of some of the most elaborate jewellery to survive from late antiquity. Asyut was at the end of the 40 Day Road that connected the city to Darfur through the Selima and Kharga Oases. The history of the road, known by local herders as Darb al-Arba'in, goes back over 700 years. It was used as a pathway for great caravans of up to 12,000 camels at its peak in the 14th century. Modern Asyut Today, the city of Asyut has almost 400,000 inhabitants. It is the Egyptian city with one of the highest Coptic Christian concentration of approximately 50%. It is also home to the Assiut University, one of the largest universities in Egypt, to the Assiut Barrage, and to the Lillian Trasher Orphanage. The city is one of the only cities in the world that still makes silver appliqué-work shawls and is home to a large textile industry. The city also produces fine pottery, inlaid woodwork, and rugs. Asyut is the terminus of the Ras Shukheir-Asyut oil pipeline, the terminus of the Cairo-Asyut gas pipeline and the beginning of the proposed Asyut-Qena gas pipeline, the last two being part of the Nile Valley Gas Company Pipeline Project. Aysut is next to the Aysut Dam across the Nile river in the neighboring port of Al-Hamra. The dam was built in 1902 and a hydroelectric plant was added in the 1980s. Coptic Catholic Eparchy On 10 August 1947, a Coptic Catholic eparchy (Eastern Catholic Diocese) of Assiut (or Lycopolis) was established on southern Egyptian territory split off from the Coptic Catholic Eparchy of Luqsor, each suffragan of Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria. Its episcopal see is the cathedral of the Mother of Divine Love, in Assyut. Suffragan Eparchs (Bishops) of Assiut (all Coptic Rite) Alexandros Scandar (9 August 1947 – death 29 December 1964) Youhanna Nueir, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (26 March 1965 – retired 20 March 1990); previously Auxiliary Eparch of Luqsor of the Copts (Egypt) (8 December 1955 – 26 March 1965) & Titular Bishop of Phatanus (8 December 1955 – 26 March 1965) Kyrillos Kamal William Samaan, O.F.M. (16 May 1990 – present) Geography Climate Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh). It is the driest city of Egypt. Luxor, Minya, Qena and Asyut have the widest difference of temperatures between days and nights of any city in Egypt, with almost difference. The city of