﻿NO. I NATIVES OF KHARGA OASIS — HRDLICKA II 



Kharga may be called a great Egyptian village, modified in a 

 peculiar manner by local requirements. It is constructed with special 

 regard to protection from the sun, heat, and winds, and also for 

 easier defense against invaders, an important precaution in the 

 past. It is built of mud and sun-dried bricks ; the posts of the 

 dwellings are of palmwood, the ceilings of palm leaf ribs and mud. 



The main part of the village is a maze of narrow, sinuous, intri- 

 cate streets. Futhermore, in the case of most of the narrower pas- 

 sages the upper stories of the houses have been built completely 

 across to the opposite sidie, converting the street into a tortuous, very 

 dark, tunnel or gallery, five to seven feet high, which is always cool, 

 quiet and free from blowing sand, and in which defense would be 

 easy. A visitor can not find his way through these passages without 

 a guide. 



The houses are one to two stories high, in style like those of the 

 poorer classes in the Valley. They are mostly small, irregular and 

 piled together, as everywhere in Egypt. In many instances there 

 is an open air living room on the top of the dwelling, fenced in by 

 a hedge of dry palm leaves or ribs; this room is made use of mainly 

 by the women and children (plate 2) . 



The dwellings as well as the streets are now kept, due to govern- 

 ment regulations, in a neat condition, but formerly are said to have 

 been filthy. There is, of course, no system of sewers and the dis- 

 posal of sewage is primitive. Water is carried to the dwellings 

 principally from a small open reservoir located within the town and 

 fed by a surging well. It is distributed in goat-skins, and curiously, 

 by blind men who, notwithstanding their defect, are said to be mas- 

 ters of all the intricacies of the streets and tunnel-like passages. 



The apartments, so far as seen, are of very moderate dimensions 

 and often lacking in light. There are also only poor provisions for 

 the escape of smoke ; but the inside rooms are quite fireproof and 

 afford good protection against heat as well as cold, and against the 

 winds and sands. 



The people are in general poor. In occupation, the large majority 

 are agriculturists, and they gain only enough for the bare necessi- 

 ties. They dress cheaply and lightly, in the main much like the 

 fellaheen (agricultural workers) of the Nile Valley. The ordinary 

 external robe or garment does not differ much in the two sexes ; 

 vests and inner garments, however (where worn), and also the 

 outer garments of better quality, as well as decorations, are dis- 

 tinctive. Some of the women wear a metal ring which pierces one 



