Asyut

Introducing Asyut

Asyut, 375km south of Cairo, was settled during Pharaonic times on a broad fertile plain bordering the west bank of the Nile and has preserved an echo of antiquity in its name. As Swaty, it was the ancient capital of the 13th nome of Upper Egypt. Surrounded by rich agricultural land and sitting at the end of one of Africa’s great caravan routes, from sub-Saharan Africa and Sudan to Asyut via Al-Kharga Oasis, it has always been important commercially, if not politically. For centuries one of the main commodities traded here was slaves: caravans stopped here for quarantine before being traded, a period in which slavers used to prepare some of their male slaves for the harem.

Much of modern Asyut is an agglomeration of high-rises that resemble an Eastern European new town rather than an ancient Egyptian entrepôt. In the late 1980s this was one of the earliest centres of Islamist fomentation. Although the town has now been quiet for several years, the police continue to maintain a visible presence around hotels. You may still find yourself lumbered with a police escort.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009