posted 05 August 2004 03:42 PM            

Even during the Nasser regine,despite his land reform,nothing was done to help the poor Fellahin fight the yoke of Arab dependence. How ignorant of a people to forget the past of Arab opression yet embrace Arab nationalism.

Here are some examples:

Alongside the even more ancient presence of Copts, tribal groupings dating from the Arab conquest combined to form a hierarchical order that placed two groups, the ashraf and the arab, in dominating positions. These were followed by lesser tribes, with the fellah at the bottom of the social scale.(n28) Southerners came to be stereotyped negatively in the rest of the country, widely held to be crude, prone to violence and lacking intelligence.

The authority of central governments in Upper Egypt was cemented through clientelist ties with leading families of the ashraf and arab groups. Even the Nasserist regime did not substantially undermine this political-administrative arrangement. Although land reform benefited peasant farmers to a degree, members of the landed classes used a variety of means to retain much of their holdings. Cairo continued to staff the higher ranks of the local police and security apparatus with personnel from the ashraf and arabs.(n29)

Religion was central to the development of Upper Egyptian society. The ashraf claimed direct descent from the Prophet, while the arabs traced their lineage to a group of tribes from Arabia. On the other hand, the status of the fellahin rested on the belief that they descended from Egypt's pre-Islamic community and had converted to Islam, a history that placed them inescapably beneath both the ashraf and arabs.(n30) Copts have occupied an ambivalent position in the social scale; as Christians they are considered inferior to Muslims but their individual status effectively depends on more material criteria.

In Muslim as well as Christian communities, and particularly at the lower socio-economic levels, religious practices are strongly imbued with non-orthodox folk elements, some of pharaonic origin. Although orthodox Islam is well grounded in urban areas, the countryside is the domain of a rich folk-religion, replete with beliefs in the magical, miraculous and occult.(n31) The influx of villagers into Egyptian cities and towns, which by the 1970s led increasingly to the "ruralization" of these centers, provided fertile fields for anti-modernist, fundamentalist movements. Urban mosques often became centers for the recruitment of rural migrants into militant organizations.(n32)

http://www.iupui.edu/~anthkb/a104/egypt/conflictegyptmex.htm

The presence of Arabs in Upper Egypt goes back to the Mamelukes:

Jirja Province (Muderia)in Upper Egypt, now called Sohag Governorate,
is an important Coptic centre. In the 14th century the Circassian
Mamluks banished the Arab Hawarra tribe there, and these raiders saw
to it that all fellaheen, particularly Copts, suffered. Most
fellaheen lost their lands to these Arabs. They were reduced to
slaves, as they were made to work for the Arabs on threat of being
killed. An important book on the history of the area is written by
Mohammad ibn Mohammad ibn Hamid al-Maraghi al-Jirjawi and
called "Nour al iyoon fi zikri Jirja min aahdi thalathati ghiroun."
As usual in books written by Arabs it is full of irrelevant things;
however, it contains some important information on the history of
Upper Egypt (Saeed) as a whole. Westners have ignored the study of
this important part as they focused on the study of Cairo and its
environment. If one has the time and energy to translate that book
with some annotation it will prove a very helpful contribution to the
study of the fellaheen and Copts in Upper Egypt.

posted 05 August 2004 03:56 PM            

in that women,in particular are encouraged to marry inside their ''tribe'' The dominant tribes identified above are thus part of a regional social fabric that include lesser status[and smaller tribes reffered to as ''Arab'' or ''peasent'' tribes. there are clear status distinctions here. these lesser tribes should defer to the leadership of the dominant tribes. Probabaly in most places the Christain groups would rank about there In some areas there is even a third rung status,including the more marginal tribe with craft and their specializations[see Saad 1998, this volume] Some of these groups could be described as ''caste like'' in that they are occupationally defined ,endogamous,and membership is hereditary.

page 20-21

Upper Egypt Life Along the Nile

Nicolas S. Hopkins

posted 05 August 2004 05:14 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by ausar:
The Arabian Caliphtes who ruled Egypt during the Middle Ages with an iron fist brought various bedouin tribes dumping them into Saeed[Upper Egypt] in an attempt to Arabize the local inhabitants.

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posted 05 August 2004 06:17 PM            

Because of the relative isolation and population demographic of Upper Egyptians vs. those in Lower Egypt. The Upper Egyptian province was hard for local Caliphtes to maintain because of constant rebellions that occured in the region.