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El Manshia El Gedida

46512 El Tur

Ganub Sina

E G Y P T

 

 

 

Visitors were cause for some festivity including music, poetry an on special occasions even dance...

 

The traditional instruments of Bedouin musicians are:

The 'Shabbaba': a length of metal pipe fashioned into a sort of flute, the 'Rababa'a versatile, one-string violin and the string is made of the hair of a horse's tail, the 'Simsemeya': a stringed instrument specially from the Red Sea area, the 'Tablah': drums but an empty jerry-can will also do fine and and of course the voice.

 

The music is usually primarily vocal as instruments are often a luxury. 

There is a tendency to go into dramatic, echoing passages which of course do sound great in the open expanses of a desert.

The primary singers among the Bedouins are the women, who sit in rows facing each other to engage in a sort of sung dialogue, composed of verses and exchanges that commemorate and comment upon special events and occasions.

 

There are different rhythms of which the coffee-grinding rhythm is the most famous. A large wooden coffee-grinder ('Mihbaj') is used and played by Bedouins. It consists of a decorative mortar, about a foot tall, and a two-foot pestle. 

 

However, the most aesthetic expression focuses on the recitation of poetry, some memorized and some composed for the occasion.

Both men and women engage in contests of oral skills among their peer groups. While Arabic poetry and literature are very important for all Arabs, the Bedouin are masters at oral verse, an emotional and evocative form of poetry ('Ghazeet') that is recited from memory in classical Arabic.

 

Metaphor is a way of life for Bedouins and poetry its summit.

 

Rarely does a Bedouin, in moments of inspiration or danger, answer your question directly. A direct answer implies either spiritual shallowness or a limited intellect (qualities they associated with agriculturalists by the way) or poses a danger to his family from a raid or the taking of revenge. Therefore, his answer usually takes the form of a line of verse, a story or a parable and it is up to you to arrive at an answer.

Bedouins grow up in an environment filled with Bedouin metaphor, proverbs and the recitation of the Qur'an, some of whose suras approach pure poetry.

 

The Bedouins believe displays of unchecked emotions weaken the group’s solidarity, so they use poetry to express such strong feelings as sadness, love and anger or to convey feelings that might be difficult to express in everyday life.  

Their old poems celebrated heroic deeds of the tribe and its warriors and were recited around the camp fires. The Bedouins have developed their own way of passing information orally down through countless generations in a colourful, animated and musical form of poetry.

 

They recount at 'Al Maga'ad', a meeting of the men folk, in which the unwritten laws, politics and economy of the tribes are told. By adding rhythm and rhyme to the stories they're less likely to become distorted over time.

'Deheya' is the first form of delivery, which is performed by the more expert elderly poets. The tribesmen form a line as the elder recounts his tales of wisdom, with the men chorusing one word from each verse.
'Marbo'a' is the second form where the rhyme is accompanied by a rhythmic drumbeat and the women of the tribe dance in front of a single line of men with their veils held out wide, chanting and warbling with their tongues.
'Rafehi' is the third and most party like form where two lines of men face each other whilst the women dance between them. One of the lines start by chanting the first verse and the second line 'answers' them and so the exchange continues.

Arts

Simple tattooing of the face (and in some cases the hand) was practiced among Bedouin women but is nowadays rarely seen.

Drawing on sand is sometimes engaged in, particularly among children. Women weave sheep's wool and occasionally goats' hair into tent strips, rugs, blankets, saddlebags and camel trappings. The women also handcraft purses, dresses, bags, embroidery, beads and jewelry.

Important artistic expression in design, colour and pattern is incorporated into these handicrafts.

 

 

 

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Bedouin plays 'Rababa'...

 

 

Bedouin plays 'A-ood'...

 

 

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