Wandering through the Siwan marketplace, passing cartons filled with dates freshly picked from the towering palm trees, olives well-preserved for months, and handmade scarves full of colorful embroidered symbols made by the Siwan women within their homes, makes the curious traveler stop to find out more. Mesmerized by the seemingly elusive symbols, the traveler inquires about the symbols’ meanings, yet only a few shopkeepers are able to decipher its context. In fact, the colors and symbols, unquestionably unique and striking to the eye, each represents a specific sound within the spoken language, commonly referred to in Siwan as Ejlan ni Siwan. Tifinagh or the traditional alphabet – which is used by the Amazigh in North Africa – is not well understood within the Siwan community. The Amazigh, a distinct ethnic group whose communities can be found with a larger population in Morocco and Algeria, are also represented in Tunisia, Libya, Niger and Egypt. The latter community, residing in Egypt’s Siwa Oasis, is experiencing a transition in their cultural identity because although everyone speaks the language represented by the ancient script, they are unable to read the symbols. The idea of a modern Siwan man…
A Decline of Language But Not Identity: Tifinagh in Egypt’s Siwa Oasis
April 9, 2016
