Egyptian practices
Sir: There is a certain irony in Alexander Chancellor's tale (Notebook, 23 July) of the Nile boatman who believes that in
Britain men marry men.
The Egyptian oasis of Siwa, which I visited last year, is surely the only place in the world where, for many centuries, marriages between men were sealed with written contracts. The bride price was often higher for a boy than for a girl.
King Fuad visited Siwa in 1928 and expressed horror at the practice. Thereafter there were no written contracts, though the weddings continued. At the next royal visit, by Farouk in 1945, when asked whether they still practised 'a certain vice', the sheiks hung their heads and made no answer.
Today, it seems, marriages between men are no longer solemnised, but there are still what the historian of Siwa innocently called 'the gayest parties' in the palm groves after harvest.
Quentin Crewe
Le Grand Banc, Oppedette, France
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