* Egypt Egyptian families







Egypt: Families



Figure 1.--Most of the images we have of Egyptian families are urban families. We have few images of Fellahin families. There are some early ethnographic images, byt rarely photographs. Only in the 20th century with the advent of the snaphot do we begin to get a few images. Here we have a photogrph taken by tourists visiting Karnak in 1929. The picture was taken during a cruise stop on board the 'SS Rotterdam' during a cruise in the Mediterranean. The photo is from an album which belonged to Mr. & Mrs. Jacob William Moerlein from Cincinnati, Ohio.

We do not have much information on Egyptian families yet. We have some information on ancient Egypt, but then vurtually nothing until Europeans brought photography to the Middle East in the second half of the 19th century. They set up in the cities and thus you see portraits of the urban population including Europeans who settled in Alexandria and Cairo. Many urban Egyptian families adopted Western dress. We do not see many portraits of the rural population -- Fellahin. They were the great bulk of the Egyptian population. They were both fully Islamicized and retained many conservative traditional values. We see families that show no sign of change since the days of the medieval Caliphate. Few ever entered a photographic studio, especially with their families. Some of the early European photographers took posed ethnographic photographs for sale in Europe. We begin to get some more family photographs with the appearance of the anapshot (20th century). Most at first were taken by tourists. And we gin to see more studio portraits, but at first only of the rather modern looking urban population. The countryside and the familes there appear little changed. We only begin to see subtantial changes well after World War II.

Acient Egypt

The family was central to Egyptian life and society. The Egyptians were committed to the scantity of the family. The Egyptians even tend to arrange their gods in family groupings. Egyptians took great pride in their family and ancestors. And they traced lineage through both their mother's and father's lines. Archeologists have found numerous genealogical lists detailing one's ancestors. Modern kinship relationships do not emerge in the records of ancient Egypt. There seems to be a curious absence of words identifying blood relatives outside the basic nuclear family. The Egyptian word used for 'mother' was also used for 'grandmother' and the same was true for 'father'. The words for 'son' and 'daughter' was also used for 'grandson' and 'nephew' and simiarly 'daughter', 'granddaughter', and 'niece'. Uncle/brother and aunt/sister also used the same words. And the term 'sister'" was commonly used for 'wife', an indication according to some Egyptologists a testimony to the bond between husband and wife. Respect for elders, especially one's parents, at the core of Egyptain morality. The eldest son had the duty, perhaps honor, of caring for his parents as they grew older and then after death a respectful burial. Family life began early in ancient Egypt. Life spans were shorter. Thus marriags took place at rather young ages, commonly in adolescene. Presumably the male partner was older because he needed to be established enough to support a wife, perhaps 16-20 years of age. The female was commonly a younger teenager who had a least experinced their first menses. Marriage bonds were very strong. Divorce was possible, but apparently not very common. Royal and aristocratic marriages were polygamous. Common practices are less clear, but there does not appear to have been any religious prohibition on polygamy. In fact marriages were essentially a commercial rather than a religious contract. Economics was probably a factor. Many if not most marriages were monogamous probably because many peasants could not support a second wife. Children were a very important element of family life and seen as a blessing from the gods. We see this in royal depictions, especially notable are the paintings of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife, Queen Nefertiti, showing a very tender bond with their six daughters. Their is every reason to believe that the same relations were at play among the Pharaoh's subjects.

Caliphate


Mamaluks (1250-1517)


Ottoman Empire (1517- 1810?)


Khedivate (1810?-1922)

Egypt at the turn of the 19th century was aprovince of the Ottoman Empire. It was nore difficult to control than the more sparsely populated Arab lands of the Levant and Mesopotamia. It was Ottoman Vizir Muhammed Ali that established defacto independence as the Khedivate. While we have some information about family life in Egypt during the ancient era, we know next to nothing about Egyptian family life again until the 19th century. For this we can thank none other than Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon launched an offensive in of all places Egypt--an effort to break British commerce with India. Thanks to Lord Nelson and the British Royal Navy it was an utter disaster, but Napoleon managed to elude Nelson and got back to France before news of the disaster and suceeded in spinning the story. While rather a footnote of history, it let to the translation of hieroglyphs (Rosetta Stone) and the launch of orientlim in the West. The West was fascinating by the East, meaning primarily the Ottoman Empire and Arab world. We see all kinds of images, both drawings and paintings. Many but not all emphasized the exotic. It was a way of presenting what was esentially soft porn in a largely uptight Europe. Harem imagery was particularly popular. You might say that orientalism played the role often played by scence fiction in the 20h century. Along with all of this we also get some family depictions. And the invention of photography (1839) made possible some actual images for the first time. This only begun in the second half of the 19h century because Egypt was no technologically bacward that only with the arrival of Europeans do we begin to get photography in Egypt. Another problem was that most Egyptian men did not want their families photographed, especially the women. This changd only gradually. Europeans brought photography to the Middle East in the second half of the 19th century. The British because of the Suez Canal, estanlbshed a protectorate over Egypt. This did not mean colonial control. The Khedivate was left in power and the British exeted theor influence through it. Other than abolishing slavery, the Britih did not seek tochange Egyptian society. As a result od Suezand the Protectorate there was a substantial influx of Europeans in Alexandria and Cairo. This mean urban Egytians were exposedto Western culture. European photographers set up in the cities and thus you see portraits of the urban population including Europeans who settled in Alexandria and Cairo. Many urban Egyptian families adopted Western dress. We do not see many portraits of the rural population -- Fellahin. They were the great bulk of the Egyptian population. They were both fully Islamicized and retained many conservative traditional values. We see families that show no sign of change since the days of the medieval Caliphate. Few ever entered a photographic studio, especially with their families. Some of the early European photographers took posed ethnographic photographs for sale in Europe. We begin to get some more family photographs with the appearance of the anapshot (20th century). Most at first were taken by tourists. And we begin to see more studio portraits, but at first only of the rather modern looking urban population. The countryside and the familes there appear little changed.

Independence (1922- )

We only began to see subtantial changes in Egyptian family during the Khediavate as Werdyern influences began to affectEgyptioan families, at least the urban segment of the population. This was concentarted in the middle- and upper-classes. The primary influence was Britain which had established a protectorate. The British did not interfere significantly in Egyptian soiety and culture except to end slavery. But the cultural exposure to Western society was significntg in the cities. Officially the British granted independence (1922). There remained a close relatioinship because of the Canal and a defende Treaty . There were also foreign communities in Alexandria and other cities, although they were expelled or left (1950s). With the rise of the NAZIs in Germany, the Brirish reatined their military hold on Egypt. Clpthing is a very dignifican tell as to a family's orientation. Here women's dress is especially impirtant. And we see sharp differences. There are women wearing the burka-like niqab/niqāb as weell as fashionable women who would fit right it on 5th Avenue. Boys clothing was less of a major transition as many boys wore Western clothing to school regardless of the country's cultural prientation. After World War II Egypt eceived full indepndenced, but we continue to see a mix of Western and Traditiinal clthing. In recent years beginning we think about the 1970s we see less fashioinalable Wstern f\clothing and a resirgence of Islamic fashion.







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Created: 3:36 PM 12/13/2016
Last updated: 8:20 AM 6/11/2019