El Matareya (Arabic:المطرية[el.mɑ.tˤɑ.ˈɾej.jɑ]) is a district in the Eastern Area ofCairo,[1]Egypt. The district is unrelated to the coastal town in theDakahlia Governorate, that is also namedEl Matareya. The district holds the ruins of theancient Egyptian city ofHeliopolis, one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt.
The name, El Matareya, is thought to come from theLatin wordMater which means 'mother', and is from the presence of the 'tree of the Virgin Mary' in this district.
El Matareya, with the nearbyAin Shams district, had a notable history during Egypt'sPharaonic period as a part of ancient Heliopolis. The district has archaeological sites of the period, some only recently discovered, beneath its current structures.[2] Inancient Roman times Heliopolis belonged to theAugustamnica province. Legend tells of the ChristianHoly Family sheltering under a tree in Heliopolis, presently known as 'the tree of theVirgin Mary',[3] now with the Chapel of the Virgin in El Matareya.[4]
The French naturalistPierre Belon du Mans mentions visiting El Matareya in his 1547 journey toEgypt.[5] El Matareya once had thevillas of prominent people. The famous Egyptian poetAhmed Shawqi lived in a villa he named ‘Karmet Ibn Hani’ or Ibn Hani's Vineyard كرمة ابن هانىء here, near the palace of the KhediveAbbas II at Saray El-Qobba, until his exile from Egypt atWorld War I.[6]
The El Masalla area of the district contains the ancient MasallaObelisk, or Misalla (Arabic:المسلة, trans. obelisk), one of the Pharaonic era obelisks that still remain in Egypt.[7] It is the only surviving element of Heliopolis standing in its original position, and of the great Temple ofRa—Atum constructed by PharaohSenusret I (1971—1926 BCE) of theTwelfth Dynasty.[citation needed] The 68 ft (20.73 m) tall redgranite obelisk weighs 120 tons—240,000 pounds (110,000 kg).
A pink granite megalithic colossus statue, with features resembling those of the PharaohRamesses II, was found in El Matareya in 2006, weighing five tons—11,023 pounds (5,000 kg). It was at the ruins of a sun temple dating back to the reign of Ramses II (reigned 1279—1213 BCE), at the site of later Souk El-Khamis.
The underground tombs ofHigh Priests of Re of theSixth Dynasty (2345—2181 BCE) were found in the southeast corner of the Re-Atum Temple archaeological site in El Matareya.[8] TheNecropolis of Heliopolis, 3 miles (4.8 km) east of the Masalla obelisk in El Matareya, dates from theMiddle Kingdom (c. 2055—1550 BCE) andNew Kingdom (c. 1550—1069 BCE).[9] A domed tomb made for a priest during theTwenty-sixth Dynasty (c. 685—525 BCE), was discovered under a construction site in 2004. Many funereal small figure statues were found inside (over 400), andhieroglyphic writing was on the tomb's walls from the seventh centuryBCE.[2]
In March 2017, the Egyptian-German team of archaeologists unearthed an eight-meter 3,000-year-old statue that included a head and a torso thought to depictPharaoh Ramses II. According to Khaled El-Enany, the Egyptian Antiquities Minister, the statue was more likely thought to be KingPsammetich I. Excavators also revealed an 80 cm-long part of alimestone statue of Pharaoh Seti II while excavating the site.[10][11][12][13]
A sycamore tree within the suburb, known locally as the Tree of the Virgin, has been a place of pilgrimage forCoptic Christians for many centuries, who come to pray by it or touch it, believing that it will heal illness.[14] According to local beliefs, theVirgin Mary andSaint Joseph stopped at El Matareya (then a small village) when theyfled into Egypt. Mary rested against the tree and a spring of water sprang up near it for Mary to wash the infantJesus. For many years its bark was taken by Christians in the belief that it had miraculous properties.[15] Next to the tree is a small chapel.[16]
Matariya is subdivided into nine shiakhas.
In the 2017 census Matariya had 602,485 residents across its nine shiakhas.[17]
| Shiakhas | Code 2017 | Population |
|---|---|---|
| `Arab Abû Ṭawîla | 013306 | 79,397 |
| `Arab al-Ḥiṣn | 013307 | 25,995 |
| `Ayn Shams al-gharbiyya | 013308 | 60,375 |
| `Izab, al- | 013301 | 206,947 |
| `Izbat al-Nakhl | 013309 | 82,863 |
| Matariyya al-qibliyya, al- | 013304 | 16,361 |
| Maṭariyya al-baḥriyya, al- | 013302 | 14,487 |
| Maṭariyya al-gharbiyya, al- | 013303 | 86,971 |
| Shajarat Maryam | 013305 | 29,089 |
The western part of El Matareya, within the industrial area of Musturud along the Ismailia canal, is the location of oil companies (Shell, Misr Petrol, and General Association of Oil in Egypt), and food industries (BiscoMisr and Misr lil Albaan).[18]
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| Cairo Governorate |
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| Giza Governorate |
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| Qalyubia Governorate |
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30°7′46.08″N31°18′26.94″E / 30.1294667°N 31.3074833°E /30.1294667; 31.3074833