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| The exact origin of the name "Little Egypt" for our region is not entirely clear, but there appears to be a number of factors that have contributed to their development and popularization over time. One reason that the area became popularly known as Egypt centers on Southern Illinois’ role in supplying grain to northern and central Illinois following a harsh winter in 1830-31. Upper Illinois suffered from a long winter and late spring, so crops were not planted until June, and much of that harvest was killed by an early September frost. Southern Illinois, however, was milder that year and produced grain, much of which was shipped north. Wagon trains came south and returned home with corn, and many believe the similarities with the Bible story of Jacob’s sons going to Egypt to buy grain and survive a famine may have resulted in the nickname.
Another theory is related to a comparison of the land mass surrounded by the great Mississippi and Ohio rivers with that of Egypt’s Nile delta region. The nickname may date back to 1818, when a large tract of land was purchased at the confluence of the rivers and its developers named it Cairo (pronounced "kay-row"). Today, the town of Cairo still lies on a peninsula where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi. Other settlements in that portion of the state have names with Egyptian links: Thebes, Dongola, Lebanon, and Karnak. There is also an Egyptian High School in the extreme southern portion of the state and the man-made Lake of Egypt. These Egyptian influences are not only concentrated here in Little Egypt, but farther south. About one hundred miles south of Cairo, along the Mississippi, lies Memphis, Tennessee, which also was named after an Egyptian city on the Nile with the same name. Memphis also has a giant pyramid for a sporting venue. The name appears to have changed from "Egypt" to "Little Egypt" after "hoochie-coochie" dancer Farida Mazar Spyropoulos appeared in the World Columbian Exposition in 1893 in Chicago. There are also mounds similar to the pyramids located in Cahokia. The nickname of the athletic teams at the region's main university, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, also has a Middle Eastern link. The school nickname, Salukis, is the name of a dog breed that originated in the Middle East. |
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