Culture Shock! Egypt - A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette

The Egyptian People 63

Diversity

Racism as known in the West does not occur in Egypt. This is
not to say that social status distinction and even differential
access to positions or power does not exist. What I am saying
is that the distinction or discrimination that does exist is not
based on skin colour or ‘race’ as commonly perceived in the
West. Skin colour may be judged on aesthetic grounds to be
more or less attractive, but is not considered important in
establishing one’s social status.
In describing themselves and the people around them,
most Egyptians more or less acknowledge the following
distinct groups: Egyptians, Bedouins, Arabs (people from
the Arabian Peninsula), other Middle Easterners (usually by
country), and foreigners (usually by country). Several sub-
categories are recognised within the group generally called
Egyptian. This can be viewed as ‘ethnic’ group distinction
in some senses because people are assigned to these groups
based on some common characteristics that distinguish
them. However, in Egypt, people do not generally recognise
the term ‘ethnic group’. Instead, people are merely referred
to as being in different ‘groups’. The most frequent group
distinction occurs simply between Muslims and Copts.
Nubians and Bedouins constitute somewhat more distinct
groups, although they also fall within the general grouping
of Muslims.

Nubians

When plans for building the Aswan High Dam began in the
1960s, President Nasser was the first to use the term ‘Nubian’
to refer to all the dark-skinned, non-Arabic speaking peoples
living between Aswan and the Sudanese border (now called
‘Old Nubia’). With the exception of a small group of migrants
and few tribal leaders, the people from Old Nubia very rarely
interacted with or were exposed to other Egyptians (and
vice versa) until resettlement moved them north of Aswan
in 1963. Prior to that time, if the people now called Nubians
felt any common identity with one another (they did not see
themselves as a united group), it was probably only based
on shared grievances against the Egyptian government.