Same-Sex Marriage infamously existed at Egypt's Siwa Oasis

[nisosbar]

until the practice was suppressed by Western-oriented secular authorities in Cairo:

SIWA’S “GAY” HISTORY

Until the Second World War marriages between men were common. During the last century only women, children and men over the age of forty could remain within the city walls which meant that homosexuality was very common amongst the entirely male population outside.

The duty of these young men was to work the fields and to guard them from attacks by hostile bedouin. They had a fearsome reputation and were known as “Zaggalah” or “Club bearers”. They also earned a shocking reputation for drunkeness and “unashamed” homoerotic relationships. As late as 1938 one horrified British army officer spoke with evident distaste of the oasis’ “degenerate inhabitants” [ Major C. S. Jarvis OBE (1947 edition) Desert and Delta p182 ].

During the Second World War the oasis, which was close to Egypt’s border with Axis controlled Libya, served as a base for British special operations against Rommel’s Panzer Army Africa. It may have been this inflow of outsiders which led to negative reports being sent back to Cairo which in turn seems to have resulted in the outlawing of gay marriages in the oasis soon after the war’s end. However such relationships, though now illicit, still continue to flourish today.

Can’t link to gayegypt’s web site, as it calls itself “adult”, but google for it, if you wish.

Additionally, it appears that native Siwans are aware of how their way of life risks exposing them to modern repression:

When the Egyptian government paved the road from Marsa Matrouh to Siwa in 1985, the remote Berber oasis village became a popular destination for tourists seeking an authentic glimpse into an antiquated lifestyle. But those “authentic” traditions that thrived while it was isolated from the world by a 17-hour desert trek are now threatened as Siwa becomes slowly integrated with the rest of Egypt…

The book also touches on more sensitive areas, including an allusion to homosexuality in Siwa, and the intimate details of the wedding night. Siwa’s reputation for homosexuality is no secret. The 2001 New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival featured a French documentary on Siwa’s homosexual past and the website Gayegypt.com extols Siwa as a hotspot for gay travelers. Reasons as to why Siwa became known for homosexuality depends on who you ask. Siwans are reticent to discuss the subject, Malim included.

All the explanations involve a now-extinct class of indentured farmhands in Siwa known as Zagala. The Zagala were field workers forced to live outside the walls of the city and denied the right to marry until they were 40. Accounts of the Zagala vary from person to person and book to book, but in any case they gained a reputation for being prone to homosexuality.

The extent of the reference to homosexuality in Malim’s book is in the lyrics to a love song called “The Poet, My Boyfriend.” The word “boyfriend” is among those Malim crossed out at the Sheikhs’ insistence.

http://www.cairotimes.com/news/siwa0634.html

BTW, I saw the film referenced above at the 2001 New York Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. It made reference to gay marriage only in passing.

[quiltguy154]

Alexander the Great made a trek to Siwa, because of an oracle located there. The oracle proclaimed him a god, possibly due to the fact that he had just conquered Egypt. Was this a case of carrying coals to Newcastle, considering Alexander’s reputation for being homosexual. Just how far back into history does Siwa’s unusual story go?

[nisosbar]

@quiltguy154

Alexander the Great made a trek to Siwa, because of an oracle located there. The oracle proclaimed him a god, possibly due to the fact that he had just conquered Egypt. Was this a case of carrying coals to Newcastle, considering Alexander’s reputation for being homosexual. Just how far back into history does Siwa’s unusual story go?

Who knows? I certainly don’t. I’ve always wanted to get my hands on a copy of that British guy’s travelogue, but given it’s esoteric nature, it’s seemingly hart-to-find.

If this were a case of the “hellenization” of the Siwa oasis or something like that, where did the idea of “marriage” come, since the ancient Greeks did not have, to my knowledge, gay marriage as such, though there was plenty of gayness/gay relationships, of course. For that matter, there’s always been gay relationships in any human society, so was that introduced by Alexander? Common sense would suggest not.

But if gay marriage WAS introduced by Alexander, then what explains Siwa’s gay marriage tradition’s longevity and strength over thousands of years since Alexander’s visit?

[pete_m]

I came across this article that focuses on Robin Maugham’s visit to the Oasis l.

Years ago I had read an early account of life between city and Oasis. I have not been able to relocate that subsequently.

I read that in the early C20th a King of Egypt visited and learned of the tradition by which young men married older city men so as to be able to enter the city.
He granted a special for the tradition to continue.

https://www.greek-love.com/near-east-north-africa/egypt/siwa-oasis-robin-maugham-pederasty