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IN THE OASIS OF SIWA, WHERE THE CARAVAN WAS ORGANIZED
Here one still finds the old
houses built on the hilltop to ward off attacks (see illustration, page
235); but now it is a very peaceful place, inside Egyptian territory.
The chief occupation of the inhabitants is the cultivation of dates.
Olive trees are also grown and olive oil extracted.
The dates of Siwa are famous all
over the world. A visit to the date market
reveals a curious communistic custom that prevails here. Everybody, rich
and poor, brings all his dates, good and bad, and puts them in heaps,
and no one dares touch one date from another man’s heap, for it would
bring bad luck. On the other hand, they allow any stranger or any poor
man to come in and eat as much as he likes from the best quality,
provided he does not take any away with him. Therefore, nobody starves
at Siwa.
Some of the women are unusually
comely. They dress in very loose garments and adorn themselves with
necklaces of silver bangles. Photographs of some of these Siwa girls
suggest that they follow the most modern form of coiffure, but the hair
is not bobbed, although it has the same effect. It is plaited when the
child is young, and the braiding continues as the hair grows. The locks
are oiled from time to time, but are never unplaited or combed out (see
page 250).
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