Fellahin

By TEFERI ABATE ADEM

Fellaheen (singular Fellah)

The Fellahin of Egypt are indigenous rural villagers mostly living in Upper, Middle and Lower Egypt along the banks of the Nile valley. They are believed to be among the oldest farmers on earth whose highly productive agriculture, characterized by total reliance on irrigation and intensive labor, contributed to the rise of the ancient Egyptian civilization.

Rural Egyptians (most of whom may be Fellahin) in 2009 comprised about 57 per cent or about 47 million of 83 million estimated Egyptians (CIA 2010).

The Fellahin speak Arabic which is also the official language of Egypt (Blackman 1927).

Egypt is among the oldest nations on earth. Conquered by the by the Arabs in 639 AD, it was and was ruled until 969 by the Eastern or Abbasid Caliphate as a province with a governor. In the later year it was conquered by the Fatimite Caliphate of North Africa, which shifted its capital to Cairo. In the middle of the 11th century, Egypt had a mass influx of Bedouins from Arabia who settled down in the Nile valley, mixed with the indigenous peasantry. It is believed that the new settlers brought about substantial acculturation of the indigenous people to the Arab way of life.

From 1171 to 1252, Egypt was ruled by the Ayyub dynasty, who owed nominal allegiance to the Abbasid Caliphate. From 1252 to 1517 came the rule of the Mamuluke dynasties, who had their capital at Cairo and also acknowledged the nominal suzerainty of the Abbasid caliphs. In the latter year Egypt fell to the Turks, and was ruled by Pashas from Constantinople. In 1879 began a period of Anglo-French and British control which was succeeded by national independence in 1923. In 1952, the Free Army Officers overthrew the monarchy and promised to eradicate rural poverty by redistributing land to landless Fellahin (Bush 2007).

The Fellahin live in compact villages, which are often walled. Traditional houses are rectangular in shape, with flat roofs of wooden beams and earth. The walls are constructed of stones or sun-dried brick coated with mud and often whitewashed (Blackman 1927).

The Fellahin are predominantly farmers and agricultural laborers. They grow crops twice a year on irrigated plots using ox-drawn plow. Water for irrigation is lifted into irrigation canals by man-operated wellsweeps locally called shaduf. They also use animal-operated water wheels. The staple crops are wheat, barley, maize, sorghum, and rice. They also cultivate millets, oats, beans, peas, vetch, cloves, lentils, and a wide variety of tubers (including beets, carrots, onions, potatoes, etc) and leafy vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflowers, lettuce, spinach, etc. Other cultivated plants include vines, ground fruits, tree fruits (notably citrons, dates, figs, oranges, etc.), condiments, and cotton.

Domestic animals include cattle, water buffaloes, camels, horses, donkeys, sheep, goats, poultry, and bees. Dried dung is used for fuel, and considerable use is made of milk, butter, and cheese. Hunting and gathering are insignificant, but there is considerable fishing in the Nile (Blackman 1927).

One of the commonest industries in Fellahin villages is pottery making (Blackman 1927: 136). They use the red clay to produce a wide variety of utensils, tiles and bricks. The Fellahin are also skilled basket makers, weavers and leather workers.

Trade is important economic activity and there are weekly markets where people from different communities sell and buy products and animals.

Men do most of the agricultural work, tend and milk the larger animals, and engage in trade. Women care for poultry and often for sheep and goats, and they sometimes milk and assist the men in harvesting.

Land is privately owned, and can be bought and sold. Prior to Egypt’s 1952 land reform legislation, which subsequently redistributed land to the landless, agricultural land was held by large landowners and the ruling elites. The Fellahin lived mostly as tenants and agricultural laborers.

Descent is patrilineal, with a segmentary lineage system of Arabic type. Residence is patrilocal.

The kinship terminologies used in Fellahin villages are those generally used in Arabic-speaking societies. Family members in the extended family are precisely described. There is, for example, clear distinction between full (true) and half siblings (i.e., siblings born of the same mother and those of the same father only). Similarly, a distinction is made between a person’s grandson from the daughter (called Sibt and grandson of a son called Hafeed.

There is strong tendency toward local endogamy. First cousin marriage is common. The first preference is for marriage with a father’s brother’s daughter, and the second for marriage with a mother’s brother’s daughter. Marriage involves a moderate amount of negotiated bride-price money. Polygyny is permitted up to the Koranic limit of four wives, but it is practiced only by few wealthy men. When it occurs it is strictly non-sororal in form, and the husband establishes each wife in a separate house. He rotates among them, spending one day with each in turn. Premarital sex relations and adultery with married women are forbidden.

The commonest household unit is a small patrilocal extended family consisting of a man and his married sons with their wives and unmarried children. The household usually breaks up after the death of the father, who has strong patriarchal authority. Occasionally, however, sons continue to reside together after the death of their father, but not if they have divided his estate.

Inheritance is patrilineal. In accordance with Islamic law, all children share equally except that shares received by daughters are half as large as those received by sons. A man may, however, dispose of his estate by an oral will made in the presence of his children and two male witnesses. When this is done, the eldest son commonly received a larger share, often about half of the estate.

Children and infants are raised by the extended family unit. Parents, older siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all take part in creating a healthier surrounding, both moral and physical, for the young. Girls are especially subject to “a strict moral code, the infringement of which often entails a terrible punishment” (Blackman 1927: 45). They are taught the best way of carrying out domestic duties including cooking, cleaning, and honoring their family including by secluding themselves from men and strangers (Ammar 1954).

Beyond the extended family, the Fellahin live as members of a village community. Members of each village normally include members of different lineages, but they all may claim shared kinship ties through a common ancestor beyond the lineage level. In the past slavery was widely practiced. There was also a considerable class distinction in which the Fellahin were landless tenants and agricultural laborers (Blackman 1927).

Fellahin villages have no council of elders or a popular assembly of some sort. They are often administered either by an elected village headman or by a local representative of the Egyptian government called Omde. Each headman is often assisted by a hereditary village sheik subordinate to him, and a small armed village policy force (Blackman 1927).

The village headman Omde, assisted by both the village sheik and the village police, is chiefly responsible for maintaining peace and order at the household and village levels.

Conflicts are limited; when they occur they are mostly cases of blood vengeance among families and lineages.

Except for few Coptic Christians, the Fellahin, like other Egyptians, are Muslims. The Five Pillars of Islam are the declaration of faith, the five daily ritual prayers, almsgiving, fasting, and the pilgrimage to Mecca. Each Muslim is expected to observe the fast of Ramadan, perform the obligatory prayers, and celebrate the two major Islamic holidays—`Iid al-Fitr and `Iid al-Adhha. Some household heads endeavor to make the hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca) more than once in a lifetime, and individual piety is sometimes reflected in the number of pilgrimages an individual manages to undertake. Like other rural people in the region, the Fellahin also believe in the presence of a variety of superhuman beings called (jinn) or afarit (Blackman 1926: 2). They also believe in the power of some individuals with “envious eye” to attack to vulnerable children. For this reason, it is common to a variety of protective amulets attached to the clothing of small kids or hanging around the necks.

The sources show that the Egyptian Fellahin venerate a number of holy men and women to whom miraculous powers have been ascribed, either during their lifetime or after their death. The list of these venerated personalities include Sheiks (titled holy men), women believed to be spirit mediums, and diviners. Other religious practitioners include Coptic clergy some of whom receive the appellation of Mari/ or Saint.

The Mulid en-Nebi – the annual celebration of the birthday of the Prophet– is the most important of the festivals and ceremonies held in Fellahin villages (Klunzinger 1878). Similar celebrations are held in honor of the birth day of local village saints and holy men. These ceremonies involve pilgrimage to the tombs of saints and slaughtering animals as offerings. Other rituals contribute to the definition of household membership and household space. For instance, a newborn child is made a household member through rites of naming, seclusion and purification, which new mothers observe for between seven and forty days after childbirth (Ammar 1954).

In addition to music and dancing, Fellahin arts include a variety of stories, proverbs and anecdotes.

As in other rural communities of North Africa and Middle East, illness may be attributed to a number of causes including spirit possession and germ invasion. Traditional preventative and curative measures include wearing magical amulets, consulting spirit mediums and diviners, and using locally prepared herbal remedies. Western medical treatment is also sought out, particularly when traditional efforts fail.

Fellahin burial ceremonies are dictated by Islamic practices. The body is buried as soon as possible and always within twenty-four hours. Decorated tombs are built for venerated religious personalities tombs, while graves of ordinary people are marked by stone (Klunzinger 1878: 46-48).

Abdel-Rasoul, K., 1955. Zar in Egypt. Volkerkundliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft in der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien.

Ammar, Hamed, 1954. Growing Up in an Egyptian Village: Silwa Province of Aswan. London: Routledge and Kegan paul Ltd.

Blackman, W. S., 1927. The Fallehin of Upper Egypt: Their Social and Industrial Life Today with Special Reference to Survivals from Ancient Times. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.

Blackman, W. S., 1926. “The Karin and Karineh”. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 56, Pp. 163-169.

CIA. 2010. World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html (as accessed on 1/12/2010).

Klunzinger, C. B., 1878. Upper Egypt: Its People and Its Products. New York: Scribner, Armstrong and Co.

Murdock, George. P., n.d, “Fellahin File” in George P. Murdock “African Culture Summaries” available at HRAF Archives.