Egyptian Boys Activities



Figure 1.--This 19th century photograph shows an Egyptian boy by his donkey which used to earn small amounts. The photograph was taken by Zangaki, a Greek photographer active in Cairo during the 1860s-80s. The portrait could have been taken centuries earlier--in sharp contrast to the dynamic Christian West. Many Arabs today blame the West for their predicament and poverty. There is almost no acceptance forhow brief the Western colonial experience was or the backwardness and poverty of the Arab world when the Europoeans arrived. Or just why the Aab world was so backward and poor bdorre thae arrival of the Europeans. The Arabs assumed that independence and the expulsion of the Europeans would usher in prosperity and a new golden age. Unless there was oil that the Arabs (with European technology) could simply pump out oif the ground, however, this did not occur.

We have very limited information on activities pursued by Egyptian boys. Until recently the Egyptian population was primarily rural. And the primary activity in which children were involved with was rural farm work. Early photographic images of Egypt mostly show children working. Thus before the Industrial Revolution almost all boys worked. And slavery was practiced before th arrival of the British. Other than work, religion seems to hsve been the major activity in which boys participted. As in other Muslim countries, religion is another important activity. The countrywas predominately Muslim, but there ws a subtantial Coptic Christian population and a small Jewish community. Wnote little about children's play. We know there were toys. In fact some of the earlies chikdren's toys have been found in Egypt. W know next to nothing abut games. As in many Muslim countries, sports is not as important as in most other countries. Relatively few boys went to school until after World War II, Few boys and almnost no women were educated. The only schools that seemed to have functioned until the 20th century were Islamic madrrassas. Our information on Egyptian education, however, is very limited. Large number of Egyptian children and youth are now being educated, but standards are very low. We note large numbers of Egyptian youths receiving university degrees, but we notice no output of scientific literture or other indicators of actual scholarly achievement or technological accomplishment. The results are extroninarily high unemployment rates among university graduates, in part because of the economy, but also because of the inadequate nature of the university programs. We have some limited information about youth groups. There is a small Scout movement, but we know very little about other youth groups.

Work

Until recently the Egyptian population was primarily rural. And the primary activity in which children were involved with was rural farm work. This was the case in ancint Egypt and contunued to be the case int mofern times when the British arrived (late-19th century). Early photographic images of Egypt mostly show children working. Europeans began setting up photographic studios in Egypt (1870s). Thus we have wondurful images of what life was like in Egyot durig the lte-19th cetyry. Thus before the Industrial Revolution almost all boys worked. Egypt traded in Nubian (African) slaves. Egypt played a role in Arab African slavce trade. And slavery was practiced until the arrival of the British who finally ended the slave trade. Egypt changed substantially in the 20th century. There was a huge shift of population grom rural villages to urban areas, especially Cairo which is now one of the earth's major urban centers. Unlike rural aeas, there are far fewer work opprtunities for children. And the country since independence has built a modern eucation system which means that most younger children are no longer involved with work. Unfortunaly the economy is not generating needed jobs for the children coming out of chools. Nor are the schools including the universities adeqately preparing youths for the job market, especilly with needed technival skills. And in acountry with high unemployment, extrme poverty, and low wages. Yjre is asignifican problem with child labor. One press report indicates, "According to Major General Abu Bakr Al-Gendy, head of the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the volume of child labor in Egypt is as high as 1,594,000. Labor includes work at levels classified between light and dangerous. There are 17 million children in Egypt between the ages of 5 and 17. Children between the ages of 15 and 17 make up 46% of the total child labor market, with 4.87% of them giving their earnings to their parents. Al-Gendy noted the percentage of girls in the child labor force reached 21%. 7.42% of child labor is concentrated in Upper Egypt’s countryside, while 8.4% is in Lower Egypt’s countryside. The concentration of working children, ages 12 to 14, increased by 8.3%, with 12 year olds as the smallest concentration at 23%. 120,000 children between the ages of 5-17 age group did not go to school, of which 5.5% were male and 5.49% were female. 487,000 children, 79% of which were male, left school to work. The survey indicates that the agriculture sector accounted for the largest share of child labor, at 62%." ["Child labor"]

The Arts

As in other Muslim countries, the arts were no well developed in Egypt. The visul arts were almost notexistent because of Islamic prohibitions on the representation of the human form, sometimes extended to animals as well. Thus until the invention of photography we do not have images of Muslims in most country. Persia and India has aore relaxed view of the Koran. But in Egypt, the Levant, and rhe rest of North Africa we have no visual depictions. Some Western artists engaged in Orientalism during the 19th centurty, but often they were imaginary depictions, not based on trvel in the region. The most developed art form was architecture which became most developed in the construction of beautiful mosques, but there was no involvemnt of boys here because extensive knowledge is required to design and build these magnificent structures. Music and dance were a little different. This is an issue not specufically addressed in the Koran and thus is a matter of discussion among Islamic scholars. We see instruction in Islamic literatue like, "The prohibition of intentionally listening and giving ear to haram (forbidden or proscribed by Islamic law) songs and music has beenmentioned in the holy tradition. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) said, 'And the person with the [sin of] singing (al-ghina’) will be raised [on the day of resurrection] blind, deaf and dumb. The person with [the sin of] adultery, of wood-wind, and of drum will also be raised in the same way.'” [As-Sayyid] The general opinion is that some music and dance is acceptableas long as it is not senuous--on which which there is a matter of some debate. And some firm have appeared that are clearly sensuous in Muslim socities that were tolerant on such matters. The best example is belly dancing. In some cases children have been involved,both boys and girls. Islamic scholars have also differed on where music abd dance are pemissible. Performing in front of a husband is generally tolerated. Performing in front of other men and women more suspect anfd forbidden by some scholars.

Religion

Other than work, religion seems to hsve been the major activity in which boys participted. As in other Muslim countries, religion is another important activity. Egypt over milenia developed one of the most significant and enduring religious systems in history. It did not, however, spread outside the Nile valley. Egyptian religion continues to fascinate historians more than any other religious system. Egypt was conquered by many foreign armies, but the traditional religion enfured into the modern era. It did not begin to disappear until after the Roman conquest when Christianity became the religion of the Empire. Christian religious concepts began widely accepted in Egypt as the Coptic Church formed. The Copts were at odds with Byzantine orthodixy. Byzantine religious and civil authorities attempted to stamp out what was seen as heresy. This is one reason why Arab armies were able to defeat the Byzantines in Egypt (640-42 AD). At the time, the Coptic Church was very widespread. Over time Egypt became Islamicized. Over 90 percent of the Egyptian population is Muslim. There is a Christian minority of about 5 percent of the population. There was also a small Jewish population, but since the Isreael-Palestine wars, the Egyptians expelled the Jewish population, first stripping them of their property and valuables. The dominant strain of Islam is Sunni.

Play

We note little about children's play. We know there were toys. In fact some of the earlies chikdren's toys have been found in Egypt. W know next to nothing abut games. As in many Muslim counries, sports is not as importnt as in most other countries.

School

Relatively few boys went to school until after World War II, Few boys and almnost no women were educated. The only schools that seemed to have functioned until the 20th century were Islamic madrrassas. Our information on Egyptian education, however, is very limited. Large number of Egyptian children and youth are now being educated, but standards are very low. We note large numbers of Egyptian youths receiving university degrees, but we notice no output of scientific literture or other indicators of actual scholarly achievement or technological accomplishment. The results are extroninarily high unemployment rates among university graduates, in part because of the economy, but also because of the inadequate nature of the university programs.

Youth Groups

Egypt is the hear of the Arab world with the largest population. We see some youth groups in Egypt, mostly Scouts, but the movement as in other Arab countries was very small. We have very little information on Egyptian youth groups. It appears to have been limited to the urban middle class. And minority groups (Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and others seem to have embraced the idea more than the aran majority. The only group we have found any information on at this time is the Scouts. The Egyptian Scouting movement was founded about 1912. HBU has unfortunately been able to find virtually no information on Egyptian Scouting. Antonis Benakis, son of a rich Greek cotton merchant and philanthropest Emmanuel Benakis, was the founder of both the Greek boy scouts in Egypt, but also of the Egyptian scouts. We are not sure just when they were founded, but believe it was about 1912. Some Scouting activity has been reported earlier including groups affiliated with the short-lived World Order of Scouting. This group was the earliest World Scouting organisation. The Egyptian Scouts were presumably also influenced by British Scouts as Britain had a strong presence in Egypt until the 1950s because of the Suez Canal. We are unsure to what extent Egyptian Scout groups were integrated. We note a separate Jewish group in 1920. They seem to be a Scout-like group. Egypt is the most populace country in the Middle East and probably has the largest Scout movement in the area.

Sources

As-Sayyid al-Khu'I, al-Masa'ilu 'sh-Shar'iyya, vol. 2, p. 22.

"Child labor in Egypt on the rise," بالعربيه Al Bawaba Business (July 18, 2011).







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Created: 3:49 AM 2/28/2010
Last updated: 3:43 PM 8/22/2017