The Knowledge Gathering Phase

So, during Christmas and New Year's, we're planning to go on a road trip, which should include the main Pharaonic sites in Cairo, Luxor, and, maybe, Aswan.

Since I am probably one of the most ignorant people in the world about Egyptian history, I have decided to do some research before venturing on this journey. So, I searched for the right book, and I think I just found the most suitable one. I went to the Egyptology section at "Foyles", one of the largest book shops in London, and there was just too much choice. I probably spent the good part of 3 hours there trying to choose the right book, until I found "The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt".

What absolutely caught my attention, and made me decide that this should be the right book for me, was this part in the Preface: "Each of the authors of this history has set out to elucidate the underlying patterns of social and political change and to describe, with due regard to the dangers of archaeological and textual distortion and bias, the changing face of Egyptian culture, from the biographical details of individuals to the social and economic factors that shaped the lives of the population as a whole."

I suppose I was always a bit sceptical about reading the normal kind of Egyptian history book, which only described what each king and queen did, and never really shed any light on the lives and characteristics of the population at the different times. So, I am hoping that this will be a good starting point, now that I found some promising reading.

1-Characters of Egypt

What an event! Bringing all those people together was such an ingenious idea. The Characters of Egypt, an event, or rather a festival, which was organised by the Fustat Wadi El Gemal and the Wadi Educational Science Centre, brought together tribes from 11 destinations from all over Egypt to meet each other in one place.

I can bet anything that most Egyptians I know who live in Cairo don’t even know that half of these people exist. I am, for one, was guilty of such horrible crime, and I’m sure I continue to be guilty of not know most others, but I am determined to know more about these wonderful people.

It was rather amusing to see all these people, talk to them and hear stories about them. The first impressive story I heard was told by Lynn, the chairman of WESC, about last year’s event. Just as a background, most of these tribes are desert tribes, which have been completely forgotten over the centuries, with the exception of some, which have been exposed to tourism. She told us about the first encounters last year, and how different things were. All tribes were there in their authentic costumes, and when the North Sinai Bedouins arrived, they were in normal modern clothes and had their Ray Bans on. They were taken aback by the sight of others in their tribal attire.

When they saw this, they went back to their tents and came out with their authentic clothes. This showed the difference in cultures, and mentalities, that were affected by decades of exposure to modernity.

The North Sinai Bedouins have been exposed to the “modern” cultures through wars, as well as tourism. They have seen city people prejudging them, giving them hard time about their culture. Therefore, they started to get ashamed of their own cultures, but, when they saw others still proud of who they were, they went back and emerged as proud Bedouins once more.

Another example, involving the North Sinai Bedouins, was the difference in resources between the different tribes in Egypt. The Beshary tribes of South Egypt, who live mainly around Shelatin and Berenice, cook their food in ashes in the ground. When they saw the North Sinai tribesmen cooking their food on portable stoves, they were amazed by what they saw. The North Sinai guys did not believe that there are still people in the world who haven’t seen such things. This year, when the North Sinai guys came back to the Festival, they brought tens of these portable stoves as a gift to the Besharies. The interesting thing was that the Besharies adapted these to their own needs, and used them in a way that suited them best.

With this simple example, I understood better what the event was about, and I was keen to get on with it. The event was not just about understanding cultures from within my own country, but also try and better understand the needs of these different peoples, and maybe help them. Not necessarily helping them monetarily, but help could be in the form of raising awareness of their existence and making their lives become part of Egypt, and not just have their existence be in a parallel universe to ours. Exactly what I wanted when I started thinking about my book a few months ago. Lucky or what!

So, which tribes were there? The tribes came from 11 different places: Siwa, Matrouh, Farafra, Aswan, Al-Arish, Sharm El-Sheikh, Mount Sinai, Dahab, Nuweibaa, Red Sea Mountain Range, and Marsa Alam.

A worry of mine about such an event was that their cultures could be dissolved. But, I believe that when you bring such people together, they tend to be proud of who they are, and they try and preserve whatever is left of their unique customs and cultures.

The tastes, the colours, the smells, the sounds, the scenes, … Everything was just adding to my learning experience about these wonderful people.

As I planned, I did get to know a lot of people and exchanged contacts, and over the next few years, I will try to visit all of them, and many more, in my quest of understanding the cultures and needs of these different characters of Egypt.

Egyptians - Intro

This blog is about hearing what Egyptians have to say. I will be writing my findings here, aiming to get a complete overview of real Egyptian life, which should eventually be all collected in a book.

Over the centuries, Egypt has been ruled by governments, which, in my opinion, never actually addressed the real needs and wants of Egyptians.

Egypt, to me, is not only the main cities and known villages. At one million square kilometres, the country has some populations that have never been heard, and have never even been known to those “more fortunate” ones in the Nile Valley.

Over the next few years, I am hoping to reach some of those unreachable Egyptians, just to hear what they have to say; who they are, what they do, how they live, what they’re happy with, what they’re lacking, and, most importantly, what they need!

During my quest to know more about the Egyptians and Egypt, I am hoping that, eventually, those unheard voices will come out and, at least, reach some of those who like to call themselves the “elite” or the “educated.” Maybe, just maybe, someone, somewhere, will be able to reach out to his/her fellow Egyptians who have been forgotten for thousands of years.

Moreover, I’ll try to shed some light on the good, the bad, and the downright horrible aspects of Egyptian societies and cultures, trying to understand mentalities. I believe that understanding someone else’s mentality, which by no means means agreeing with it, is a first step towards a more harmonious, peaceful, happy and civilised society, where everyone can get almost everything they need, and live relatively comfortably.

I am planning my first real encounter to be during the event of “Characters of Egypt” (www.charactersofegypt.com) starting tomorrow, which will be taking place at Fustat Wadi El Gemal (www.wadielgemal.com). The event brings together 11 desert tribes from around Egypt; most people haven’t even heard about the existence of these people. Their way of life is still mostly very similar to the way they lived during the times of the Pharaohs. During the event, I will try to get to know as many people as I can from as many tribes as possible, at least to establish contact with them for future communication, and hopefully visits.

Any and all feedback is appreciated.