Facing the Summer

When a friend of mine moved from an old apartment she gave me this palm log carving of a face. She said that it have her the creeps but I find it charming. I have no idea who the artist was or if it represents anything special but it is great with nasturtiums. 

Living In Tents

For years I've noticed a group of people who would appear here in our area with herds of cattle and unusual patterns of dressing. They often split up into small groups of cattle who graze on the stubble of the corn fields and they told me that they were from Zagazig in Sharkeya province. On our ride to Dahshur we came upon this camp under the palms near the lakebed. Our hostess for lunch told me that these were the cattle people, a group of Bedouin who travel throughout Egypt in a huge loop and have a base of sorts near Zagazig. The army apparently rents the lakebed to a man who has been harvesting the reeds from it until the last couple of years when the lake wasn't filled. This year he rented the lakebed as grazing land for a few weeks to the Bedouin.

Rope Of The Pharoahs

We were riding through the village of Sakkara and as we passed this garden, I noticed that the woman here was making a palm fiber rope. We've used this rope for construction around the farm because it is incredibly strong and doesn't degrade from the sunlight. It is spun from the brown fiber that they take off the palm trees when they are trimming the fronds from them. This is the same rope that was used to build the solar boat that is on display at Giza.

The Sentinels

Getting up to run an errand at 4:30 am is not high on my list of best ways to start the day, but sometimes it happens. So if you are out in the world at daybreak, you might as well admire it.

Palm Work

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Palm trees are a type of grass and they have to be trimmed regularly. At least twice a year men climb the date palms to cut off the older fronds. These are then hauled into the villages, often either by camel or if there is broader access, by mule and wagon. In the village, people do the initial processing by trimming off the softer leaves and then drying the rib that supports them. Later the ribs will be cut and made into furniture, boxes, or used in walls. The soft leaves may be shredded for upholstery material, woven into baskets, or mats, and so on.

Handmade Tools

 Most of our farm tools are handmade by the blacksmith down the road. Handles are bought separately and often don't quite fit. In this case we needed to remove the stump of a dead palm and the axe handle was loose and had to be secured with iron shims. Stump was removed.

Palm and Pyramids

A dirt road into the distance, the pyramids of Abu Sir on the horizon just past the green fields, and a lone date palm standing sentry by a canal. Egypt's countryside.

Rube Goldberg in Giza

This fascinating machine consists of a diesel pump that pumps water from a well and also turns the wheels that move the belts to run the machine that shreds palm leaves into a fine fiber that is dried and then used in upholstery. The water from the well cools the moving parts of the machine and then is pumped into a tank that then is used to irrigate fields. All in one.

Preparation

Palm is actually a grass and is probably the first plant domesticated by man. The hard ribs of the fronds are used to make boxes, the leafy part of the frond is used for mats, baskets and the like. The brown fiber that covers the base of the frond makes some of the strongest rope I've ever used, though pretty scratchy, and is formed into brooms and other cleaning implements. The wood is quite soft and porous but in our dry climate can be used for some building purposes. Unprepared, the logs are often used for informal bridges across canals or for walls. The prepared logs are often used in house construction.

Ancient Engineering

While riding through Sakkara village I noticed something that I'd ridden past over twenty times previously without noticing. Look between the palm trees and you will see a tall pole with a stone ring around the end of it near the ground. The stone provided the counterweight to ease the job of hauling the water bucket attached to the other end out of the well. The chopped off palm trunk provided the fulcrum for this simple lever. The machine was known as a shadduf and it was one of the earliest machines.

Just A Trim

Palm trees need a lot of maintenance. The extra fronds must be trimmed about 3 times a year. The brown fiber must be removed, and the trees must be inspected and treated for the palm weevils that have invaded from the east.

Homeward At Sunset

We were out riding just before dusk, at the time when the farmers are bringing their animals homes from the fields. Ahead of us on the track was a boy on a donkey taking home his water buffalo and cow.

Leaning

I've probably ridden past this palm a million times and admired the curve over the canal. Today the light and the reflection were just right.

On Palm Sunday

On the way home from a meeting in Giza on Sunday we passed through Faisal Street to pick up dog food supplies for the pack of hounds here. I haven't been paying attention to the calendar lately and was surprised to see people walking along carrying palm branches. I explained the tradition of Palm Sunday to Mohamed who isn't really up on his biblical traditions and Christian holidays. We have both the Coptic and the Western Easter falling on the same day this year (not a common phenomenon at all) with Shem el Nessim coming on Monday. Shem el Nessim was a pharaonic celebration of the spring equinox that predates Easter by about 3 thousand years and the traditions are very similar.

Tree Trunks

Palm trees are fascinating to me. Almost every part of them is edible by either humans or animals, or they can be used to make all manner of useful items. The trunks of palm trees are not smooth or ridged like other trees but lumpy with knots formed by the fronds that have either fallen or been chopped off. Unusual texture.

One Of The Many Uses Of The Palm

Date palms are useful in virtually any form. We eat the fruit in early autumn for the fresh crisp dates, but dried or fermented they are available all year round. The fiber of the frond can be used to make mats and baskets while the wooden rib can be split and formed to make furniture like this garden sofa. They don't last forever but they are comfortable and inexpensive. Just ask Geo.

Climbing

Palm trees are more work than houses. The fronds get trimmed a couple or three times a year, the blossoms must be fertilised, the fruit protected and then picked...and all of this is taking place about 10 to 15 metres off the ground. What's a guy to do? Climb! The harness is made of palm rope and cotton rope and it enables the workers to scamper up the trunk and then, in this case, work away with an axe to chop off the extra fronds and remove the extra fiber. Fronds will be come mats, boxes and furniture while the fiber is woven into ropes.

Real Palms Mirrored

On a drive to the lakebed at Dahshur we stopped by an irrigation canal to admire a scene of sunset, pyramids, desert, and water.

Mirroring a Palm

The Wissa Wassef Museum in Harania is built in domes, smooth soft lines and arches, based on traditional architecture. from the arches leading into the museum the pillar supporting a larger room almost looks like a palm tree.

Stocking Up

With the northeastern Sahara out the front door, sweeping sand out is a national pastime in Cairo and Giza. In the cities people buy their brooms from a shop but out in the farm areas the shops come calling. We were driving back from town and saw the broom seller riding his bicycle along the road, so we stopped to get a couple of palm branch brooms for the garden.