ihg the parts of Egypt northward of Benisouef are partly
Maghrabyn, that is, descended from Arab tribes of the
western desert, and bri part Arabs immediately from the
peninsula.*
I have already observed that several districts in the valley
of the Nile above Egypt are inhabited partly by Arabs, and
in part by the Barabra. Those races, according to the information
we obtain from Dr. Ruppell, do not intermarry, but
live in separate villages, and keep- their families, distinct. In
some divisions of the province of Dongola, as in that of Wady
Araba, the-people are exclusively Arabs, and speak only the
language of their original country.-f- They claim a pure descent
from the tribe of Alckati. According to; Burekhardt,
the Arabian tribes of Nubia are descended from Bedouins,
who entered the country soon after the promulgation ^of
Islam. The tribes of Djowabereh— —and El Ghar-
byeh—Aaj —the latter being a part of the great tribe of
"Zenatyeh—*ajU)—-took pbssfessionofthe country fromAssuan
to Wady Haifa. The Arabs of Nubia, meaning the kingdom
of Dongola, are descended from these tribes, and from?'a
branch of the Koreish who settled at Mahass, and from a feW
sheriffs who took their abode in the Batn-el-Hadj ar.
In the districts on the Nile which Ire immediately to the
southward of Wady Haifa and the kingdom of Dongola the
population is more simply of Arabian extraction, thairb'di
tween that country and Egypt. The Arabs on the Nile speak
as pure Arabic, according to Burekhardt, as their kindred in
the Hedjaz. Darner is a great centre of Mohammedan learning,
whither the youth are sent from the surrounding countries
for instruction in reading the Koran and in the doctrine of
Islittn. It is governed by a sort of hierarchy.^
Shendi is the central position of several Arab tribes, who
have settled inJUpper Nubia. The principal of them are the
Nimrab, Nayfab, and the Djaalein, who are still chiefly Be-
douins.f
* Burckhardt’s Travels in Egypt and Nubia.
■f Riippell’s Reisen in Nubien, Kordofan, &c. p. 11.
% Burekhardt, ubi supra, Ritter, Efdkunde, uil mpra._
§ Burekhardt, p. 279.
To the tribe^of Dj*a#lei|§belongtthe■ remarkable nation of
Sheygya or JShakieh-Arabs', whose manners and character
have Kbeenr,^é®"|èl^d^by Mr. Waddingtony Dr. Riippell and
other tr-aveMe^sïin‘ Ethiopia.*
-After this brie?1&dication^©£Hjhe division^of Arabian tribesy
who fha^^dllonispd“ the^counfriefei on the* Nile, I shall add,,
some noti^eÿ of the ha-tn#Vand physical - characters of? the
most remarkable -of them.
5[ 1. Egyptian Arabs.
Ÿolrièy divides the Egyptian Arabs’into three' classes, the
first arë the Fellahs, or’diusbandmen, ^hpôsterity, he says,
of the Arabs who^S^4gVàtedfff^fffhë pëhmsrfla after the' ébn-
q-uest , of Egypt by Amrou, in *■ They “still retain5 the > féa-
tures,4of their ancestors, but are taller'and sfrbriger. In ^e-
ffèfal- théy f^achfive feet' four inches, and many fiyebfe'S'f'six
ffot seven inched. Their skin, ' tinned ^by the1 sun, is almost
black. They Éave oval heads, prominent'forêh^d^darge bu|.
not aquiline noses, and well-shaped months.f iThèy are the
greater part of the Egyptian peasantry. The second class of
Arabs are Maghrabyns, or settlers from Mauritania. They
are veiÿ numerous in thë’ Sayd, Where they live^in villages1
by themselves ; they likewise are FellaHst The third class
are Bedbuins-of the desert or wandering tribes.*
A more particular account of the- physical characters- of
the Arabian people inEgypt is to *b’é found in the work of
M. Pugnet, which I have cited in a former chapter. I shall
extract the following observations in the author’s own words.f
“ La taille des Arabes • est de' cinq pieds deux5 ou trois'
pouces. Leurs membres secs, leur pèau enfumée, et l’irrégularité
de leurs traits, les font assez ressortir entre tbüs lés ha-
bitans de l’Egypte. Ils ont, la plupart, le front saillant, les
yeux petits et enfoncés, le nez droit et aigu, les joues- plâtes
et sillonnées, les lèvres minces, et un aspéct* sévère. g
“ Rien de plus frappant que le contraste qui règne entre eux
* Volney’s Travels in Egypt and Syria.
+ Mémoires sur les Fièvres pestilentielles et insidieuses du Levant avec un Aperçu
physique’ et médical du Sayd. Par Pugnet, médecin de l’armée d’Egypte, dédiés
aux Premier Consul, à Lyon. An x.