Beni Suef (be'– swāf) [key]or Bani Suwayf (bä'nē) [key], city (1986 pop. 152,476), capital of Beni Suef governorate, N central Egypt, on the Nile River. Situated in an intensely cultivated farming region, Beni Suef has cotton mills and sugar refineries. Alabaster is quarried near the city.
