Invisible people of the Egyptian Deserts

Al-Ahram Weekly posted an interesting article about some "lost" tribes living in the Egyptian deserts, well OK, not some -- 45 tribes. Not a small number, but the tribes themselves have sometimes existed for centuries without knowing about each other -- and they remain largely unknown to the Egyptian urban populations.

Invisible people

Forty-five tribes have populated Egypt's deserts for millennia and yet their existence remains a mystery to the country's urban masses. The Characters of Egypt Festival aims to showcase their ways of life. Injy El-Kashef was there.

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Omran brandishes the sword of the Bishariya's figurative dance

It had been a good two years since my last visit to Fustat Wadi Al-Gemal, the venue of the Characters of Egypt Festival which lasted from 29-31 October (see Al-Ahram Weekly, issue 921). It was not without a passing moment of distress that my son Yassine and I unloaded the luggage from the car that had driven us from our doorstep in Cairo for a LE600 fee: "So many people!" he whispered in my ear, displaying the same symptoms of estrangement I was experiencing, for we were not accustomed to there being such a hustle and bustle under this particular star-lit sky. Shyly we began to reconnoitre our mission as our eyes gradually adapted to the dark and we challenged ourselves to minimal reliance on torchlight. The use of these devices, although indispensable when your tent is some distance away, always feels disrespectful, piercing as it does the dark veil of night.

There were people in every corner. The office tent was packed, cheers and loud clapping emanated from the main tent, accompanying vaguely familiar tunes. Circles of guests, cosily arranged around large cushions, dotted the vast grounds while a large bonfire attracted caffeine addicts awaiting the next round of ginger-spiced beverages. Footsteps were audible to and from the kitchen, bathrooms, kids corner, audio-visual conference centre and museum -- all housed in beautiful white tents -- while buses, jeeps and sedans constantly loading and unloading guests rendered the 6km off-road stretch connecting Fustat to the Marsa Alam highway almost in need of a traffic coordinator. This event is big. Bigger than I thought, I mused to myself as I quietly assumed the role of social butterfly once Yassine had run off to see if the camels were still awake, each of us attempting, his own way, to imbibe the floating energy before selecting a spot to settle down.

LEAPS, CAMELS AND DRUMS: Following a warm shower it was time to seek sustenance. As we walked in the large main tent I tried to identify the various groups occupying the low tables -- a futile attempt, it turned out, since members of the various tribes had already begun intermingling. The aim of the festival, as explained by Walid Ramadan, general manager of Fustat and founder of the Egyptian Desert Pioneers Society (EDPS) which, together with the Wadi Environmental Science Centre (WESC), organised the three-day event, was to provide a meeting opportunity for representatives of the various tribes that have inhabited different corners of our deserts for thousands of years without previously encountering one another.

Over breakfast, and following the first night's festivities that melted the ice, the aim had already born fruit as evidenced by the assortment of headgear (each bespeaking a different affiliation) gathered around the same table sampling madida and magly -- the first a sweet Nubian dish based on flour, milk and bean sprouts, the second a mix of puréed dates with cardamom and tamarind.

Out in the sun Omran, the youngest member of the Bishariya tribe, who two years ago tended the goats at Fustat, had now graduated to the level of gabana maker. Gabana is the answer to every coffee- lover's dream. Roasted on the spot over fire, the coffee beans turn from their original green to a rich dark brown and are then manually ground in a wooden container before being mixed with ginger, brewed and served sweetened in espresso-sized shots. Normally rounds of gabana can occupy hours as you stare at the view of the mountain range stretching over the horizon. This time, however, the games about to commence beckoned us to wind our way to where assembled Bedouins were making ready as international television channels began to roll.

First, physical strength was tested in round after round of tug-of-war; opponent tribes were placed at both ends of a thick rope while cheers from spectators drew every last iota of force from their muscles. And the winner was... the Ababda. Next came the far more entertaining rope jumping competition, in which the surprising agility of the Bishariya won the day. An incredibly high leap to a certain drum beat in their dancing provided them over the years with the required edge for winning this competition.

Then it was the guests' turn to climb the mountains for a clearer view of the spectacular valley where riders sped away on camel. Much to the Bishariya's chagrin, since they are the world's best camel trainers, it was Sinai's Eid Sweilam Al-Slym and Mohamed Mosallem tribes that earned first and second place on the camels they brought along to the festival, collecting LE10,000 and LE5,000 respectively. "It was unfortunate for the Bishariya and Ababda who had to compete on local camels trained to tread slowly for the safety of visitors," commented Ramadan, adding that "next year they will train camels especially for the race".

The spirit of the Nubian tribe required no special training, igniting in the attendees such abandon to the rhythm of their music that by sunset the main tent, its grandeur emphasised by Maha El-Gharbawy's exquisite lighting fixtures, was bursting with swaying energy. As the women inserted lit candles on henna paste in a round dish and began ululating, they announced the start of their bridal celebrations, drawing participants from every tribe and guests from all nationalities who lost themselves to the drum beat, guided by the pulsing cadence as they were unsuspectingly dragged, one after the other, within the women's circle. Despite their unrivalled success in the song department, Nubian Awad Abdel-Hafez Awad was stunned by the music of Siwa and Farafra, stating that hearing their singing and seeing their instruments were the highlights of the festival as far as he was concerned.

Storytellers from Sinai, Farafra and Siwa attracted avid listeners who grouped around the expiring embers of the fire late into the night, the suspense of their tales highlighted against a background of melodious applause echoing in the crisp air from the four corners of Fustat. One storyteller, finding some fragile urban nerves among our assembled party, was forced to withhold the next story since, involving, as it did, "otherworldly presences... it would prevent you sleeping till morning".

Read the whole article.

Tags: Invisible people, Egypt, Deserts, tribes, Injy El-Kashef, Al-Ahram Weekly, Characters of Egypt Festival, culture