Moeris, Lake of

(Greek, Moirios or Moiridos limne), the ancient Greek name for a lake in the Fayyum Oasis of the Libyan Desert in Egypt, derived from the ancient Egyptian name Merur (literally, “large canal”). Birkat Qarun is all that remains of the Lake of Moeris.

In the early third millennium B.C., Shedet (ancient Greek Crocodilopolis) was founded on the southeastern shore of the lake. During the Twelfth Dynasty (20th to 18th centuries B.C.), particularly in the reigns of the pharaohs Sesostris II and Amenemhet III, great drainage and irrigation projects were carried out. In antiquity the Lake of Moeris (2,000 sq km) was much larger than the present Birkat Qarun (233 sq km). The lake was described by Herodotus (II, 149).