- Minyā, Al-
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▪ Egyptalso spelled Meniacity and capital of Al-Minyā (Minyā, Al-) muḥāfaẓah (governorate), in the Nile River valley of Upper Egypt. Al-Minyā is linked to Cairo (140 miles [225 km] north-northeast) by rail; it is a trading and administrative centre on the west bank of the Nile. Besides serving as a market and financial centre for the governorate, Al-Minyā has cotton gins and flour mills, a sugar refinery, and a carpet- and rug-weaving industry. The city has a television station, a university, and an automobile ferry to the east bank of the Nile. Because of its road and rail links, it has become a transit point for tourists visiting Middle Egypt, and there are several hotels in the city. Across the Nile to the southeast, at Zāwiyat al-Amwāt, lie ruins of the ancient town Menat Khufu, from which Al-Minyā derives its name. It was the ancestral home of the pharaohs of the 4th dynasty (c. 2575–c. 2465 BC). Remains of the Gerzean prehistoric period (Gerzean culture) have been found, and a small pyramid of the 3rd dynasty stands there. About half the population is Coptic Christian. Pop. (1996) 201,360.▪ governorate, Egyptmuḥāfaẓah (governorate) in Upper Egypt, between Banī Suwayf governorate to the north and Asyūṭ governorate to the south. It occupies the floodplain of the Nile River and extends for about 75 miles (120 km) along the river but also includes a section of the Western Desert, extending out toward the oases. To the west and east it merges into desert terrain, and the cultivated floodplain on the eastern bank is very narrow. Iron ore is found in the desert west of the river valley, and limestone is quarried on the eastern bank, north of Al-Minyā city. The area is heavily agricultural, the chief crops being cotton, corn (maize), wheat, dates, sugarcane, millet, and onions. Industrial activities include cotton ginning and flour milling. Al-Minyā city, Abū Qurgaṣ, and Shaykh Faḍl have sugar mills. Other towns include Mallawī and Banī Mazār.Sites with antiquities are located at Banī Ḥasan ash-Shurīq, Ash-Ashmūnein (ancient Hermopolis), and Tūnat al-Jabal, all south of Al-Minyā city. Mallawī has a regional museum with antiquities from sites in the governorate. Area 873 square miles (2,262 square km). Pop. (2006) 4,179,309.
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Universalium. 2010.
