posted

---

"Upper Egypt, home of the Saidi peoples, conventionally is defined as the area from Asyut south to Aswan. On the outskirts of Aswan, the Nubian villages began and extended south along the Nile past the Egyptian Sudanese border to Khartoum. If, however, we accept the Nubian view of the location of their people, Nubians are also to be found north of Aswan town, in the rich agricultural areas around Esna, Edfu, Daraw, and Kom Ombo. The inhabitants of many villages in the region look Nubian, being somewhat darker than other Egyptians. Members of an old Upper Egyptian tribal grouping, the Ga'afra, these people are generally considered to be Sa'idis like their neighbors, and it would be difficult to make a clear-cut separation between the various groups in the area. However, many Ga'afra believe they are related to the Nubians, a belief reciprocated by the Nubians themselves."