Dotawo/content/article/habbob.md

---
title: "Nubian Architectural and Environmental Features before and after Displacement: The model of the village of Tūmās wa 'Afya"
authors: ["habbob.md"]
abstract: This essay  concerns the history of the three main Nubian groups that were displaced as a result of the building of the Aswan High Dam, and their reactions to this displacement.  The loss of their homes was a traumatic experience for most Nubians, as the house was more than just a physical object for them. These were valued spaces, where day-to-day existence, festivities, and family customs unfurled. The Nubian house was imbued with social importance, addressing the heredity of a family and a community. The resettlement that the families had to endure cut off the associations with these social and hereditary spaces, leaving a void that the new homes couldn't fill. This paper compares traditional old Nubian homescapes before relocation with the new governmental dwellings built for them following their forced displacement. I have focussed upon the village of Tomas wa 'Afya, which was located 220 kilometers south of the town of Aswan, discussing the history of the village, the houses that were built there, and the failures of the government's promises to the people. While the families that were displaced were deeply disappointed in the new area and houses, they were eventually able, through their resilience and resourcefulness, to retain a lot of the aspects and details of their heritage, habits, and traditions.
keywords: ["Nubia", "High Dam", Tūmās wa Afya", "resettlement", "Kom Ombo", "Kenuz", "Fedija", "Nubian homes", "Nubian homescapes"]
---

# Introduction

The Nubians are an ethnic group living for centuries in old Nubia. For a
long time, the Nubians ruled kingdoms and created an empire. Many years
later, because of the colonial settings and the division of Egypt and
Sudan, Nubia was divided into two main regions: Upper Nubia (the
Sudanese Nubia), and Lower Nubia (The Egyptian Nubia), which stretched
along a 320-kilometer sector of the Nile Valley between Aswan and
Adindan that used to connect Egypt with Sudan. The Nubian valley is
mostly very narrow, lined with mountain slopes, steep above the right
bank. At the time of resettlement in the early 1960s, an estimated
50,000 Nubians lived in thirty-nine villages, divided into three basic
residential areas, settled by three main groups, Kenuz, Arabs, and
Fadija. Their main economic activities were based on agriculture largely
in their original homeland.

As overseers of a rich social legacy, Nubians preserved a special
lifestyle. Their towns were spots of home and focused on social
connections, well established in family ties, ancestral traditions, and
the atmosphere of the local area. The engineering of their homes, which
worked with neighborhood materials, such as mud brick, gave an
impression of their association with the land and demonstrated their
cleverness. The relocation and resettlement process during the 1960s
upset this customary way of life, moving the Nubians to adjust to new
conditions while endeavoring to keep up with their social character.

The northernmost of these groups, formerly living in the area between
Aswan and As-Sebua, are the Kenuz. Their close relatives in the
southernmost Egyptian Nubia, located between Korosko and Adendan, are
the Fadijja, who often call themselves \"Nubi.\" Between these two
groups (the Kenuz and Nubi), various Nubian Arab tribes settled down in
the fourteenth century CE along a thirty-kilometer stretch of the Nile
Valley lined with hills on the right bank, between Wadi el Arab and
as-Singari. This settlement cut the Kenuz off from the Fadijja. Another
ethnic group, the Ababda, originally nomads of the Eastern Desert also
gradually began settling down, recently in some Kenuz villages and Arab
villages.

The different settlement examples of these gatherings made rich
embroidery of societies in Nubia. Each gathering contributed its
practices, dialects, and customs, yet they shared other components,
particularly a profound association with the Nile, which supported their
lifestyle. The Nile was a wellspring of water as well as the core of
horticultural exercises, supporting a scope of harvests that were
crucial for their economy. Over the long run, this mixing of various
Nubian and Bedouin backgrounds encouraged an extraordinary social
character that survived outside impacts, including dislodging. Today,
the tradition of this assorted legacy remains critical, giving us an
understanding of the flexibility and versatility of Nubian culture.

A house (*nog*) is more than a physical object for the Nubians. Feeling
at home was not questioned by the Nubians before the resettlement. The
loss of these homes was a traumatic experience for many Nubians. For
their purposes, a house is profoundly imbued with social importance and
stands as an image of legacy and personality. Each home addresses the
heredity of a family, and is designed for shelter as well as for
protecting customs and building up local area bonds. Worked with
remarkable compositional components to suit the Nubian way of life,
these homes were valued spaces where day-to-day existence, festivities,
and family customs unfurled. The deficiency of these homes was a
horrendous encounter for some Nubians, as the resettlement evacuated
them truly as well as cut off the association with these social and
hereditary spaces, leaving a void that new residences couldn\'t fill.

Familiarity with the house, its history, and knowledge about its parts
and surroundings facilitated a sense of belonging and attachment to the
house. Ownership of the house was not only physical, but it was
emotional and cultural as well. The theme of control was important in
transforming the house into a home. It ensured safety and security
through privacy. This was achieved by controlling what was communicated
to others as well as controlling access and boundaries. The meanings
communicated by different parts of the house, rooms, furniture, and
decorations, were all understood by the inhabitants and by the community
at large. The layout and orientation of each space within the home were
chosen with purpose, ensuring that the architecture reflected and
honored the cultural values of the family within.

The newly-built resettlement villages of the 1960s took the same names
as the former ones, but the names of the hamlets (*najas*) were
discontinued. These *najas* were essential to the Nubian social
structure, as each hamlet was typically inhabited by extended families
or clan members. The discontinuation of these hamlet names, which held
significant cultural value, represented a loss of identity for many
Nubians. In Old Nubia, the *najas* were more than just geographical
locations; they were markers of lineage, community, and shared history.
In the resettlement villages, however, this intricate social fabric was
disrupted, as families were grouped based on household size rather than
kinship. Without the hamlet names, the sense of belonging and continuity
with past generations was diminished, making the transition to the new
settlements even more challenging.

The old *najas* were based on family and clan relationships. Each *naja*
was distinguished from the others. Inhabitants of the *najas* were
mostly members of the same clan. In the resettlement villages, the
government planners ignored this important cultural feature. The street
layouts in the resettlement villages are organized based on house sizes:
rows of adjacent houses all had the same number of rooms. Hence Nubian
families ended up with neighbors who shared not family relationships but
family size.

This paper compares traditional old Nubian houses before relocation and
the new governmental dwellings built for them following their forced
displacement. I also find it necessary to situate the relevant events
and developments in two broader contexts: 

a\) the relevant aspects of Nubian culture that pertain to the meaning
of home, kinship, and community; and

b\) the specific history of Nubian resettlement.

In my opinion and experience, this two-fold contextualization serves its
purposes best if it is accompanied by a synopsis of the governmental
resettlement policies, plans, and difficult interactions between
government officials and Nubians. This synopsis is of course limited,
due to the space constraints of this paper.

The Nubian settlements known as *nahyas* (villages) had several unique
characteristics, in terms of settlement patterns and housing after 1902.
The reservoir was completed in 1902 and the completion of the
construction of the old Aswan dam and its elevation took place in 1912
and 1933. These changes to the landscape disrupted ancestral settlement
patterns and housing, albeit differently depending upon the settlement.
I describe the most important characteristics below.

Before the construction of the dam, nonetheless, all Nubian *nahyas*
firmly looked like the principal design. The network design, with its
organized lines of homes, represented the profound association of the
Nubian nation to the Nile, which was integral to their lifestyle. This
plan not only took into consideration the proficient utilization of room
on the flatlands but also cultivated a feeling of public living. As
families resided one next to the other, every family fostered a
harmonious of day-to-day existence interlaced with that of their
neighbors. The efficient design mirrored the solidarity and
relationships among individuals, and it gave a dependable system for
overseeing assets, land, and the connections that supported their
networks. After resettlement, nonetheless, these customary arrangements
were upset, supplanting a natural and socially established structure
with a more unbending plan that didn\'t completely resonate with the
Nubian lifestyle.

There were two types of settlement patterns in Old Nubia:

1\) the grid pattern that is usually found in the southern part of Nubia
on flat lands where dwellings were organized in rows parallel to the
Nile; and

2\) the free pattern that was usually found in northern Nubia where the
settlements stood mostly on hills leaving the flat lands for
agriculture. 

But, before the dam, all Nubian *nahyas* looked like the grid pattern.

# Tūmās wa \'Afya

The old village of Tūmās wa \'Afya was located 220 kilometers upstream,
south of Aswan, and next to the village of Derr, on the west bank of the
river. Derr was the capital of Lower Nubia, and the headquarters of the
Kashefs who were nineteenth-century Nubian \'governors\'. Its name,
Tūmās wa \'Afya, was derived from a Nubian phrase meaning 'son good,'
i.e., 'good son.' It epitomized the well-established social upsides of
family honor and regard in the local area. This town was among the
numerous in Nubia that held huge verifiable and social significance. The
place of Derr as the capital further elevated what remained of Tūmās wa
\'Afya. Such villages, with their solid familial associations,
confronted significant misfortune with resettlement, as the uprooting
eliminated individuals from their genealogical terrains as well as
disturbed the social texture of their networks.

Tūmās wa \'Afya consisted of eight major hamlets: Saab, Mansour,
Ambaray, Himeriiye, Maarya, Moradaab, Ooba, and cAfya. Each of these
consisted of smaller *najas*. The two major *najas* were Ooba and cAfya.
Ooba consisted of Ooba, Bahjoora, Nejariiye, and Karkar, while \'Afya
was consisted of Faashir, Shibakiiye, Dinabe, Fuudabe, Shagiig, Arab
Hille, Hinesabe, Jelegaab, and Kheereen. 

Tūmās wa \'Afya was not affected by the construction of the old Aswan
reservoir in 1902 or by its first heightening in 1912. But by its second
heightening in 1933, the government classified the Nubian villages
according to the following classification: 

1\) villages that flooded temporarily during the closing of the
reservoir gates but when the gates reopened, and the reservoir water
level went down; people were able to plant for a shorter period; and

2\) villages that flooded permanently and lost any possibility for
future farming.

In the first category, government compensation was (in principle) paid
for palm trees and houses, while in the second category; compensation
was for palm trees, houses, and farmland. 

As a result of the second heightening of the Old Aswan reservoir, the
government decided in 1933 to expropriate all the territory under the
level of 122 meters above sea level. The government issued Act No. 6 of
1933 which excluded from the final expropriation of some villages that
were located on high lands. This Act was specifically designed to
undermine the opportunity for Nubians to file claims against the state
or government. They were deprived of the right to contest and sue the
authorities, which was permitted under the other existing laws at that
time. This move contributed to the instability of Nubian rights, as
Nubian communities found themselves trapped between the legal challenges
that prevented them from defending their rights and interests in the
face of government policies regarding land expropriation.

These villages were deemed to be partly safe from flooding for part of
the year, which might be enough to plant and cultivate for a few months.
The owners of these lands received compensation for the part of the year
in which they could not farm due to flooding. That compensation equaled
half of the assessed value of their land. The land thus partly
compensated remained, legally speaking, in the ownership of its previous
owners. Tūmās wa \'Afya was one of the villages that experienced this
situation. As we shall see, this had some important consequences for how
the resettlement events unfolded.

About seven families from the hamlet of Moradaab decided to resettle
north about 270 km to Beheera and Ridasiya (urbanized Rideesiye) in Edfu
instead of rebuilding on higher grounds in the old location (figure 1). 

![In 1933, seven families from Tūmās wa ʿAfya moved to Edfu.](../static/images/habbob/fig1.jpg "In 1933, seven families from Tūmās wa ʿAfya moved to Edfu.")

**~~Figure 1. In 1933, seven families from Tūmās wa ʿAfya moved to Edfu.~~**


In response to complaints from villagers to the effect that they could
not benefit even partially from their flooded farmlands, the government
issued a decision in July 1942 to expropriate all the farmland of Tūmās
wa \'Afya and to pay the remaining half of the compensation of the
affected lands. As a reaction to this, all landowners in Tūmās wa \'Afya
withdrew their previous complaint and demanded instead that the
government either reassess the value of their lands or give the affected
owners comparable properties in other locations unaffected by the
heightening of the reservoir.

In 1951 the government approved the expropriation of Tūmās wa \'Afya and
allocated an area of 8,000 *feddans* near Esna to be sold to the
affected people.

From that moment, the people of Tūmās wa \'Afya were, somehow, assumed
by some officials, to be connected to Esna, although they had not, at
that time, left their homeland. 

Officially, those people owned \"unseen\" agricultural lands in Esna.
The government issued a decree in 1954 to expropriate their land in the
old site of Tūmās wa \'Afya. In January 1954, the government held the
equivalent of 30% of the compensation due to the affected people of
Tūmās wa \'Afya as a deposit for land reclamation which, as promised,
would be sold to them in the Esna region. However, the operations were
put on hold in 1959, for the government decided to stop such sales
because by that time plans to build the High Dam were firmed up.
Although the government had, as mentioned above, withheld 30% of the
compensation, it did not start building the infrastructure needed for
land reclamation.

The 8,000 *feddans* near Esna came with specific terms that were not
always made clear to the affected Nubian families. These documents
highlight the sense of uncertainty and confusion felt by many as they
navigated this forced sale of land. While the government offered this
land as compensation, families were often faced with bureaucratic
challenges that made the acquisition process lengthy and complex.
Furthermore, there were financial implications attached to the land
allocation, which required the Nubian families to pay for property that
was ostensibly meant to replace their lost homes. This added burden
underscored the ongoing struggle for fair and adequate compensation and
the challenges the Nubians encountered in securing a new foundation for
their displaced communities.

# Tūmās wa \'Afya\'s Traditional Housing

The houses were built in the form of a rectangle with an area roughly
from 200 to 1000 square meters, depending on the site and topography.
Many factors have affected the design of the old Nubian houses, such as
the climatic, geographical, and the social needs.

The standard house layout included the following components:

 -- The Main Entrance:

In numerous customary Nubian homes, the primary entry is intended to
represent both friendliness and protection. It frequently includes
enlivening components, such as complex carvings or painted themes that
mirror the family\'s legacy or status. These plan decisions make an
inviting initial feeling as well as proposition unobtrusive prompts to
guests about the family\'s social qualities. This cautious
meticulousness in the entry region features the significance of family
and local area associations, as well as the conventional meaning of the
home as a space of solace and regard.

 -- The *Madiafa*:

The *madiafa* is more than just a guest room; it holds cultural
importance as a place of hospitality and honor. In Nubian homes, guests
are treated with the utmost respect, and the *madiafa* serves as a
dedicated space for welcoming them. Often, it is decorated with
beautiful textiles, traditional wall art, and comfortable seating that
reflects Nubian customs. Its location near the main entrance symbolizes
the open-hearted nature of Nubian hospitality, while also ensuring that
guests can enjoy a private space without disrupting the household's
daily activities. The proximity of the *madiafa* to the courtyard allows
for easy access to the open area, where larger gatherings or shared
meals may be hosted under the shade. Additionally, the madiafa
furnishings and décor are often chosen carefully to showcase the
family's heritage and pride. Embellished with locally crafted items,
such as woven mats and pottery, the room serves as a display of Nubian
craftsmanship and artistry. Guests might be offered traditional
refreshments, like hibiscus tea or dates, further emphasizing the
cultural practices associated with hospitality. In many homes, family
photos and ancestral artifacts are displayed, connecting the guests to
the lineage and stories of their hosts. This warm and inviting space
reflects the Nubian values of generosity, respect, and a strong sense of
community.

 -- The Courtyard:

It is an open space in the middle of the house. It is found in all
Nubian houses and different areas. It opens to all rooms of the house
used for living purposes. It holds a significant environmental and
climatic role in addition to this social one.

 -- The Decorations:

The decoration of the Nubian houses is related to the history of the
Nubian dwelling. They use the decoration of the house units in the form
of dolls, fans, and veils, in addition to the paste ceramic dishes on
the walls.

# High Dam and Nubian Resettlement

Before 1963, in both Egypt and Sudan, Nubians lived between the First
and Fifth Nile Cataracts in areas of the Nile Valley where floodwater
and other types of irrigation were mainly restricted to a narrow fringe
of alluvial deposits continually at risk from desert encroachment. Lower
Nubia stretched upstream from north of Wadi Halfa as far as Aswan.
Unlike the current barren surroundings of Kom Ombo, all of Lower Nubia
in 1962 was a starkly beautiful environment. On both sides of the river,
desert sands, interspersed with rocky hills, came down to the water's
edge. A total of 553 sparsely populated hamlets (*najas*) spread along
the way. According to the 1960 Egyptian census, the total resident
Nubian population was 43,67110 and belonged to three distinct ethnic cum
linguistic groups, two of which spoke Nubian languages.\
In this region, the Nubians developed a way of life closely tied to the
Nile, which provided water, fertile land, and a means of transportation.
Each hamlet, or *naja*, was typically composed of extended family units,
forming small, tight-knit communities. The agricultural practices here
were adapted to the narrow stretch of fertile land along the riverbanks,
where they grew crops such as sorghum, dates, and vegetables, depending
on the seasonal flooding. Fishing also played a role in their
sustenance. This way of life, however, was vulnerable, with desert sands
encroaching on the farmlands and limited access to other resources,
leading many Nubian men to migrate for work. The beauty of the landscape
was matched by the cultural richness of its people, who maintained
vibrant traditions, languages, and a strong sense of identity despite
their challenging environment.

First came the Matokki/Kenzi-speaking Nubians whose seventeen villages
extended for approximately 150 kilometers upriver from Aswan. They
represented 36% of the total population and were the most seriously
affected by the construction of the Old Aswan reservoir. It is worth
noting that some of the Kenuz villages close to Aswan had already been
forced to relocate three times, moving up to the reservoir's edge or
downstream to and below Aswan with each heightening. All their date
palms had been destroyed and most of the year all of their agricultural
land was inundated. Cultivation was restricted to only a few months each
year when the reservoir gates were open. Then, only quick-maturing
fodder crops for the few cows, donkeys, and small stock those villagers
kept, as vegetables, could be grown.

Despite these hardships, the Kenuz-speaking Nubians maintained a strong
connection to their land and traditions, adapting their agricultural
practices as much as possible to the changing conditions. Their
resilience was evident in their ability to cultivate whatever little
land remained available, even as they coped with the annual cycle of
flooding and depletion. However, the frequent relocations took a toll on
their way of life. Traditional date palm groves, which were integral to
both their economy and culture, had been decimated, along with other
crops that once thrived on the banks of the Nile. The Kenuz people,
whose livelihoods had been so deeply intertwined with their ancestral
lands, faced increasing uncertainty and a growing sense of dislocation
with each move. The construction of the Old Aswan reservoir marked a
turning point in their history, as they struggled to hold onto their
identity in the face of relentless environmental and social upheaval.

In some areas, huge dunes encroached into the reservoir. Owing to the
lack of income-earning opportunities in the Old Villages, labor
migration rates among men may well have been the highest in the world.
Men from these villages frequently left for extended periods to work in
cities like Cairo, Alexandria, and Khartoum. This labor migration was
not only driven by limited local employment but also by the strong pull
of economic opportunities in urban areas. As a result, families often
relied on remittances sent home, which became essential for their
livelihoods. Over time, this pattern of migration created deep social
and economic ties between the Nubian villages and the cities, as well as
a significant cultural exchange. While men worked away from home, Nubian
women maintained the households, cultivated small plots of land, and
preserved traditional customs, which helped keep their culture alive
despite these long absences.

Immediately upriver from the last Matokki/Kenzi-speaking villages, there
was a relatively small population (10% of the total Nubian population in
1960) of Arabic speakers whose seven villages edged the reservoir for
the next forty kilometers. They will not be further considered in the
present analysis. In the next stretch upriver, the Mahas-speaking
Fadijja community inhabited approximately twenty-one villages that
extended roughly 120 kilometers southward. Representing about 54% of the
total Nubian population in 1960, the Fadijja people spoke the second
Nubian language and were generally more geographically dispersed. Their
villages were typically located in elevated areas, providing a measure
of protection against flooding. However, they also faced challenges due
to the inundation of their agricultural lands. The Fadijja maintained a
close relationship with the river, relying on it not only for sustenance
but also as a vital part of their cultural and social practices. Despite
their relative isolation, the Fadijja preserved unique cultural
expressions in their language, art, and customs that distinguished them
from both their Kenzi-speaking neighbors and the wider Egyptian and
Sudanese societies.

The final 130 kilometers were inhabited by the Fadija-speaking Nubians.
They constituted 54% of the total and occupied eighteen villages. Closer
to the Sudanese border, the reservoir narrowed so that the last Nubian
village in Egypt, Adindan, came closest to showing the type of Nubian
economy and livelihood that must have existed before the construction of
the Old Aswan Reservoir, the Fadija\'s closer ties to Sudanese Nubia
fostered cultural exchange and economic interactions that were less
impacted by the colonial and governmental policies that affected other
Nubian communities. This blend of geographic advantages and cultural
continuity meant that the Fadija, particularly in Adindan, were able to
maintain their traditional livelihoods longer than those in more
affected areas, which experienced multiple displacements due to the
construction of the reservoir.

Furthermore, Adindan economic practices were not only about agriculture
but also encompassed trade with neighboring regions, allowing for a more
diverse economic base. The village likely served as a hub where local
agricultural products were exchanged for goods from surrounding areas,
maintaining economic vitality and cultural identity despite the
encroaching pressures of development and modernization. Thus, Adindan is
a significant example of what traditional Nubian life was like before
the transformative impacts of the Old Aswan Reservoir.

The High Dam is an embankment dam, built, between 1960 and 1970, across
the Nile south of Aswan. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous
Aswan reservoir. Based on the success of the old reservoir, then at its
maximum utilization, construction of the High Dam became a key objective
of the government following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. With its
ability to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for
irrigation, and generate hydroelectricity, the Dam was seen as key to
Egypt's planned industrialization. The High Dam was not just an
engineering marvel but a symbol of national pride and progress for
Egypt. It was constructed to address the chronic issues of flooding that
had plagued the Nile Valley for centuries, which often resulted in
devastating consequences for agriculture and local communities. The
dam\'s capacity to regulate the flow of the Nile meant that farmers
could rely on a more consistent water supply for irrigation,
significantly boosting agricultural productivity. Additionally, the
creation of Lake Nasser behind the dam provided a massive reservoir that
enhanced Egypt\'s water management capabilities.

Moreover, the High Dam played a pivotal role in the country\'s energy
sector. By harnessing the power of the Nile to generate
hydroelectricity, it provided a sustainable energy source that supported
industrial growth and urban development. This influx of electricity was
crucial for powering factories, schools, and homes, thereby contributing
to the economic modernization envisioned by the post-revolution
government. The Dam also became a focal point for national and
international attention, symbolizing Egypt\'s aspirations for
self-sufficiency and its commitment to harnessing natural resources for
development. However, while the High Dam brought significant benefits,
it also led to complex social, economic, and environmental challenges,
particularly for the Nubian communities who were displaced as a result
of its construction.

During 1956-57, the Permanent Council for National Production and
Development carried out physical and aerial surveys to determine the
potentially flooded areas and the number and location of villages that
were to be affected. The study reported, among other things, the
impossibility of resettling the Nubian people around the shores of what
was to be called Lake Nasser. Consequently, the study recommended
resettling the Nubians in a new site north of Aswan. In response to
these findings, the government-initiated plans for the resettlement of
the Nubian communities, emphasizing the need to provide adequate
infrastructure and services in the new location. The proposed site aimed
to replicate some aspects of Nubian life, including access to
agricultural land and social facilities. However, the logistics of
relocating thousands of people posed significant challenges and many
Nubians were apprehensive about leaving their ancestral homes. They were
deeply connected to their land, culture, and traditions, making the
transition a complex and emotional process.

The resettlement plan also involved consultations with local leaders and
community members; although many felt their voices were not fully heard
in the decision-making process. This led to growing concerns about the
adequacy of the new arrangements and the potential loss of cultural
identity. Despite the government's assurances, many Nubians worried that
the move would disrupt their social fabric and way of life. As a result,
the implementation of the resettlement plan was met with resistance and
skepticism, highlighting the broader tensions between governmental
policies and the lived realities of the affected communities.

The Dam is remembered by most Egyptians as one of their former leader's
greatest accomplishments, a towering monument to the modernizing
aspirations of an independent nation. President Nasser's 1960 speech
addressed the Nubians and promised them that these changes would bring
modernization and community-building:

"The prosperity which shall cover the Nubians is enormous because it
shall bring all Nubians together on a correct foundation to build a
strong, healthy society." \[citation reference needed\]

The contrast with reality could not have been greater. For the Nubians
who were living in Old Nubia, the Dam destroyed a way of life. It
flooded Nubian land along 500 kilometers of the Nile. At the time of its
inauguration, it was the largest rock-filled Dam in the world. It
created a new reservoir, Lake Nasser, which spilled over into Sudan. A
large migration occurred, taking 100,000 Nubians of forty-four villages
from their ancestral homeland, away from a way of life based around the
river Nile for thousands of years, to desert life in villages built for
them in the area of Kom Ombo (50 kilometers north of Aswan), known as
New Nubia. The effects of the High Dam on the Nubian people were
profound and far-reaching. The displacement of 100,000 Nubians not only
severed their ties to their ancestral lands but also led to significant
cultural dislocation. As they were forced to abandon their homes, many
faced the loss of not just physical structures but also the cultural
heritage embedded in their communities. The newly established villages
in Kom Ombo, while designed to provide basic shelter, lacked the
emotional and historical connections that the Nubians had with their
original homes.

Moreover, the transition from a river-based economy to a desert
environment posed serious challenges for their livelihoods. The
agricultural practices that had sustained the Nubians for generations
were disrupted, and many found it difficult to adapt to the new economic
realities of life in New Nubia. While the government hailed the High Dam
as a symbol of progress and modernization for the Nubians, it marked the
beginning of a struggle to maintain their identity and way of life in
the face of overwhelming change.

Before the eviction, the government tried to come up with a conciliation
plan for resettlement. Relocation sites were chosen by the government to
be in Kom Ombo. The construction of new villages for the Nubians was set
in the plan, and models for these villages were shown and displayed to
the Nubian people. Based on interviews with Nubians, some recall this
period by saying it was a period of promises. The government promised
them compensation for their homes by giving them new homes in the new
resettlement villages and good compensation for their palms. The river
Nile was scheduled to change course in May 1964, as such the need to
proceed with the resettlement was pressing. This time pressure was
coupled with an international campaign to save the ancient Egyptian
monuments in Nubia, an action that was led by UNESCO as a coordinator
between Egypt and the involved nations. The government\'s efforts to
devise a resettlement plan were met with mixed reactions among the
Nubian population. While some were hopeful about the promised
compensation and new homes, others felt skeptical about the sincerity of
the government\'s commitments. Many Nubians cherished a deep emotional
connection to their ancestral lands, and the thought of being uprooted
from their homes was distressing. This uncertainty led to a sense of
anxiety among the community as they faced the impending changes. As the
date for resettlement approached, the Nubians found themselves in a
state of limbo, caught between the hopes for a better future and the
fear of losing their cultural heritage. The urgency of the situation
intensified as the government pressed forward with plans to relocate
them to Kom Ombo, but the true impact of such a dramatic shift on their
lives and identities remained uncertain.

As an example of the Residential Unit\'s Design to Settle the People of
Nubia, the National Organization for the Dislocation of Nubians
established a set of recommendations for planning and designing the new
villages. These guidelines stated that the houses should be identical
using only three prototypes of the design. The prototypes were designed
according to the number of rooms in each type (figure 2).

![The three prototypes of houses for the new villages.](../static/images/habbob/fig2.jpg "The three prototypes of houses for the new villages.")

**~~Figure 2. The three prototypes of houses for the new villages.~~**

# Nubian Resettlement Policies

The government policy consisted of an integrated and coordinated
approach involving technical, social, and economic measures. This
approach reflected some basic ideological principles of post-revolution
Egypt.

A survey to collect demographic data about Nubia was part of an effort
by several governmental agencies to carry through the resettlement
scheme in the targeted period. 

A national organization called \"The National Organization for Nubian
Resettlement\" was formed as an intermediary between different
ministries and agencies involved in the project. The Ministry of Housing
and Development was assigned the task of planning the villages and
designing the houses. The project faced several difficulties from the
very beginning. The designated area for the project formed half a circle
around land owned by the Wadi Kom Ombo Company and covered an area of
35,000 *feddans*. The land was all deserts with no roads or water
sources existing before the project started. Other amenities were absent
as well. Accommodating professional and technical staff on the site was,
therefore, out of the question. The Ministry of Housing decided to
undertake the complex planning and design work from its main
headquarters in Cairo. Despite the challenges, the Ministry of Housing
aimed to create a structured environment that would support the
resettled Nubians. They conducted detailed planning sessions to ensure
that the new villages would reflect the cultural heritage of the Nubian
people while incorporating modern infrastructure. The vision was to
design homes that met the needs of the population, emphasizing community
living and accessibility. However, the lack of local knowledge and
understanding of Nubian cultural nuances often resulted in designs that
did not resonate with the community\'s values. This disconnect led to
frustration among the Nubians, who felt that their voices were not
adequately heard in the planning process. As the project progressed, it
became clear that the aspirations for a harmonious integration of
modernity and tradition would require more than just physical
structures; it demanded a deeper engagement with the cultural identity
of the Nubian people.

The main planning and design premise was to ensure equality among the
families by providing the same house design to families that had the
same number of household members. As well, it was decided to use locally
available construction materials to keep construction costs under check
and to be able to complete the project in time. 

The preliminary study of the project concluded that 30 villages were
required to accommodate all the villages and najas of Lower Nubia. It
was estimated that 16,000 housing units were required to accommodate
families who were living in Nubia at the time of the preliminary study.
For those who were working outside Nubia at the time, another 7,880
houses were to be built later as a second stage.

To maintain the geographic configuration of the villages in Old Nubia,
the planners decided to keep the same arrangement of villages by
locating the Kenuz villages in the northern part, the Arab villages in
the middle, and the Fadija villages in the south. The names of the old
villages were used for the new villages. In each of these three groups,
a \'central\' village was designated as a service center. Each contained
a large mosque, a police station, a health unit, an elementary school,
and an agriculture cooperative. An administrative capital for the entire
resettlement district --- Nasser City --- was built in a central
location. Finally, the district was to be included as one of the
regional districts of the Governorate of Aswan. In addition to these
planning measures, special attention was given to the social and
cultural dynamics of the Nubian communities. The aim was to create a
supportive environment that fostered connections among families and
maintained their cultural identity. The layout of the new villages was
designed to encourage community interaction, with communal spaces such
as parks and gathering areas integrated into the planning. However, as
the construction progressed, it became evident that the government
planners underestimated the importance of the traditional social fabric
of the Nubian society. Many residents expressed dissatisfaction with the
new arrangements, feeling that the designs did not adequately reflect
their customs and lifestyles. This oversight led to tensions within the
community, as many felt their cultural heritage was being overlooked in
favor of a standardized model. As the Nubians moved into their new
homes, they began to adapt the structures to better suit their needs,
incorporating elements of their traditional architectural styles to
preserve their identity amidst the changes.

To comply with the deadlines, the planners decided to locate the
villages close to each other, contrary to the initial planning scheme
which envisaged that the location of each village be close to its
allocated agricultural land. Villages were built on both sides of the
existing Aswan-Cairo highway.

This decision to cluster the villages together, rather than distribute
them across the landscape, was driven by time constraints and logistical
considerations. However, it also resulted in significant challenges for
the Nubian communities. By placing the villages close to one another,
the planners inadvertently disrupted the traditional way of life that
the Nubians had maintained for generations. The spatial arrangement,
which prioritized accessibility over cultural relevance, led to a sense
of disconnection from their agricultural roots. As the Nubians settled
into their new homes, many felt a profound loss, not only of their
ancestral land but also of the communal and familial ties that had been
woven into the fabric of their former villages. The new village layout
lacked the organic flow and interconnection that characterized their old
settlements, leading to feelings of isolation and frustration among the
residents as they grappled with the reality of their new environment.

The construction method recommended for the project by the Cairo
planners was to use partly dressed limestone to build the walls and to
use reinforced concrete roofs on top. The traditional mud-brick
construction system of Nubian houses before the resettlement was not
considered. 

# Tūmās wa \'Afya and High dam

A few months before resettlement some Nubians from Tūmās wa \'Afya
complained to the government that they didn\'t want to move to Esna but
preferred to be with the other Nubian villages near Kom Ombo. On June
11th, 1963, an official governmental committee tried to reconcile the
points of view and to persuade those who insisted on immigrating to the
Kom Ombo to move to Esna according to the original plan. 

As detailed above, the original plan was to resettle the village to Esna
according to the choice of its people to be close to the eight thousand
*feddans* they had bought in the late 1930s.

It appears that both groups were unwilling to change their positions. To
deal with this controversy, the committee ran a referendum to find out
how many wanted to immigrate to Kom Ombo. Since the original plan was to
resettle them in Esna, the officials announced that it would submit to
the people\'s desire to move to Kom Ombo but on three conditions. First,
the families had to officially relinquish any claims to the land they
had previously purchased in Esna. Second, they would have to agree to be
treated like other Nubians who were being resettled in Kom Ombo, meaning
they would not receive any special privileges or considerations.
Finally, they were required to forgo any requests for specific land
allocations within the Kom Ombo area.

These stipulations were intended to ensure a smooth transition while
also managing the logistics of the resettlement, but they also reflected
the government\'s underlying desire to maintain authority over the
process and minimize any potential complications that could arise from
individual land claims:

a\) to relinquish, officially, the land they bought earlier in Esna;

b\) to accept being treated like the rest of the Nubians (who were to be
resettled near Kom Ombo); and

c\) to not request any specific area or site in the Kom Ombo
resettlement district.

On the understanding that all concerned were to accept these three
conditions, the government ran a referendum in June 1963. The results
indicated that the people of Tūmās wa \'Afya (1363 families) were of two
opinions. One-third (364 families from Aafiye hamlets: Faashir, Dinabe,
Fuudabe, Shagiig, Arab Hille, Hinesabe, and Kheereen) chose to be
resettled in the Kom Ombo district, in a location between the villages
of Gustul and Abu Simbel. The remaining two-thirds (999 families) chose
to be resettled near Esna (figure 3).

![The author's grandfather's 1954 receipt of the compensation as a deposit for farmland reclamation in  Esna.](../static/images/habbob/fig3.jpg "The author's grandfather's 1954 receipt of the compensation as a deposit for farmland reclamation in  Esna.")

**~~Figure 3. The author's grandfather's 1954 receipt of the compensation as a deposit for farmland reclamation in  Esna.~~**


In Esna, the government built the following facilities: three primary
schools and one preparatory school, a co-op association, a social
services unit, a clinic, a post office, a telephone office, a police and
fire unit, four stores, and three mosques.

The families who were resettled in the Esna project were located in
three main villages, each of which had two sub-villages: 

-    "Tūmās wa \'Afya Wahid" (Arabic for \'1\') was uninhabited until
    1970 and was located at 25°16\'54.50\" N, 32°30\'42.98\" E. The main
    settlement was called Al Ra\'iisiya (Arabic for \'main\'). Its
    sub-village was called Khaliiliye-Ashmaawi.


-    "Tūmās wa \'Afya Itneen" (Arabic for \'2\') was located at
    25°19\'52.41\" N, 32°29\'25.23\" E. Al Ra\'iisiye was called
    Moradaab-Maarya. Its sub-village was called Izbet el Zeet-Izbet el
    Saab.


-   "Tūmās wa \'Afya Talaata" (Arabic for \'3\') was located at
    25°22\'46.24\" N, 32°28\'43.34\" E. Al Ra\'iisiya was called
    Mansur-Saab. Its sub-village was given three different designations:
    Alif Arabic for \'A\') included Shibakiiye, Jelegaab, and Aafiye),
    Beh (Arabic for \'B\'), and Giim (Arabic for \'C\') included
    Ambaray, Himeriiye, and Ooba) (figure 4). 


![Resettlement of Tūmās wa ʿAfya from the Original Village to Kom Ombo and Esna.](../static/images/habbob/fig4.jpg "Resettlement of Tūmās wa ʿAfya from the Original Village to Kom Ombo and Esna.")

**~~Figure 4. Resettlement of Tūmās wa ʿAfya from the Original Village to Kom Ombo and Esna.~~**



Apart from the above three \'villages\', the government built an
additional \'village\', called Tūmās wa \'Afya Arba\'a (Arabic for
\'4\'). It was located at 25°23\'12.84\"N, 32°28\'46.72\"E. It was to be
inhabited by non-Nubians most of whom were originally from Esna; they
used to work and live in the Sudanese town of Wadi Halfa close to the
border with Egypt. When the time of resettlement came, these Upper
Egyptians preferred to come back to Egypt instead of going to Khashm al
Gerba (southeastern Sudan) with the rest of Wadi Halfa\'s Nubians.

In 1970, the government had almost completed the reclamation of the
farmland that the people of Tūmās wa \'Afya had previously paid for from
their compensation. These lands were located five kilometers west of
Esna. For accounting purposes, the lands were divided into nine
agricultural areas and were serviced with pump stations, canals, and
roads.

At this point, the people of Tūmās wa \'Afya requested to move closer to
their farmlands and the government responded positively. At that moment,
internal immigration began. People from Tūmās wa \'Afya Itneen moved to
Tūmās wa \'Afya Wahid near their farmlands (in agricultural areas
numbers 1, 2, and 3), while half of the people of Tūmās wa \'Afya
Talaata (hamlets Ooba, Sheppakeyyah, and Telegraph) moved to Tūmās wa
\'Afya Itneen closer to their land (in agricultural areas numbers 8 and
9). People of Tūmās wa \'Afya Arba\'a moved into Tūmās wa \'Afya Talaata
to clear the area that was chosen to serve as a temporary location for
an army officers\' school (a move that was deemed necessary due to the
circumstances surrounding the war with Israel at the time) (figure 5).

![Tūmās wa ʿAfya villages in Esna.](../static/images/habbob/fig5.jpg "Tūmās wa ʿAfya villages in Esna.")

**~~Figure 5. Tūmās wa ʿAfya villages in Esna.~~**


Later, in 1978, and like the other moves described above, the other half
of the people of Tūmās wa \'Afya Talaata moved into a newly built
village that was called Tūmās wa \'Afya al Wusta (Arabic for
\'central\'). It was located at 25°18\'29.26\" N, 32°29\'32.73\" E and
was close to the farmlands that belonged to the people from the hamlets
of Mansour, Saab, Ambaray, and Himeriiye. These lands were in
agricultural areas numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7.

In the late 1970s, the Egyptian government decided to auction off the
houses in the village of Tūmās wa \'Afya Talaata, which attracted many
non-Nubians from nearby Upper Egyptian villages. These newcomers
purchased homes at the auction and established their residences in Tūmās
wa \'Afya. Consequently, although these individuals were not of Nubian
descent, their identification documents officially listed them as
residents of the village. This development introduced a demographic
shift in Tūmās wa \'Afya, gradually transforming the cultural and social
landscape of the village.

In the seventies and eighties, the villages described above had acquired
numerous cultural facilities including youth centers. During games,
tournaments, and competitions, interactions between youths from
different villages resulted in some identity-based conflicts. Cases of
harassment and quarrels were reported especially among youths who were
born after the resettlement of 1964.

At the end of 2007, the government gave the same name --- Tūmās wa
\'Afya --- to a cluster of a hundred new houses built on the Western
shore of Lake Nasser at approximately the same location as the original
village of Tūmās wa \'Afya (22°46\'53.75\"N, 32° 1\'54.62\"E) in Old
Nubia. One hundred families were settled there. Each was allocated five
acres of reclaimable land. None of these families were from Tūmās wa
\'Afya originally. None were Nubian.

Thus, after nearly forty-five years from the time the Nubians
resettlement outside of their ancestral homeland, there existed seven
different villages carrying the same name Tūmās wa \'Afya officially.
Yet only four of these are now inhabited by Nubians. These are Tūmās wa
\'Afya Wahed, Itneen, Al Wusta, and Nasr al Nuba. The other three,
Talaata, Arba\'a, and al-Nuba al-Gadiida, are inhabited by non-Nubians
whose national identity cards show them as citizens of places with
Nubian names.

As almost always happens when national governments invoke \'national
interest\' or \'national security' to relocate groups of citizens
geographically, significantly different cultural cum ethnic populations
end up living away from their kin and, instead, lived in close proximity
to non-kin.

Thus, in the case of the people of Tūmās wa \'Afya, some families ended
up near Esna and some near Kom Ombo. To work around their arbitrary
separation, families continue to spend time and scarce monetary
resources visiting each other. From the early 1970s, countless families
used the annual school midyear break to visit their estranged relatives.
The frequency of these visits tended to increase as the means of
transportation improved. An equally significant manner of expressing the
deeply felt resistance to the arbitrary separation of kin is evident in
the continuation of marriages between those near Esna and those near Kom
Ombo.

The tangled history of Nubian resettlement summarized above leads to a
clear and inevitable conclusion: uprooting people and arbitrarily
separating them from each other geographically does not override and
does not reduce the feelings of shared cultural cum ethnic identity
among them. Despite nuanced differences, Nubians in Egypt and Sudan are
one.

# The government\'s resettlement housing policy

A prefabricated construction method was suggested for the construction
of the houses, especially since the house floor plans were appropriate
for that type of construction. This option was quickly abandoned because
the village sites were far from available factories at that time and the
time allowed for construction was too short to allow for the development
of new factories to meet the resettlement needs. Another reason for
rejecting the prefabricated method was its high cost which was estimated
to be 160% higher than the traditional method of construction that was
ultimately recommended for the project. 

# Planning of the resettlement villages

The National Organization for Nubian Resettlement established a set of
recommendations for planning and designing the new villages. These
guidelines stated that the house designs should be developed using only
three design prototypes. The prototypes were based on the number of
rooms in each type (see figure 2). 

The large house consisted of 4 bedrooms, a *madiafa/Mandara* (guest
room), an open courtyard, a kitchen, a stable, and a toilet. This type
was to be assigned to large families which had seven or more members.
The medium house consisted of three bedrooms, a *madiafa*, a courtyard,
a kitchen, a stable, and a toilet. This type was to be assigned to
families of five to seven members. Finally, the small house consisted of
two bedrooms, a *madiafa*, a courtyard, a kitchen, a stable, and a
toilet. The small house was to be assigned to families of less than five
members.

A fourth type was later added at the request of the Ministry of Social
Affairs to accommodate small families of two members, single widows, or
bachelors. This type contained one room, a courtyard, a kitchen, and a
toilet. The idea behind this scheme was to provide equality among the
Nubian families.

The openings for doors and windows in all the rooms were to be oriented
north to bring the much-favored wind into the rooms, and small high
openings were to be made on the opposite side to create
cross-ventilation.

The houses were allowed only one frontage to reduce the total necessary
street lengths. For the two largest types of houses, it was recommended
that the design include two entrances: one for the inhabitants and their
visitors and the other for the animals. Each house was to have a
separate madiafa to receive and entertain guests. The *madiafa* was not
covered but left for the Nubians to cover it the way they wished.

These recommendations and guidelines were presented to the housing and
planning professionals so they could use them in developing the plan for
the villages and the design of the houses. The planning of the villages
did not always adhere to these recommendations but yielded occasionally
to technical and financial considerations.

To save as much construction material as possible and use less of the
land area allocated for housing and, at the same time, minimize the
outside walls exposed to direct sun, the houses were organized in groups
as back-to-back rows. The streets were oriented north-south to minimize
their exposure to the sun and to allow the rows of rooms inside the
houses to be oriented north. By using the back-to-back arrangement only
half of the houses were oriented to the desired north direction while
the other half was oriented south.

Attitudes toward resettlement were, predictably, mixed with hopes and
dreams, and varied. People who enjoyed economic stability in Old Nubia
were not enthusiastic about moving. Among them were the few prosperous
farmers, shopkeepers, boat owners, and government employees. Age and sex
were also important in determining people\'s attitudes toward
resettlement. Young people tended to be optimistic, and men looked
forward to a more exciting life and a broader range of economic and
social opportunities. Women anticipated speedy marriages or more
frequent reunions with their husbands.

# Nubian house and the attitudes of the administration

It is important to consider the general attitudes of the administrators
as well as the Nubians to be able to understand how the environment
emerged in the atmosphere that prevailed at that time. As an overall
generalization of the situation, the government was viewed as an entity
of itself. One has a different personality as a government employee than
his normal one outside the office. Bureaucracy alienated people from the
authorities including government employees.

Nevertheless, the government\'s approach toward Nubian resettlement was
unilateral, i.e., there was no actual Nubian participation in plan
formulations. The Nubian voice was always heard but seldom taken into
account except in cases where it was possible to accommodate Nubian
desires easily within the general framework of the government aims. 

Administrators --- belonging mainly to social strata whose outlooks were
quite different from those of the Nubians --- typically saw (and
continue to see) Nubians in terms of stereotypes involving backwardness
and stupidity. Based on these implicit assumptions and latent attitudes,
officials tended to think that Nubians should accept with gratitude what
is offered to them.

From the Nubian point of view, the government was seen as an instrument
of imposition and control. They viewed the government employees who
served in Old Nubia as inexperienced and/or \'exiled\' into this remote
area due to underperformance or misdeeds. Nubians had very little
contact with government officials or other citizens due to their
relative geographical isolation and apparent cultural differences.
Because of their past experiences, Nubians hardly trusted the
administrators\' promises and plans.

Nubians were particularly displeased with what they saw as arbitrary,
sudden, and unannounced changes in government policies and plans. For
example, the design of the large house type was altered and the back
alleys, which were intended to separate the animals\' entrances from the
people\'s entrances, were omitted and both types of entrances were
placed next to each other on the same side of the house. Another example
has to do with a heat-insulation construction system (based on the use
of hollow concrete block roof construction technology) that was
initially proposed for the entire settlement project. This was dropped
during implementation without explanation or consultation. The flat
reinforced concrete slabs that were implemented were not insulated and
allowed the heat to penetrate the rooms, where poor ventilation trapped
the heat inside. 

The elitist attitude held by the resettlement officials allowed them to
dismiss or trivialize the value of the Nubians\' participation in the
planning and designing of the villages and houses. For example, it was
mentioned in the Ministry of Social Affairs report on the resettlement
of Nubians that the Nubians were consulted during the design stages of
the houses and that a full-scale house model was built for Nubian
delegates and representatives to see and comment on it. Yet the houses
that were later built proved unacceptable to the Nubians. Either these
delegates were shown a different model from the one used in the
implementation, or the delegates did not communicate all their
disagreements to the officials. It is also possible that the officials
dismissed the views offered by the delegates who they considered to be
uneducated Nubians. Be that as it may, the result was the same: a
growing rift between Nubians and officials and a tendency to implement
plans that were unsatisfactory to the Nubians.

It is of course easy to attribute sources of Nubian dissatisfaction to
time and resource constraints. However, this was not always the case. An
example will illustrate. The resettlement houses, regardless of type or
size, included an animal stable inside the houses. A stable inside the
house is a typical feature of rural housing in Upper Egypt, but this
arrangement was culturally unacceptable to the Nubians. It was a design
feature that was based on misinformation about Nubian culture. It was,
we should add, easily avoidable by, for example, building collective
stables at the end of house blocks without additional costs.

Similarly, the design of resettlement houses proves that their
architects conceived houses mainly as sleeping shelters, not as places
for living in the manner that Nubian culture required. Services were
provided according to the number of rooms in each house. In short, the
designers did not understand the social, cultural, and community aspects
of the Nubian way of living. Such understanding would have enabled them
to avoid basic design mistakes and to earn the acceptance of more
Nubians.

The Nubians who were not residing in their original villages at the time
of the resettlement were not assigned houses in the newly planned
villages. They became known as *al-Mughtaribeen* (Arabic for
\'expatriates\'). Different Nubian ethnic groups which were not
neighbors before the resettlement became neighbors because of the
planning scheme which located their villages close to each other. They
shared services and were forced to be in contact with each other which
created problems, especially for villages that belonged to ill-matched
groups.

# Esna houses

On Tuesday, May 26th of 1964 the first group of Tūmās wa \'Afya families
arrived at Esna by train. They were received by a committee headed by
the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Governor of
Qena, the Mayor of Esna, and many other officials.

The region represents a complete residence that has its special nature
as a result of the site circumstances and its determinants, which had a
role in village construction materials and design. The village planning
concept came as a routine instead of planning beside the Nile, and the
village must be divided according to residential units and not according
to related links to the basic home, in which the residential units join
from three sides to save spaces for constructing and save one elevation
for every habitat to reduce roads surfaces in which the residential
units became attached.

# Basics of Settlement of Families and Individuals in the New Villages,
(Villages of Tūmās wa \'Afya)

The government built limited housing for families that were displaced
from Nubia to Esna, and the settlement was based on the governmental
inventory that was carried out before the construction of the high dam.
The number of families is estimated to be about 200 families, and due to
the absence of expatriates, who were out of Nubia during the inventory
process, they were not given dwellings. As my grandfather observed at
the time, this \"means that there has been no intense stability for the
sons of Tūmās wa \'Afya in Esna because there are no residences for
expatriates.\" These dwellings were distributed according to the size of
the family, and the residential models were also designed on this basis,
not for considerations of social status or the area of the old dwelling,
or kinship ties.

Tūmās wa \'Afya Talaata and Itneen have been completed while Tūmās wa
\'Afya Wahid was under construction. As I mentioned above, similar house
types were grouped in blocks and separated from each other by
twenty-meter-wide streets. The house type used here was the two-bedroom
house in the middle of which was a 12 by 5-meter courtyard, two 3.60 by
2.80-meter rooms, a 3.60 by 1.80-meter kitchen, a 3.60 by 3.60 meter
stable, and a 1 by 2-meter toilet (figure 6). 

![Layout of houses at Tūmās wa ʿAfya.](../static/images/habbob/fig6.jpg "Layout of houses at Tūmās wa ʿAfya.")

**~~Figure 6. Layout of houses at Tūmās wa ʿAfya.~~**


In the Esna houses, the roof slabs used the hollow concrete blocks I
mentioned before. The walls of the houses were built to a height of two
meters if the surrounding areas were not to be roofed. Otherwise, the
roof heights varied from 2.5 meters to 3.0 meters. Since the authorities
built only one type of house in the Esna villages, larger families were
assigned two adjacent housing units which the occupants joined
subsequently. 

The displacement of an individual from the social environment that he is
used to and grew up in, and cutting his firm and well-established social
roots and relocating him to a new environment different than the
traditional Nubian personality, is not well studied either socially or
humanity in new buildings with a new character. Though fifty years
passed since their immigration, they still do not feel comfortable,
which leads to making choices coming on their functional and communal
needs (due to the immigration and the social situation change in the
family and the increase of their needs and the change of the
requirements). Alongside this, the architectural and urban interferences
of the users in a time interval of fifty years were focused on the level
of the elevations and facades and the interference on the level of the
residential unit due to the multiple changes done by the user to adapt
to the new situation, so the relocated community started to make changes
and modify captions to the new residences built by the state, to make
the individual feel balanced, which is his ability to express himself,
and the furthermost things expressed by the users are the inheritances
surrounding him.

As expected, Nubian families started to modify the government-built
houses almost as soon as they moved in. The first stage of modification
typically involved rising to roughly the 3-meter level. In many cases
families covered the courtyard with thick mats made from a plant that
grows in canals and draining ditches; they placed these mats over tree
branches or trunks. Some more ambitious families modified the house
floor plan to create a combined unroofed space for a stable, kitchen,
and Nubian bread oven. 

In the second stage of modifications, families enlarged the total house
space by adding up to five meters to its front and replacing the
courtyard and new kitchen roofing with palm branches and later with
corrugated metal sheets panels (figure 7).
 
![Layout of houses at Tūmās wa ʿAfya.](../static/images/habbob/fig7.jpg "Layout of houses at Tūmās wa ʿAfya.")

**~~Figure 7. Layout of houses at Tūmās wa ʿAfya.~~**


In 1978, the building of the village of Tūmās wa \'Afya El-Wosta
included all house prototypes (1, 2, 3, and 4-bedroom types, see figure
7) with, in certain cases, a difference in the wall construction
material whereby red bricks replaced limestone blocks. It is worth
mentioning another aspect of the modifications that the Nubian people
made to their new houses in this and other villages. From the
mid-sixties to the beginning of the eighties, the builders who modified
Nubian houses were Nubians, and they used the same mud-brick sizes and
brick-making molds that were used in Old Nubia (length: 25 cm, width:
12.5 cm; depth: 7 cm) and that are quite different from those typically
used by Upper Egyptians, known locally as Sa\'idis (length: 20 cm,
width: 10 cm, depth: 7 cm). 

Starting from the 1990s, some Nubians modified their houses in what can
be considered a third stage, one that involved replacing mud-bricks and
mud mortar with red bricks and concrete. Then ten to fifteen years
later, some started to rebuild entire houses or parts of houses using
new foundations, reinforced concrete columns, and slabs while
preserving, as much as possible, the essential identity of the Old
Nubian houses.

# Concluding remarks

The relation between the human and the environment is reciprocal, each
one affects and is affected by the other, and the result of this
interaction expresses its cultural dimension, thus forming the
architecture that forms the physical frame that includes the
inhabitants.

Traditional local heritage is a true mirror of the culture of the
society across the ages, through its elements and its effect on the
behavior, lifestyle, beliefs, and arts of people. It is also an
inspiration for a lot of the heritage marks in architecture and
buildings.

The traditional building is considered the sum of knowledge,
experimentation, and interaction with the surrounding context and
reflects the response to the attempts to fulfill human requirements
along with the history of societies. Meanwhile, it is the true record of
the culture of the society and its local heritage.

The Nubians migrated in 1964 into villages different in nature and
climate to their original villages. They moved into houses with
different designs from their originals. The Nubians made several direct
adjustments to the architecture of their new houses and villages to fit
their physical and emotional needs. They interacted with the new urban
context in the new settlement villages

The emigration was accompanied by an emotional emigration through
different experiences and cultural and environmental values obtained
from old Nubia, which the Nubians firmly held, even if they contradicted
the pressures and definitions of the new place. 

The change in the natural environment due to the migration from old
Nubia to the new settlements was accompanied by a change in the
activities and cultural and economic behavior of the society, which
reflected directly on the characteristics of the Nubian personality and
gave it new values. Instead of being ranked according to ethnic or
familial origin, financial ability, and economic status became the main
determinant of the social ranking.

The unsuitability of the emigration villages and houses in general for
the Nubian culture and habits is notable. The limited spaces of the
houses did not fulfill the extended family\'s needs. In addition, the
division of the village was into sectors, each including a standardized
house model (one two or three rooms) which was distributed according to
the number of family members, without taking into consideration the
degree of relation and the classic division of Nubian villages into
\"naja\" and residential communities based on related families. The
basic units of the new Nubian community became the separate family with
a separate house ending the role of the extended family that lived in a
big house or multiple neighboring houses.

The Nubians --- despite all the negatives of the emigration and the
different architectures of new villages --- retained a lot of the
aspects and details of their heritage special culture, habits, and
traditions.

I hope that the above discussion has now set the record straight
concerning the timing of and the circumstances surrounding the
resettlement of the people of Tūmās wa ʿAfya to their new villages near
Esna and Kom Ombo. I also hope that the discussion relayed a sense of
how difficult and often winding the road has been. 

In the absence of the forgoing documentation of the difficulties and
disappointments encountered by the Nubian people, and in fairness, by
the government officials as well, the seemingly simple phrase \'Nubian
resettlement\' would lead to a false impression that the process had
clear aims, a clear beginning, and clear end. The reality, as I hope I
have been able to convey, was/is anything but straightforward. 

Finally, it is necessary to underscore the resilience and
resourcefulness of the Nubians whose determination to keep their culture
alive was manifested in the modifications they made to the mass-produced
houses they were presented within the resettlement villages. 

# Afterword

Bahr Osman Habbob, my maternal grandfather, was born on August 7, 1910,
in the village of Tūmās wa \'Afya, near Derr (Nubia) in the Aswan
Governorate. He started his education at the village's Quranic school at
five. In 1920, his older half-brother Maher Osman came from Cairo,
brought him to the city, and enrolled him in an elementary school in the
Ma\'arouf district. Two years later, he was transferred to another
school in the Abdeen district, where Bahr advanced to the fourth grade.
However, shortly before the exams, a dispute arose between his
half-brother and Bahr's mother, which led to his withdrawal from school
despite objections from his teachers and the principal. Bahr had been at
the top of his class each of those four years.

After leaving school, Bahr worked various jobs, including as a doorman
at an Italian school in Alexandria, and later as a bank collector, a
position he held until he retired at sixty. From 1930 to 1975, he served
as secretary for the village association for Tūmās wa 'Afya in
Alexandria.

Upon retirement, he returned to his village, which had been relocated to
Esna in the Qena Governorate in 1964 due to the construction of the High
Dam. Bahr Habbob passed away in 1981, leaving behind a son, three
daughters, and several grandchildren. I, Maher Habbob, am his eldest
grandchild.

Bahr Habbob left his children a valuable legacy upon his passing:
agricultural land, several houses, a library with 3,000 books, and his
personal diaries. He also preserved many documents related to events and
issues affecting his village and Nubia, particularly those concerning
the construction of the Aswan Reservoir and the High Dam. Bahr gathered
these materials over the years, not only as a reader and intellectual
but also in his role as secretary of his village association in
Alexandria for over 45 years.

# Bibliography

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Resettlement Houses at Kom Ombo*. Master Thesis presented to The College
of Fine Arts. American University in Cairo, 1982. 

Fahim, H. M. *The Resettlement of Egyptian Nubians: A Case Study in
Developmental Change*. PhD Thesis. University of California, Berkeley,
1968. 

Fahim, H.M. *Egyptian Nubians: Resettlement and years of coping*, Salt
Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1983. 

Fernea, R.A., J.G. Kennedy. *Initial Adaptations to Resettlement: A New
Life for Egyptian Nubians*. Cairo: American University in Cairo, 1966.

Mahgoub, Y.O.M. *The Nubian Experience: A Study of The Social and
Cultural Meanings of Architecture*. PhD Thesis. The University of
Michigan, 1990. 

Ministry of Social Affairs, *Tahjir Ahaly Al-Nuba*, Cairo 1963. 

Scudder, T. *Aswan High Dam Resettlement of Egyptian Nubians*,
Singapore: Springer 2016. 

Shedid, Y. Mona, and Genan I. Hassan. "Architectural and Urban
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Heritage: A Culmination of Selected Research Papers from the Second
International Conference on Conservation of Architectural Heritage*,
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Rizq, Y. L. *Al-Ahram Diwan Al-hayah Al-Moasra, in: Al-Ahram*, November
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