History of Wells in Rashda Village …
209
The patience and industry of the inhabitants of the oases are well exemplified by their
unceasing attempts to maintain undiminished the water supply on which their very existence
depends. The population must always have borne a direct ratio to the total discharge of the
wells, as on the latter depends on the amount of food-supplies which can be raised. At no
period, as far as we can judge, has the output of the wells been greater than the requirements,
and it is probable that there has always been a population somewhat in excess of that which
could be supported by local products, the surplus portion being disposed of by emigration
to the Nile Valley. (Beadnell 1909: 198)
The considerable interest of villagers to drilling and maintaining a well is
evidenced in the family group najjarin (meaning carpenters) who were local professional well borers.
4 The najjarin drilled the well, and the villagers shared the capital
and labour.
The water share was decided according to the capital, labour, and technology
each contributed. The largest share was held by the ‘umda who owned 80% of the
cultivated land in Rashda. However, agricultural management was done in collaboration with other farmers. Although the ‘umda owned much of the land in the village
and had political power, he had to share with other farmers who contributed the
labour. As such, the digging and maintenance of the wells, and the water abstraction
and production were done in co-operation and shared between the villagers (see the
detailed discussion by Kato in Kato and Iwasaki 2016: Chapter 7). Thus, although
many differences would have existed between the ‘umda and ordinary farmers, even
small farmers would have the right to access the water.
4 Wells in Rashda Since the Mid-Twentieth Century
4.1 End of the 1950s to the 1970s: Government Wells
The turning point of the relationship between humans and water came at the end
of the 1950s. The turning point produced the shift from the relationship of human
relying on water to that of human relying on technology.
The aforementioned New Valley Project started in the Western Desert in 1958
that led to the diffusion of modern rigs with the construction and reclamation of the
New Valley in that same year. This project aimed at reclaiming 12,600 m
2 of desert
land by drilling the wells and intended to move 4 million persons from the old valley
of the Nile River. Many new villages were created to accommodate the youth who
graduated from universities (graduates). At the same time, this project was a part of
the land reform under the socialist reform after the 1952 Revolution and aimed at
integrated rural development under the land reclamation scheme in the Gamal Abdel
4 Beadnell observed the following: “The methods of dealing with wells in which the flows have
diminished or altogether ceased are of considerable interest, as they have given rise to a class of
men called ‘ghattasin’ (divers), which one would never have expected to find in such remote and
arid localities as the oases of the Libyan Desert” (Beadnell 1909: 193).
209
The patience and industry of the inhabitants of the oases are well exemplified by their
unceasing attempts to maintain undiminished the water supply on which their very existence
depends. The population must always have borne a direct ratio to the total discharge of the
wells, as on the latter depends on the amount of food-supplies which can be raised. At no
period, as far as we can judge, has the output of the wells been greater than the requirements,
and it is probable that there has always been a population somewhat in excess of that which
could be supported by local products, the surplus portion being disposed of by emigration
to the Nile Valley. (Beadnell 1909: 198)
The considerable interest of villagers to drilling and maintaining a well is
evidenced in the family group najjarin (meaning carpenters) who were local professional well borers.
4 The najjarin drilled the well, and the villagers shared the capital
and labour.
The water share was decided according to the capital, labour, and technology
each contributed. The largest share was held by the ‘umda who owned 80% of the
cultivated land in Rashda. However, agricultural management was done in collaboration with other farmers. Although the ‘umda owned much of the land in the village
and had political power, he had to share with other farmers who contributed the
labour. As such, the digging and maintenance of the wells, and the water abstraction
and production were done in co-operation and shared between the villagers (see the
detailed discussion by Kato in Kato and Iwasaki 2016: Chapter 7). Thus, although
many differences would have existed between the ‘umda and ordinary farmers, even
small farmers would have the right to access the water.
4 Wells in Rashda Since the Mid-Twentieth Century
4.1 End of the 1950s to the 1970s: Government Wells
The turning point of the relationship between humans and water came at the end
of the 1950s. The turning point produced the shift from the relationship of human
relying on water to that of human relying on technology.
The aforementioned New Valley Project started in the Western Desert in 1958
that led to the diffusion of modern rigs with the construction and reclamation of the
New Valley in that same year. This project aimed at reclaiming 12,600 m
2 of desert
land by drilling the wells and intended to move 4 million persons from the old valley
of the Nile River. Many new villages were created to accommodate the youth who
graduated from universities (graduates). At the same time, this project was a part of
the land reform under the socialist reform after the 1952 Revolution and aimed at
integrated rural development under the land reclamation scheme in the Gamal Abdel
4 Beadnell observed the following: “The methods of dealing with wells in which the flows have
diminished or altogether ceased are of considerable interest, as they have given rise to a class of
men called ‘ghattasin’ (divers), which one would never have expected to find in such remote and
arid localities as the oases of the Libyan Desert” (Beadnell 1909: 193).