28°39′N30°51′E / 28.650°N 30.850°E /28.650; 30.850
Maghagha مغاغة | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Football stadium in Maghagha. | |
  Maghagha Location in Egypt | |
| Coordinates:28°39′N30°51′E / 28.650°N 30.850°E /28.650; 30.850 | |
| Country |  Egypt |
| Governorate | Minya |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Maghagha (Arabic:مغاغة) is acity inEgypt, located on the west bank of theNile. It is the northernmost city in theMinya Governorate.
The old names of the town wereNimoui (Arabic:نموى, fromCoptic:ⲛⲓⲙⲟⲩⲓ,lit. 'islands') andGazirat al-Hagar (Arabic:جزيرة الحجر,lit. 'stone islands').[1]
In May 1963, the ferry boat Adel capsized here, killing 206 people.
In June 2007, 11-year-old schoolgirl Budour Ahmed Shaker died at a private clinic in Maghagha after an excessive dose ofanesthesia while undergoing the procedure offemale genital cutting, sparking widespread protests and prompting the Egyptian government to outlaw the practice by closing a legal loophole allowing it to be performed for "documented health reasons". The ban instead drove the practice underground, with doctors charging higher fees to compensate for the risk of being prosecuted.[2]
The1885 Census of Egypt recorded Maghagha (asMaghaghah) as anahiyah in under the district ofEl Fashn inMinya Governorate; at that time, the population of the town was 3,126 (1,548 men and 1,578 women).[3]
In 1888, a travel guide by the British publishing houseJohn Murray described Maghagha as possessing one of the most importantsugar factories in Egypt, with large tracts around the town being devoted to the cultivation ofcane sugar, although the amount of sugar produced at the factory had diminished in recent years. There was abranch line connecting Maghagha toAba al-Waqf andBeni Mazar; it was used to transport cane sugar tosugar mills during the harvest season. The guide also described several ancient ruins in the area, with a cemetery fordog mummies. Just upstream from Maghagha was a rock called theHagar es-Salaam, or "stone of welfare", in the Nile near the shore. Local boatmen claimed that no journey down the Nile would be prosperous until passing this rock.[4]
Maghagha'ssouk is one of only two in Egypt to be government-owned (the other is inShibin el-Kom), with fixed rental fees for vendors. Other markets in Maghagha district are privately owned, with varying rental rates. These markets are mostly held on different days, to reduce competition with one another and allow merchants to attend several different ones in the same week. To that end, some of the markets have been rescheduled in the past: for example, the souk in Bani Khalid was established in the 1940s and was originally held on Sundays. However, in the mid-1970s, improved transportation led to the market being rescheduled to Tuesdays, to reduce competition with the market in Saqola. The markets that are held on the same day owe their coexistence to distance and size factors. For example, there are three souks held on Thursday in the district: in Maghagha itself as well as in the villages of Bani Wallims (18km from Maghagha) and Shim al-Basal al-Bahariya (14km). The latter two souks are smaller ones (orsuwayqas) with no more than 70 vendors; they mostly cater to the needs of local residents.[5]
The following table shows the date and location of the various souks in Maghagha district:[5]
| Name | Market day | Direction from Maghagha |
|---|---|---|
| Barabat | Saturday | Southwest |
| Saqola | Sunday | Southwest |
| Aba al-Waqf | Monday | South |
| Bani Khalid | Tuesday | West |
| Shim al-Basal al-Qibliya | Wednesday | Southwest |
| Shim al-Basal al-Bahariya | Thursday | Southwest |
| Bani Wallims | Thursday | Southwest |
| Maghagha | Thursday | -- |
| al-Qayat | Friday | West |
| Tanbidi | Tuesday | West |