One Hundred Years Researching Egypt: From the Rule of Experts to Bedouin Voices?

Abstract

When Henry Lyons was appointed as the first lecturer in Geography at the University of Glasgow in 1909, he had just returned from several years as the Director General of the Survey of Egypt. One hundred years later witnessed the publication of a book drawing together a collaborative project in Egypt involving members of the Department. This paper reflects upon this interest in Egypt by geographers at the University of Glasgow, and, in so doing, critically examines the changing nature of scientific knowledge and practice over the intervening century.

Key Words:

• Egypt
• surveying
• postcolonialism
• indigenous knowledge
• fieldwork practices

Notes

¹This long-lasting link included a range of activities including interdisciplinary research projects designed collaboratively by Glasgow and Aswan academics, joint publications and postgraduate supervision. Throughout the duration of the project, there were ongoing debates and disagreements regarding issues such as the status of Bedouin knowledge and the role of women, but these were discussed openly and resolved together. Almost 100 different individuals from Egypt and the University of Glasgow were involved in the link (Professor Ramadan Abdallah (deceased), Professor Said Abo El Ella, Dr. Magdi Ali, Professor Abd El Razik Abd El Alim, Amal Awadallah, Dr. Samia Abdel Aziz, Douglas Ball (deceased), Professor Ahmed Belal (deceased), Professor John Briggs, Dr. Gordon Dickinson, Ekramy El Abassiry, Professor Fathalla El Cheikh, Professor Nasr El Emary (deceased), Professor Ragaiy El Tahlawy, Dr David Forrest, Professor Mohamed Gabr, Professor Samir Ghabbour, Professor Hassanin Gomaa, Professor Arafa Hamed, Nabila Hamed, Dr. Jim Hansom, Professor Lotfy M. Hassan, Dr. Abdel El Salam Ibrahim, Haythem Ibrahim, Professor Naieem Kaltaway, Professor Arafat Kamel , Professor Mohamed Kassas, Professor Imam Khalifa, Hanaa Kondol, Professor Andrew Long, Dr. Sayed Nour Moalla, Munir Mahgoub, Abdel-Monaim Mekki, Hatem Mekki, Professor Wafai Mikhail, Dr. Usama Mohalel, Awadalla Mohamed, Dr. Alastair Morrison, Dr. Kevin Murphy, Dr. Ahmed El-Otify, Dr. Ian Pulford, Dr. Magdy Radi, Professor Mohamed Raafat, Tarek Radwan, Dr. Usama Radwan, Professor Hussein Raghib, Professor Samir Riad, Dr. Alan Roe, Kassem Said, Dr. Ramadan Salem, Dr. Sayed Abdou Selim, Dr. Abdel-Sami Shaheen, Dr. Joanne Sharp, Dr. Hassan M. Sobhy, Dr. Hassan Sogheir, Dr. Mohamed Sogheir (deceased), Dr. Wafaa Sorour, Professor Irina Springuel, Mustafa Taher, Dr. Hussein Tahtawy, Tiffany White, Dr. Hoda Yacoub, Dr. Magdi Younis, Eric van Zanten, Dr. Tarek Zedan; and three undergraduate student exchange visits). However, whereas publications from work undertaken through the link have always been joint publications between UK and Egyptian researchers, on this occasion, when ‘ we’ is used in this paper, this refers only to Briggs and Sharp.

²Indeed, he was critical of those who did use indigenous sources. Thomas and Hill (2007) note that Lyons was highly critical of Harding King, a British scholar who did draw upon Egyptians' knowledge of the desert, for lacking credible evidence.

³It should be noted that this was a gendered space of interaction. Bedouin women are not permitted to meet men who are not part of their families and so these initial interactions did not involve them. Additionally, at the start of the project, the vast majority of researchers were male. This situation changed from 2000 when a series of DfID-funded Gender and Development projects facilitated research with women, and discussions regarding their environmental knowledges and concerns, which, in time, progressed to the collaborative establishment of small farms for the women (see Sharp et al., 2003; Sharp et al., 2009).

⁴Although the Fashekab seem to be disadvantaged by always being the located furthest from the lakeshore, this has been to their advantage, as this clan has made a useful living out of servicing the dabuka (camel trains) that come across the desert from Abu Hamed in Sudan. It takes between 10 and 14 days for the dabuka to traverse the desert from Abu Hamed, and Wadi Allaqi is the first opportunity for camels to take on water after leaving Abu Hamed, and before setting off on the final 3–4 days of their journey to Daraw, north of Aswan. This provides members of the Fashekab clan with business opportunities with the dabuka drovers.

⁵It should be noted here that it was not just the UK researchers whose views were different from the Bedouin. The Egyptian researchers' understandings of time and space were much closer to those of Briggs and Sharp, due to their scientific education and urban-based lives, than they were to the desert Bedouin. In fact, in many ways, because of the nature of scientific education of the Egyptian researchers, they faced more difficulty in taking seriously Bedouin beliefs than did Briggs and Sharp whose work had been influenced by postcolonialism. This could highlight the significance of postcolonialism as an approach which allows in the voices of the other, or difficulties with a turn to postcolonialism as representing yet another wave of western-centric ideas being forced upon researchers in the Global South.

⁶Bedouin in fact practice complex and sustainable preservation of acacia trees as they provide one of the most important resources available to them in Wadi Allaqi. They provide a source of feed for livestock from naturally fallen leaves, shaken leaves and fruit. They also provide an important source of wood for charcoal making; acacia is particularly valued for the quality of charcoal that can be made from it. Access to the various economic elements of acacia tress and bushes can be complex. From the same tree, one family may have claims to only naturally fallen leaves, whilst another may have access to those leaves which are dislodged when the plant is shaken, and a third to only the dead wood for charcoaling. For another tree, one family may have rights to all its production. The situation can be further complicated by the existence of some prohibitions against taking resources during some times in the year, whereas at other times resources can be removed without any such difficulty.