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The Sinai`s Bedouin culture have
in common with the Egypt`s general culture the jalabiyya, which
is a hooded long robe that can be met in Cairo as well as in
Sinai. One important feature of the Bedouin culture is the
headgear consisting of the rope – agal- and the cloth – kufiyya.
This is characteristic to the Bedouin men. The Bedouin women
wear their heads covered and the married ones wear “asaba”,
which is a black cloth. The graves of the Bedouins are simply
with a stone at the grave` s head and another one to the foot.
The deceased clothes are leaved on the grave to be taken by the
poor people. The Bedouins` tent is divided into the mag’ad – for
the men and for the guests` reception, and the maharama – for
the women and the female guests. The guests are welcomed and
invited to a coffee, fresh and spiced. The Shabbaba and the
rababa are the Bedouin musicians’ traditional instruments. The
women are the main singers of the Bedouins; they sit in rows and
are engaged in a type of a song- dialogue made from verses and
commemorating some special occasions and events. In the Bedouin
culture the trespasses are so rare and implicitly hard to
forgive and forget. More, in this culture exists a respect for
the desert` s hardships and dangers, a respect that is shared by
all Bedouins and which imbued the culture with a deep sense of
hospitality. In the Sinai`s huge silence and solitude the simply
presence of a strange person used to be something unusual;
someone new caused a huge curiosity, but also generosity, joy,
hospitality and civility. All these values are celebrated in
Bedouins` songs, sayings and poetry. |
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