Sidi Salem

Sidi Salem is a city in the Kafr El Sheikh Governorate of Egypt. Medieval Arabic and Coptic scholars identified it with the ancient town of Phragonis, which appears in Coptic and Arabic sources as al-Farajun, although archaeological findings point instead to Kom al-Khawaled, about seven kilometres to the east. The identification gives the place a wider interest, because Phragonis is believed to have been the home of Valentinus, the early Gnostic Christian theologian who founded Valentinianism. The official estimate for 2023 recorded on citypopulation.de gives the city about 45,500 residents, a figure that has stayed within a narrow range since the 1996 census, when it counted about 41,000.