Akhmim

Akhmim (ancient Panopolis/Khmim), on the east bank of the Nile in Upper Egypt, is an old town with a deep pharaonic and Coptic heritage. It is the birthplace of the early Sufi master Dhu'l-Nun al-Misri (d. c. 859), an influential figure in the development of Islamic mysticism who was associated with esoteric knowledge (ma'rifa) and, in later legend, with alchemy.