Archaeological site · Egypt
Medinet Madi (Narmouthis)
مدينة ماضي
Desert-edge temple town in the southwest Fayoum with a rare inscribed Middle Kingdom temple, sphinx-lined avenues and later temples.
Where it is
29.1931, 30.6421
Why go
On the desert edge of the southwestern Fayoum, Medinet Madi preserves a Middle Kingdom temple that still carries hieroglyphic texts and carved scenes, an unusual survival for that period. Later builders added Ptolemaic temples, a small Isis chapel, processional avenues guarded by lions and sphinxes, and a colonnaded square. One Ptolemaic building held a vaulted chamber where excavators found crocodile eggs, interpreted as a nursery for sacred crocodiles. Restored under an Italian–Egyptian project, the site opened as an archaeological park with a visitor centre in 2011.
Near Medinet Madi (Narmouthis)
Archaeological site
Qasr Qarun Temple
Temple of the crocodile god Sobek near the western edge of Lake Qarun, whose sanctuary is lit by the rising sun on 21 December.
32 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Karanis (Kom Aushim)
Mud-brick ruins of a Ptolemaic and Roman farming town on the Fayoum's northeastern edge, known for granaries and finds of daily life.
44 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Qasr el-Sagha Temple
Unfinished, uninscribed Middle Kingdom temple in the desert north of Lake Qarun, once close to the ancient shore.
45 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Meidum Pyramid
Meidum preserves an important stage in the development from stepped to smooth-sided pyramids.
54 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ