Hays Travelogue

Siwa Oasis, Egypt’s westernmost oasis, is so isolated that it retains its own language, culture, and traditions. The current town surrounds the ruins of the old fortress town of Shali. Our guide, Mr. Abu Bakr, is a member of the town council and runs the House of Siwa Museum. He taught us a lot about Siwan culture (below). More photos are here.

• The people here are descended from the Berbers. They speak their own language. All children learn Arabic at school.
• There were donkeys but no donkey carts in Siwa until WWII when the people pulled the wheels from vehicles that had been left by the armies.
• All of the donkeys in Siwa are males, bought or traded for in Alexandria or Marsa Matruh. This signifies that women should never have to do the hauling, carrying, or fetching.
• When women leave their homes, they are completely covered in a blue robe. In the old days, they also wore a blue veil over their faces. It has become fashionable to wear the Saudi black veil because of the increased visibility afforded by the slit for the eyes. The women need the visibility because of increased traffic in the town.
• The Temple of Amun was badly damaged in an earthquake in the 1800s. A provincial official then had the idea of dynamiting the remaining stones and columns to make building materials.
• Once a year, at the full moon in October, there is a Peace Festival attended by men and children. The purposes of the festival are to purify one’s heart, reconcile with one’s enemies, and live a peaceful life. Women, whose hearts are already pure, have no need to attend.
• Grandmothers used to tell moral stories to the children in the evening. But when the first television arrived in the 1980s, children began to prefer the violence of television to the right and wrong of the grandmother stories. Here is a story that Mr. Abu Bakr remembers from his grandmother, The Wolf and the Hyena. The wolf was very thirsty, but he could find no water. He searched and search and finally found a deep well, too deep for him to reach the water. He jumped into the bucket and sank to the bottom where he drank to his heart’s content. Then he realized his predicament. He had no way to get out of the well. He could only wait to be rescued or to die. Then came along a thirsty hyena. He looked into the well and saw the wolf. “Hello! What are you doing down there?” “I’m enjoying my time,” said the wolf. “The water is sweet and there is food as well. Grab the end of the rope and pull me up so that you can enjoy it, too.” The hyena took the end of the rope and being heavier than the wolf, he slowly sank into the well. Midway, they passed each other. “It’s just like life,” said the wolf to the hyena. “Some of us rise, and some fall.”
• When strangers, traders, and visitors come, give them a place to stay and food for 3 days. After 3 days, they must move on, because “a man without work is trouble.”
• It’s a sin to sell fruit. Siwans share their surplus with their neighbors.
• Siwans are healthy and live long lives. They use traditional medicines, sand baths and sweat lodges to cure their ailments.