Living within the El Muzena Tribe

Nuweiba, Sinai

Part 3 ~ Lives of Nomadic Men and Women

'Lady' Colleen Heller

You see one or two at a time set back from the sides of the roads, moving their sheep from place to place, shade to shade; hot and looking tired in the heat of the desert. They wear black but have designs of bright glass beads sown by hand reflecting a hint of character, a glimmer of brilliant sun kissed colour standing out from the folds of black and the neutral colour of the surrounding sand. Long sleeved under dresses with minimal footwear, often not fitting their feet, the women move along their day tending to their animals. Donkeys carry packs with basic needs of water, tea, sugar, some small food items like bread, cheese and tomatoes. Sometimes you will find a rider on the donkey but that is not why they are there. They will carry back home the wood and other articles the women collect while searching for  food for the goats and sheep. At the end of a long hot day, it is enough just to get back to start cooking dinner. If there is no donkey, which is mostly the case, women will tie what they find together and sling it over their backs or put it on their heads! The women will sort things back at their homes, cook, clean, sew or bead until late hours in the night by candle light or fire light. One day gone and the cycle will continue tomorrow.

They are on call to their husbands at all times when the men are present. Most women do not mind at all. The women are clear of their roles and although westerners may not like it, they know their place and have their own set of rules for women under them by age or marriage. It is a very interesting society and long standing in its views. Changing the views of Egyptians to more western thinking may or may not be a good idea but changing the views of Bedouin, well that’s not happening at all! The men are clear what is in good taste and what is not. Bedouin women will follow the ideals of those before them and no TV or any other influence will deter this.

There are many tribes in Sinai and all distinguishable by dress; some by facial features. Both the men and the women have different looks but it is by looking at the women that you can see which tribe they are from. El Muzena does not have characteristically better handiwork then their rival tribe El Terrabin which shares the medina (city) of Nuweiba. El Muzena and El Terrabin Tribes will meet along the paths but basically they stay to

themselves. The latter tribe is more aggressive and demanding than Muzena. They will have less issue with standing up to authority and Muzena is more about following a good idea and not challenging it. Both tribes of men have codes which are broken fairly often but they rarely, if at all, cause undo strife between the tribes.

In the desert when El Terrabin tribesmen are passing through Muzena lands either by camel or jeep they wave and keep moving. I have not been in El Terrabin lands to see if this holds true for the Muzena passing through the lands of Terrabin. Old timers know each other or of each other and stop to have tea before moving on. News is past this way. In the early days of my arrival, before cell phones, communication came on foot, camel or jeep. I particularly liked this as it was exciting to have news even though at the time I could not speak any Arabic. The look on everyone’s face was good enough to know something interesting was happening and I would ask later what had happened! One of the Bedouin had fairly decent English and after talking to me so much, had a better grasp of American English.

Bedouins live near water, wood for fire, food for the animals, and as close as possible to the streets to get some supplies to their simple homes. Camels are used by the Bedouins for work and for personal travel. Tourists travel about the desert in old world charm or on blister seeking saddles when not set correctly on the camel seat! I definitely know that one! The camel is still the best way to experience the desert. It is not a 20 minute experience. You need time to really feel the ancient walk of these animals and view the land from this height. The men will take you on trek to one of the incredible sites called Naw Mess to see the houses of the old tribe, some documented 5000 year old dwellings is amazing.

Stone houses structured in layers to a slab roof like those of Sligo, Ireland are found here. Quite impressive and interesting that these two lands, Ireland and Egypt, so far from each other would in fact have been structured so similarly. How is that possible? I do not know the answer but certainly would be interested to know.

What I like the most about the desert Bedouins is they love their land and are happy if you love it too. Although there are bland sand colours in parts of the desert it also has amazing colours in some areas, hidden canyons, ancient writings carved into stone, trees that survive on hardly any water, nights where the stars seem within reach and the nomadic community of the Bedouins to help you if you need it.

Next in the series ~

The Life of the Women of El Muzena Mena

all rights reserved Lady Colleen Heller 2010