Raian Meris
a lake basin, or ancient storage reservoir, in the Fayûm, Middle Egypt. It is long since dried up, but the statements of Herodotus, Strabo, and others show that the Nile has been regulated by utilizing a depression in the desert corresponding in shape and situation to the Raïan basin. A proposal to reconstruct this reservoir, by means of which an immense area might be brought under irrigation, engages attention. See MERIS, LAKE.