A Tale of Two Villages: Family, Property, and Economic Activity in Rural Egypt in the 1840s

Kenneth M. Cuno

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

The example of the villages of Badaway and Damas in the eastern Nile Delta in the 1840's shows how families of rural notables succeeded in improving their social and economic status in the Egypt of Muhammad Ali. Evidence from tax and census documents indicates that multiple-family households were becoming the dominant form of organization and that the dominant family in each village was characterized by a large household containing several family generations, slaves, and retainers. The more land a family owned, the more complex was the household, and polygamy was more common among landholding families. Nonetheless, the trend toward multiple-family households is also discernible among the landless and nonagricultural families, probably for cultural rather than economic reasons.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationAgriculture in Egypt from Pharaonic to Modern Times
EditorsAlan K. Bowman, Eugene Rogan
PublisherOxford University Press
Pages301-329
Number of pages29
Volume85
StatePublished - Jan 1 1999

Keywords

  • COUNTRY life
  • PROPERTY
  • FAMILIES
  • ECONOMIC history
  • Egypt (Badaway, Damas)

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