Kom Oshim (Kum Ushim) is a town in
El Fayoum
Governorate in the
Western Desert
of Egypt , about 130 Kilometers south-west of Cairo . It goes back to the 3rd century BC , when Greek mercenaries founded it . It is an archeological site housing the remains of some Roman baths as well as the remains of the Greek ancient city , Karanis . Moreover , it comprises two temples built to worship variations of the god Sobek (the crocodile god); namely , Petesouchos and Pnepheros . Having the same structure , the Temple of the South is slightly better preserved than the Temple of the North . Both temples comprise the house of the crocodile .
The town of Karanis is one of the most frequently visited sites in the Fayoum . The names Karanis and Kom Aushim (Kom Ushim) are often used to denote the same set of ruins in the Fayoum . This Greco-Roman town was founded in the third century BC , probably by
Ptolemy II
Philadelphus . Accidentally , a number of papyri was found in the archeological site of this ancient city by Egyptian farmers harvesting sibakh left by the site's inhabitants . Excavation at Karanis was undertaken in 1895 by Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt
. Archeologists believe that the city's inhabitants were poor people from different nationalities . Roman army veterans formed 14 % of the population by 171 . Most of the inhabitants were farmers planting wheat , barley , lentils , radishes , dates , figs , peaches , pistachios , walnuts and olives and keeping domestic animals such as dogs , cows , pigs , mules , camels , pigeons and horses as well as antelope and crocodiles .
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