Minya, Egypt
Minya
المنيا | |
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UTC+2 (EET) | |
Postal code | 61111 |
Area code | (+20) 86 |
Minya
Minya has one of the highest concentration of Coptic Christians in Egypt (approximately 50% of total population).[2] 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 Television.
Etymology
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Mnꜥt ḫwfw[3] in hieroglyphs | |||||||||||||||
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The city's Arabic name comes from the Coptic, rendered in as ⲧⲙⲱⲛⲏ in
The modern city of Minya is often identified with the Ancient Egyptian settlement of Men'at Khufu based on the resemblance of two names, although this claim, proposed by Gauthier and Drew-Bear, is denied by modern Egyptology as the former has a clear Greek etymology.[4]
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.
History
Earliest history
During the
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 Sea along which the Levantine traders carrying their goods from Sinai and Canaan travelled.[5]
Following the collapse of the
Like Pharaohs, 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, they 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. 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 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
During the
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
Greco-Roman History
During the
The
Byzantine History
The
Arab History
Modern history
With the outbreak 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 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.[13]
Around the start of the 20th century, land speculations and a general building boom marked the beginning of Minya's dramatic 20th-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.[14]
Following the
In the 1960s, 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 1970s, 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.
Archaeology
The Gnostic Codex Tchacos, noted for containing the Gospel of Judas, was discovered near Minya during the 1970s beside three ancient books in a limestone box.[15]
In February 2019, fifty mummy collections wrapped in linen, stone coffins or wooden sarcophagi dated back to the
In May 2020, Egyptian-Spanish archaeological mission head by Esther Ponce uncovered a unique cemetery dating to the 26th Dynasty (so-called the El-Sawi era) at the site of ancient Oxyrhynchus. Archaeologists found tombstones, bronze coins, small crosses, and clay seals inside eight Roman-era tombs with domed and unmarked roofs.[20][21]
Economy
The public sector predominates in industry, controlling most of the production of capital and intermediate goods. Among the state-run industries are cement, chemicals, 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.
Climate
During summertime, temperatures could reach 40 °C (104 °F), while winter in Minya sees temperatures drop to below 0 °C (32 °F) levels at night. While hail or snow are extremely rare due to Minya's low precipitation averages, frost will occasionally form on cold winter nights. The average annual rainfall in Minya is 5.3 mm (0.21 in).[22]
Climate data for Minya (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 30.7 (87.3) |
33.8 (92.8) |
41.4 (106.5) |
45.2 (113.4) |
48.0 (118.4) |
47.5 (117.5) |
43.6 (110.5) |
44.6 (112.3) |
43.4 (110.1) |
42.0 (107.6) |
37.6 (99.7) |
31.0 (87.8) |
48.0 (118.4) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 20.3 (68.5) |
22.1 (71.8) |
25.6 (78.1) |
30.6 (87.1) |
34.7 (94.5) |
36.8 (98.2) |
37.0 (98.6) |
36.9 (98.4) |
35.4 (95.7) |
31.4 (88.5) |
26.0 (78.8) |
21.4 (70.5) |
29.9 (85.7) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.5 (54.5) |
14.1 (57.4) |
17.5 (63.5) |
22.0 (71.6) |
26.6 (79.9) |
29.2 (84.6) |
29.7 (85.5) |
29.6 (85.3) |
28.0 (82.4) |
24.1 (75.4) |
18.4 (65.1) |
13.7 (56.7) |
22.1 (71.8) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 5.5 (41.9) |
6.6 (43.9) |
9.6 (49.3) |
13.5 (56.3) |
18.1 (64.6) |
21.0 (69.8) |
22.2 (72.0) |
22.4 (72.3) |
20.9 (69.6) |
17.4 (63.3) |
11.8 (53.2) |
7.1 (44.8) |
14.7 (58.4) |
Record low °C (°F) | −3.4 (25.9) |
−0.3 (31.5) |
1.0 (33.8) |
4.5 (40.1) |
9.0 (48.2) |
14.3 (57.7) |
16.0 (60.8) |
16.2 (61.2) |
13.5 (56.3) |
10.0 (50.0) |
3.0 (37.4) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
−3.4 (25.9) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 0.68 (0.03) |
0.75 (0.03) |
0.83 (0.03) |
0.03 (0.00) |
0.14 (0.01) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0.21 (0.01) |
0.18 (0.01) |
2.82 (0.12) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 0.23 | 0.38 | 0.27 | 0 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 1.08 |
Average relative humidity (%)
|
63 | 56 | 52 | 43 | 37 | 40 | 46 | 51 | 53 | 55 | 61 | 67 | 52 |
Average dew point °C (°F) | 4.1 (39.4) |
4.0 (39.2) |
5.7 (42.3) |
6.9 (44.4) |
8.5 (47.3) |
12.1 (53.8) |
15.2 (59.4) |
16.4 (61.5) |
15.0 (59.0) |
12.5 (54.5) |
10.1 (50.2) |
6.2 (43.2) |
9.7 (49.5) |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 251.5 | 253.4 | 283.8 | 304.2 | 339.1 | 367.2 | 382.0 | 363.3 | 315.9 | 309.4 | 260.9 | 235.7 | 3,666.4 |
Source: |
Notable people
- Taha Hussein (15 November 1889 — 28 October 1973), a figurehead for the Arab Renaissance and the modernist movement in the Arab World
- Shadi Abdel Salam (15 March 1930 - 8 October 1986), Egyptian film maker, best known for "The Night of Counting the Years" (Al-Momiaa)
- Suzanne Mubarak (born 28 February 1941), Egypt's First Lady (1981–2011)
- Hoda Shaarawi(born June 23, 1879, died December 12, 1947), a pioneer Egyptian feminist leader and nationalist
- Ramses Younan (born 1913, died 1966) Egyptian surrealist artist and thinker
- Antonios Naguib (born 1935), Patriarch emeritus of the Coptic Catholic Church
- Mahmoud Abouelleil(born 24 December 1935), Judge and a former Minister of Justice of Egypt
- Ammar El Sherei (born 16 April 1948), famous Egyptian music composer
- Mervat Amin (born 24 November 1948), famous Egyptian actress
- Rafik Habib (born 1959), Christian (Coptic) Egyptian researcher, activist, author, and politician.
- Safaa Fathy (born 7 July 1958), Egyptian poet, essayist and documentary filmmaker
- Akram Habib (born 3 July 1965), Biblical scholar and social activist
Sister cities
- Hildesheim, Germany (1979)
See also
Notes
- el... or al... ...Menia, ...Minia or ...Menya.
References
- ^ a b c "Egypt: Governorates, Major Cities & Towns - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ^ Al-Ahram, Issue No.43948, 4 April 2007
- ^ Gauthier, Henri (1926). Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 3. pp. 36-37.
- ^ a b Peust, Carsten. "Die Toponyme vorarabischen Ursprungs im modernen Ägypten" (PDF). p. 65.
- ISBN 978-1-884964-03-9.
- ISBN 0-7607-0649-2.
- ISBN 0-7607-0649-2.
- ISBN 0-415-18589-0.
- ISBN 9780892367962.
- ISBN 9781467812399.
- ISBN 9780714119526.
- ISBN 978-1-61640-262-4.
- ^ Emad El Din Aly (2003). Visual Design Guidelines For Medium-sized Cities, the Case of El-Minya City-Egypt. Stuttgart: Städtebau-Institut, Universität Stuttgart. p. 87.
- ^ Emad El Din Aly (2003). Visual Design Guidelines For Medium-sized Cities, the Case of El-Minya City-Egypt. Stuttgart: Städtebau-Institut, Universität Stuttgart. p. 88.
- ISBN 9780567202826. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
- ^ "Egypt mummies: New tombs found in Minya". BBC News. 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
- ^ "Tomb with 50 mummies found in Egypt". akipress.com. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
- ^ "In photos: Communal tombs for high priests uncovered Upper Egypt - Ancient Egypt - Heritage". Ahram Online. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
- ^ "Tombs of High Priests Discovered in Upper Egypt - Archaeology Magazine". www.archaeology.org. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
- ^ Mahmoud, Rasha (2020-05-26). "Egypt makes major archaeological discovery amid coronavirus crisis". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
- ^ "Unique cemetery dating back to el-Sawi era discovered in Egypt amid coronavirus crisis". Zee News. 2020-05-28. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
- ISBN 978-1-4020-8755-4.
- ^ "Minya Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
- ^ "Port Said Elgamil Normals 1991–2020". World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.