The name of the city is derived from early Egyptian Zawty (Z3JW.TJ) (late Egyptian, Səyáwt) adopted into the Coptic as Syowt[2] ⲥⲓⲟⲟⲩⲧ [sɪˈjowt], which means "Guardian" of the northern approach of Upper Egypt.

[3] In Graeco-Roman Egypt, it was called Lycopolis or Lykopolis (Greek: Λυκόπολις, "ἡ Λύκων πόλις"),[4] ('wolf city') Lycon,[5] or Lyco.

The two most prominent gods of ancient Egyptian Asyut were Anubis and Wepwawet, both funerary deities.

Lycopolis has no remarkable ruins, but in the excavated chambers of the adjacent rocks mummies of wolves have been found, confirming the origin of its name, as well as a tradition preserved by Diodorus Siculus,[8] to the effect that an Ethiopian army, invading Egypt, was repelled beyond the city of Elephantine by packs of wolves.

[9] Other ancient Egyptian monuments discovered in Asyut include; the Asyut necropolis (west of the modern city), tombs which date to dynasties Nine, Ten and Twelve, and the Ramessid tombs of Siese and Amenhotep.

In Graeco-Roman times, there was a distinct dialect of Coptic spoken in Asyut, known as "Lycopolitan", after the Greek name for the city.

A large Byzantine Treasure was discovered near the city in the early twentieth century and is now dispersed amongst a number of museums in the West.

Asyut was at the end of the 40 Day Road that connected the city to Darfur through the Selima and Kharga Oases.

[17] The Alexan Pasha Palace was constructed in 1910 as a riverside residence of a local aristocratic family.