Ain Shams

Ain Shams
عين شمس
Ain Shams is located in Egypt
Ain Shams
Ain Shams
Location in Egypt
Coordinates: 30°07′40″N 31°19′45″E / 30.12778°N 31.32917°E / 30.12778; 31.32917
Country Egypt
GovernorateCairo Governorate
Time zoneUTC+2 (EST)


Ain Shams (also spelled Ayn or Ein - Arabic: عين شمس, [ʕeːn ʃæms], Coptic: ⲱⲛ ⲡⲉⲧ ⲫⲣⲏ[1]) is a district in the Eastern Area of Cairo, Egypt.[2] The name means "Eye of the Sun" in Arabic, referring to the fact that the district contained the ruins of the ancient city of Heliopolis, once the spiritual centre of ancient Egyptian sun-worship, and settled since 3100 BCE following the Predynastic Period.[3] However, administratively the visible ruins today lie in the district of al-Matariya.[4]

  1. ^ "أسماء بعض البلاد المصرية بالقبطية - كتاب لغتنا القبطية المصرية | St-Takla.org". st-takla.org.
  2. ^ "Eastern Area". www.cairo.gov.eg. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  3. ^ Dobrowolska; et al. (2006), Heliopolis: Rebirth of the City of the Sun, p. 15, ISBN 9774160088.
  4. ^ "Egypt's Eternal City - Archaeology Magazine". www.archaeology.org. Retrieved 2023-02-26.