Dr. Yasser Mahgoub – Doctoral Dissertaion –University of Michigan - 1990 - 76
prohibit their access to the services in Abu Simbel. Fakhri proposed that they send the Toshkans a letter announcing the boycott. The meeting ended with no definite agreement on what was the proper action to take against the people of Toshka. Am Dosoki Am Ibrahim Dosoki is 55 years old; he is an artist who is well known in the village as a painter. He lives in a 3-room house across the street from the post office with his wife and daughters. His house is clean and very organized.He is the artist who designs the wedding documents hanging in most of the village's mandarahs. He was very elaborate and summed up beautifully many problems of the new villages. I was a teacher in Nubia before the displacement. I used to teach in Aswan and go back to Nubia in the summer vacation. This is not a Nubian house. The Nubian house had specific characteristics which do not exist here. The house was for the whole family. It was called beit el eila, or the family's house. It was large, spacious, and built to change with the family. If one of the single men or women wanted to get married they could add more rooms to the house. One of the most important advantages of the old Nubian house was the diwani. It consisted of a large hall to receive and entertain guests, a living room for the owner of the the house, a toilet, and a maziarah. It was an independent house within the large house. The diwani was used for the family members' weddings. For example, if one of the sons got married he stayed in the diwani until he could afford to have his own house. It was an important part of the house. We don't have it any more. The houses were independent from one another. Every four or five houses formed one block. The back of the house was free. Here, with the houses lined side by side and back to back, neighbors can hear one another through the ventilation openings. People resent being heard by their neighbors. That's why the openings are blocked and not used. Definitely, the relationships between people were affected by the small houses. For example, wedding parties were usually held inside the houses. The house was large enough to host all the people of the naja. They used to gather inside the courtyard and celebrate. The small size of the houses affected this custom. Today, it is impossible to have a celebration inside the house. They have to go outside the house to the squares and the streets and celebrate. This is something they are not used to. In the past every thing was done inside the house. There is no space inside the house. Unlike the old days, they are forced to use the houses of the neighbors on the wedding days. I used to do everything inside my house; today it is too small so I ask for help from my neighbors and their