Helwan El A'am SC
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Helwan ( ', , ) is a suburban district in the Southern Area of
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. The area of Helwan witnessed
prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins  million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
,
ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
ian,
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
and
Muslim era The Hijri calendar (), also known in English as the Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the Ramad ...
activity. More recently it was designated as a city until as late as the 1960s, before it became contiguous with the city of Cairo and was incorporated as a
district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
. For a brief period between April 2008 and April 2011 it was redesignated as a city, and served as the capital of the now defunct
Helwan Governorate Helwan Governorate was one of the Governorates of Egypt, governorates of Egypt. It was located in Lower Egypt. History The Helwan Governorate was split from the Cairo Governorate in April 2008. It was created through a presidential decree in o ...
that was split from
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
and Giza governorates, before being re-incorporated back into them. The ''kism'' of Helwan had a population of 521,239 in the 2017
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
.


History

The Helwan and Isnian cultures of the late
Epipalaeolithic In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are someti ...
, and their Ouchata retouch methods for creating microlithic tools may have contributed to the development of the
Harifian Harifian is a specialized regional cultural development of the Epipalaeolithic of the Negev Desert, in the southern part of the Levant. It corresponds to the latest stages of the Natufian culture, and represents a culmination of the local Natufi ...
cultural assemblage of the Sinai, which may have introduced
Proto-Semitic language Proto-Semitic is the Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed common ancestor of the Semitic languages. There is no consensus regarding the location of the linguistic homeland for Proto-Semitic: scholars hypothesize that it may have originated i ...
s into the Middle East. Around 3000 to 2600 BC, there was a cemetery near Helwan serving the city of
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...
. The city of Helwan was founded in 689 CE as
Fustat Fustat (), also Fostat, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, though it has been integrated into Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by the Rashidun Muslim general 'Amr ibn al-'As immediately after the Mus ...
's temporary replacement as the capital of Umayyad Egypt by its governor
Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam (; died 12 May 705) was the Umayyad governor and ''de facto'' viceroy of Egypt between 685 and his death. He was appointed by his father, Caliph Marwan I (). Abd al-Aziz's reign was marked by stability and prosp ...
, who died in the new city. The Khedivial Astronomical Observatory was built here 1903–1904, and was used to observe
Halley's comet Halley's Comet is the only known List of periodic comets, short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing every 72–80 years, though with the majority of recorded apparitions (25 of 30) occurring after ...
. Egypt's oldest and largest private psychiatric clinic, the
Behman Hospital Behman Hospital (مستشفى بهمان) is the first hospital in Helwan, Egypt to treat psychiatry, mental illness, and addiction. It was founded in 1940 by Benjamin Behman. Date After the establishment of the city of Helwan baths for sulfur s ...
, was constructed here in 1939. During the early part of the 20th century, the city was the site of
RAF Helwan The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
, a major British airfield, which was later used by the
Egyptian Air Force The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) () is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all military aircraft, including those used in support of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy ...
. In 1959 Helwan was chosen to serve as a site of a major industrial city, as part of President Gamal Abdel Nasser's attempts to industrialize Egypt. Throughout the 1960s, it developed into a massive
steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...
zone, with numerous automobile factories being built. The site continues to use electricity from the
Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam, or Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. When it was completed, it was the tallest earthen dam in the world, surpassing the Chatuge D ...
and iron ore from Egypt's western deserts. Helwan was gradually transformed into a mass suburb of Cairo for the working class.


Helwan Governorate

In April 2008, the
Helwan Governorate Helwan Governorate was one of the Governorates of Egypt, governorates of Egypt. It was located in Lower Egypt. History The Helwan Governorate was split from the Cairo Governorate in April 2008. It was created through a presidential decree in o ...
was split from the
Cairo Governorate Cairo () is one of the 27 governorates of Egypt. It is formed of the city of Cairo, both the national capital of Egypt and the governorate's, in addition to six satellite cities: the New Administrative Capital - which became the official seat ...
, encompassing most of the districts outside the
ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...
, as well as all satellite cities ( 15th May,
New Cairo New Cairo ( ') is a satellite city within the Cairo governorate of Egypt, and the metropolitan area of Greater Cairo. Administratively, it is officially part of the Eastern Area of Cairo city, but like all new settlements in Egypt, it is di ...
, Shorouk, Badr, and Huckstep) and the undeveloped desert. Helwan was elevated to city status, incorporating the districts of al-Ma'sara, 'Ain Helwan (qism Helwan), and al-Mustaqbal (prev. 15 May), and became the capital of the new governorate.
Maadi Maadi ( ) is a leafy and once suburban district in the Southern Area of Cairo, Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile about upriver from downtown Cairo. The modern extensions north east and east of Maadi, New Maadi and Zahraa al-Maadi are admini ...
was also elevated to city status, incorporating the districts of Maadi, Tora, al-Tibin and al-Nahda. Helwan Governorate later incorporated the rural counties (marakiz, sing.
markaz Markaz may refer to: Organisations * The Markaz, formerly the Levantine Cultural Center, a religious cultural center in West Los Angeles, California * Markazu Saqafathi Sunniyya, a university in Kerala, India * Markaz Knowledge City, a city ...
) of Al-Saf and
Atfih Atfih ( '  , ''Tpeh or Tpēh'') is a town in Middle Egypt. It was part of the now defunct Helwan Governorate from April 2008 to April 2011, after which it was reincorporated into the Giza Governorate. As of 2001, it has a population of 1 ...
from the Giza Governorate's former jurisdiction east of the Nile. Following the dissolution of the Helwan Governorate in April 2011, all cities and districts returned to their previous statuses, and the city of Helwan was reincorporated as a district. File:Helwan points (Abu Salem points sub-type).jpg, Helwan points (Abu Salem points sub-type) File:Map of the Levantine sites with Helwan points.jpg, Map of the Levantine sites with Helwan points


Ecclesiastical history

Alphocranon was important enough in the Late
Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
of
Arcadia Aegypti Arcadia or Arcadia Aegypti was a Late Roman province in northern Egypt. It was named for one of the reigning ''Augusti'' Augusti, of the Roman Empire, Arcadius () of the Theodosian dynasty when it was created in the late 4th century. Its capital ...
to be a
suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...
of its Metropolitan Archbishop of
Oxyrhynchus Oxyrhynchus ( ; , ; ; ), also known by its modern name Al-Bahnasa (), is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo in Minya Governorate. It is also an important archaeological site. Since the late 19th century, t ...
. Its bishop, Harpocration, participated in the
First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea ( ; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325. This ec ...
in 325. The bishopric is mentioned in two ''
Notitiae Episcopatuum The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' (singular: ''Notitia Episcopatuum'') were official documents that furnished for Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church. In the Roman Church (the mos ...
''.


Titular see

No longer a residential diocese, Alphocranon is today listed by the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
as a
Latin Catholic The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches in full communion w ...
titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...
,''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 829 nominally restoring the diocese since 1933, but no incumbent is recorded.


Administrative subdivisions and population

In the 2017 census, Helwan had 521,239 residents in 8 shiakhas:


Economy

Local industry includes
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
,
steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
,
textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
and
cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...
. The area has hot sulphur springs, an astronomical observatory, the
Helwan University Helwan University is a public university based in Helwan, Egypt, which is part of Greater Cairo on over . It comprises 23 faculties and two higher institutes in addition to 50 research centers. Overview Helwan University is a member of the ...
and a burial chamber (discovered in 1946). It is the southern terminus of Cairo's light rail Metro Line 1. Also
trams A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
in Helwan used to serve the people.


Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as
hot desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
(BWh). Owing to its proximity to
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, its average monthly temperatures are quite similar, but it has a quite different distribution of
humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...
and its diurnal average temperature variation is slightly larger.


Notability

*
Sadd el-Kafara Sadd el-Kafara ("Dam of the Infidels") was a masonry embankment dam on Wadi al-Garawi 10 km southeast of Helwan in Cairo, Egypt. The dam was built in the first half of the third millennium BC by the ancient Egyptians for flood control and i ...
, one of the earliest prehistoric man-made dams in the world. * Harold Knox-Shaw, one of the earliest astronomy specialists in Helwan Observatory. * John Reynolds, one of the earliest astronomy specialists in Helwan Observatory & president of the English
Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...
between 1935 and 1937. *
Operation Priha The Priha (Blossom) Operations were a series of strikes undertaken by the Israeli Air Force during the War of Attrition. Taking place between January and April 1970, the operations consisted of 118 sorties against targets in the Egyptian heartla ...
: Helwan was targeted in Priha-1. *
Tewfik Pasha Mohamed Tewfik Pasha ( ''Muḥammad Tawfīq Bāshā''; April 30 or 15 November 1852 – 7 January 1892), also known as Tawfiq of Egypt, was khedive of Khedivate of Egypt, Egypt and the Turco-Egyptian Sudan, Sudan between 1879 and 1892 and the s ...
died in his palace at Helwan. * The
6th Armoured Division (South Africa) The 6th South African Armoured Division was the second armoured division of the South African Army and was formed during World War II. Established in early 1943, it was based on a nucleus of men from the former 1st South African Infantry D ...
was present at Helwan during WW II. * The
82-BM-37 The M-37 or 82-BM-37 (батальонный миномёт, battalion mortar) is a Soviet 82 millimeter calibre mortar designed by B.I. Shavyrin and accepted into service in 1937. The design of the M-37 is based on the earlier French Brandt ...
is known as "Helwan M-69 82mm mortar". * Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam Pasha lived in Helwan. *
Moataz Eno Moataz Eno (; born October 9, 1983) was an Egyptian footballer. Nickname Moataz Eno adopted his nickname (Eno) from his father Eno who played for Al-Masry SC. Zamalek Moataz Eno is an Ahly youth product but moved to Zamalek when he was 13 on ...
was born in Helwan. * Cars produced at Helwan: ** Nasr 128 ** Sahin 1.4S ** Sahin 1.6SL **
Zastava Florida The Yugo Florida, also known as Zastava Florida, Yugo Sana or Yugo Miami, is a five-door hatchback which was introduced by Yugoslav automaker Zastava on 19 February 1987, and remained in production until 2008. The Florida was designed by Giorg ...
In **
Fiat 1100 The Fiat 1100 is a small family car produced from 1953 until 1969 by the Italian manufacturer Fiat. It was an all-new unibody replacement for the Fiat 1100 E, which descended from the pre-war, body-on-frame Fiat 508 C Balilla 1100. The 1100 was ...
**
Fiat 1300/1500 The Fiat 1300 and Fiat 1500 are a series of front-engine, rear-drive automobiles manufactured and marketed by Fiat from 1961 to 1967, replacing the Fiat 1400 and Fiat 1200 coupé, spyder and cabriolet. The 1300 and 1500 were essentially identic ...
**
Fiat 2300 The Fiat 2300 is a Straight-six engine, six-cylinder executive car which was produced by Italy, Italian automotive manufacturer Fiat between 1961 and 1968. The 2300 was made as Sedan (car), saloon (styled by Dante Giacosa), Station wagon, estate ca ...
**
Polski Fiat 125p Polski Fiat 125p is a motor vehicle manufactured between 1967 and 1991 in Poland under a Fiat license by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych (FSO). It was a simplified and altered variation of the original, Italian-made Fiat ...
/FSO 125p **
FSO Polonez The FSO Polonez is a motor vehicle that was developed in Poland in collaboration with Fiat and produced by Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych from 1978 to 2002. It was based on the Polski Fiat 125p platform with a new hatchback designed by , Wal ...
MR'83/MR'85 ** FSO Polonez MR'86/MR'87/MR'89 **
Fiat Ritmo The Fiat Ritmo is a small, front-engine, front-wheel drive family car manufactured and marketed by Fiat, launched in April 1978 at the Turin Motor show and offered in 3- and 5-door hatchback and cabriolet body styles – from 1978 to 1988 with ...
**
Fiat Regata The Fiat Regata is an automobile produced by Italian automaker Fiat from 1983 until 1990. The Regata name was used for the sedan and station wagon versions of the Fiat Ritmo hatchback, corresponding to the post-facelift Ritmo. The Regata was off ...
**
Fiat Tempra The Fiat Tempra (Type 159) is a small family car produced by the Italian automaker Fiat from 1990 to 1996 in Italy. The Tempra was intended as a replacement for the Fiat Regata. The original project was called ''Tipo 3'', being a mid-size car be ...
* The English Middle East Command Camouflage Directorate was present in Helwan. *
Geoffrey Barkas Geoffrey Barkas (born Geoffrey de Gruchy Barkas, 27 August 1896 – 3 September 1979) was an English filmmaker active between the World War I and World War II. Barkas led the British Middle East Command Camouflage Directorate in the Second Worl ...
designed the
Operation Bertram Operation Bertram was a Second World War military deception, deception operation practised by the Allied forces in Egypt led by Bernard Montgomery, in the months before the Second Battle of El Alamein in 1942. Bertram was devised by Dudley Clark ...
while heading Middle East Command Camouflage Directorate. * A crater on the
951 Gaspra 951 Gaspra is an S-type asteroid, S-type asteroid that orbits very close to the inner edge of the asteroid belt. Gaspra was discovered by Russian astronomer G. N. Neujmin in 1916. Neujmin named it after Gaspra, a Black Sea retreat that was visite ...
asteroid was named after the spa city of Helwan. *
Inebu-hedj Inebu-hedj (''White Walls'', also Inbu-Hedj, ''White fortress'') was one of 42 nomes (administrative division) in Ancient Egypt., Egypt Ancient.net, accessdate=2010-07-14


In Popular Culture

Algernon Blackwood Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The literary cr ...
's novella ''Sand'' is set largely in Helwan.


See also

*
List of ancient Egyptian sites This is a list of ancient Egyptian sites, throughout Egypt and Nubia. Sites are listed by their classical name whenever possible, if not by their modern name, and lastly with their ancient name if no other is available. Nomes A nome is a s ...
, including sites of temples * 15th of May *
Greater Cairo The Greater Cairo () is a metropolitan area centered around Cairo, Egypt. It comprises the entirety of the Cairo Governorate, the cities of Imbaba and Giza in the Giza Governorate, and the city Shubra El Kheima in Qalyubia Governorate. Its def ...
*
Helwan retouch The Helwan retouch was a bifacial microlithic flint-tool fabrication technology characteristic of the Early Natufian culture The Natufian culture ( ) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15–11, ...
*
Helwan University Helwan University is a public university based in Helwan, Egypt, which is part of Greater Cairo on over . It comprises 23 faculties and two higher institutes in addition to 50 research centers. Overview Helwan University is a member of the ...
*
El Tebin Al-Tabin Al-Tebben and Alos (التبين) is one of the Districts of Cairo Governorate in the Southern Region, it was previously affiliated with Helwan Governorate It remained affiliated with Giza Governorate until 1989. Date Old It was menti ...
*
Maadi Maadi ( ) is a leafy and once suburban district in the Southern Area of Cairo, Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile about upriver from downtown Cairo. The modern extensions north east and east of Maadi, New Maadi and Zahraa al-Maadi are admini ...


References


External links

*
Helwan on Wikivoyage


{{Authority control Populated places in Cairo Governorate 7th-century establishments in the Umayyad Caliphate Districts of Cairo Helwan Populated places established in the 7th century Districts of Greater Cairo