Assiut is the largest town in Upper Egypt and lies about 234 miles south of Cairo. It is an old city which was first settled in pharaonic times, then the capital of the Thirteenth Nome of Upper Egypt and named Syut. Later, the Greeks renamed it Lycopolis which means 'city of the wolf'. This was due to the importance of the Jackal gods Wepwawet (Opener of Ways) and Anubis. Although the city was of considerable strategic value in its position between Upper and Lower Egypt, it somehow managed to stay clear of national importance as a capital.