Asyut my friends are considered the largest town in Upper Egypt and lies about 234 miles south of Cairo. It is an old city, which was first established in pharaonic times. In more recent times, it was the end of the road for camel caravans that traveled up the 40-Day Road from Darfur in the Sudan, and in 1850's it had the largest slave market in Egypt.

 Today Asyut is the capital of the Said (Upper Egypt), has a large Christian community and is the region's most important agricultural center, dealing in cotton and grain. It also has some carpet manufacturing industry. It is also the home of the third largest university in Egypt.