Chapter 1, Guest and Daughter Summary and Analysis

The author introduces the reader to a Bedouin community in western Egypt. The tribe is called Awlad 'Ali and is settled in an arid, rural area south of the Mediterranean Sea. The author arrives in the area as an anthropology graduate student studying the Bedouin culture. She lives with the Awlad 'Ali tribe for two years, from October 1978 to May 1980.

At the time that the author, Lila Abu-Lughod, lives with the Awlad 'Ali, the tribe consists of 53 adults and over 100 children. The largest household in the tribe has 25 people living in four rooms. Previous to this time, the Bedouins were largely nomadic, and the configuration of their tents described their relationships with one another. The tent ropes of kin would cross, and the central tent belong to the senior kinsman. However, the Egyptian government purchased...