Interview with Ahmad and his Dad, January 2007
The Qabilat al Rashayda family has been in
Egypt for around 100 years. In about 1880, the Salwa and Hodda family’s ancestors were living in
Saudi Arabia. When there was a war in Saudi Arabia that involved Malek Abdel Aziz (from the el Seoud family), many people left and fled through Sudan to
Sohag, Egypt. Here, they lived a Nomad lifestyle, traveling with tents and camels. Under President Sadat, the Bedouin population of
Egypt was made to take on the Egyptian nationality, and was given land to settle down. In return, Bedouins had to start taking over all responsibilities that were expected from other Egyptian citizens, as for example attending military service. Thus, Ahmad’s ancestors became ‘Egyptians’ in the 1970s. During this time (? Or earlier??), Sanduq el Badya, a Bedouin from the Qabilat el Rashayda visited Egypt from Saudi Arabia each year to provide Bedouins in Egypt with food and other goods they required for living. Nowadays, the Qabilat el Rashayda family is spread as widely as Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia. In Bir 5 and 7 in Abu Minqar, most Bedouins are from the family of the Qabilat el Rashayda. The people of Bir 4, on the other hand, are members of a different Bedouin family, the Qabilat el Massau’d. According to Ahmad’s father, the two Bedouin families differ in custom. For example, one family (the Qabilat el Massau’d) allows for marriages between uncles and their young nieces, while the other family would discourage this practice. Also, the Qabilat el Rashayda keeps track of all births and marriages (according to Ahmad’s father, there is a book kept in Bir 4, in which all family developments such as births and marriages are recorded). The Bedouin dialect, however, does not differ much between the two families.
