minya mainly to promote cotton trade. In 1907 the Ottoman Bank
Ottoman Bank
The Ottoman Bank was founded in 1856 in the Galata business section of İstanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, as a joint venture between British interests, the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas of France, and the Ottoman government.The opening capital of the Bank consisted of 135,000 shares,...
opened a branch in the city in recognition of its increasing economic importance. Utilities, serving mainly the new developments, were introduced under long-term franchises granted to foreign enterprises: a courthouse in 1927, the fire department in 1931, the city council and the administration building in 1937. The wide paved streets of the modern city diverted commercial activity away from the old city, hastening its deterioration.
Following the revolution of 1952, the Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
of 1956 and the subsequent nationalization of many industries from 1957, the vast majority of Greek and Armenian communities of Minya left Egypt. This led to the beginning of the decline for the colonial district. During this period, the internal population movements further accentuated disparities between the two parts of the city: the old city with its legacy of obsolescence and poverty, and the colonial district with its modern buildings and services. Densities continued to increase in the old city, where there were inadequate community facilities. The resultant overcrowding accelerated deterioration of both infrastructure and the standing housing stock.
In the Sixties, Ard AL-Mowled was developed as a public housing scheme to accommodate the exploding population growth of lower income residents of the old city. Around the beginning of the Seventies the modern district of Ard Sultan began to be established according to land subdivision and zoning laws. Because of the high land price in the area, it attracted upper and middle-income groups who left the deteriorating colonial city. Ard Sultan was carved in by a number of new urban corridor streets, which were complemented by a system of perpendicular and circular roads. These main new axes are parallel to the Nile River and bordered by freestanding buildings with heights of up to 30 metres. The north-south access of Taha Hussein Street formed a new linear central area that was intended to represent modern Minya.
Economy
The public sector predominates in industry, controlling most of the production of capital and intermediate goods. Among the state-run industries are cement, mining, fertilizers and agricultural industries. The private sector is active in manufacturing of consumer goods, particularly in small enterprises in and around the city. The principal private industries are food products, furniture, and metal and woodworking. Although rich in history, tourism plays a trivial role in the economy of Minya due to the violence that dominated the area in the Nineties when the government was fighting Islamic militants.Climate
The city of Minya is located tightly between two ranges of about 500m-mountains on both western and eastern sides, and interestingly falls away from the Mediterranean Sea and the Red SeaRed Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. Hence, these conditions give the city, nearby towns and villages a typical properties of continental climate
Continental climate
Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...
. Meaning that the city has harsh and chilly cold
Cold
Cold describes the condition of low temperature.Cold may also refer to:*Common cold, a contagious viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system*Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...
winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
weather, and very hot but non-humid summer
Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...
s. During summertime, temperatures could reach 40C, while winter in Minya sees temperatures drop to sub-zero levels at night. While hail
Hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
or snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
are extremely rare due to Minya's low precipitation averages, frost frost
Frost
Frost is the solid deposition of water vapor from saturated air. It is formed when solid surfaces are cooled to below the dew point of the adjacent air as well as below the freezing point of water. Frost crystals' size differ depending on time and water vapour available. Frost is also usually...
will occasionally form on cold winter nights. The average annual rainfall in Minya is 5.3 mm.
Notable Natives
- Suzanne MubarakSuzanne MubarakSuzanne Mubarak is married to the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and was First Lady of Egypt until his ouster on 11 February 2011.-Early life and education:...
(born 28 February 1941), Egypt's First Lady (1981–2011) - Hoda ShaarawiHoda ShaarawiHoda Shaarawi , also sometimes transliterated as Huda Shaarawi or Hoda Sha'rawi, was a pioneer Egyptian feminist leader and nationalist.- Biography :...
(born June 23, 1879 died December 12, 1947), a pioneer Egyptian feminist leader and nationalist - Mahmoud AbouelleilMahmoud Abouel LeilCounsellor Mahmoud Abouelleil was Minister of Justice of the Arab Republic of Egypt from July 2004 until his resignation in August 2006. He was governor of Giza from 2000 till 2004, and Kafr-El-Sheikh from 1996 till 2000....
(born 24 December 1935), Judge and a former Minister of Justice of Egypt - Mervat AminMervat AminMervat Amin is an Arab Egyptian actress, born in 1946 in El-Menya in Egypt. Her father is Egyptian and her mother Scottish. During the seventies her mom was the Head of the Elementary School of El Nasr School Heliopolis,Egypt. Her father was Dr...
(born 24 November 1948), famous Egyptian actress - Anaam Muhammad Ali (born 15 May 1938), movie driector