Social Interactions 113little adornment on the outside. Inside walls are often painted
with bright colours.
Nubian villages are distinguished from traditional
fellahin villages by their architecture. Nubian homes tend
to be more decoratively painted on the outside than most
fellahin homes.
Bedouins, who are termed pastoral nomads, typically
live in tents constructed of densely woven animal hair.
The tent is struck according to prevailing winds to
maximise air circulation in the summer and to protect
occupants from blowing sand. In the winter and even
on summer evenings, the desert can get quite cold,
so tents may be erected close to some type of natural
protection, such as in the bend of a wadi (dry river or
stream bed).
Bedouin groups typically include 40–50 persons, usually
related. Each family establishes its own small sub-area within
the camp. Parents and children have separate sleeping tents.
During the daylight hours, children can be seen frolicking
around their family’s area.
A fellahin house in a rural village—a building style unchanged for thousands
of years.