Hajj Eissa’s Tambour

Kom Umbo, Egypt

This is Hajj Eissa, one of the oldest Nubians living in Toshka Village in Tahgeer, an immigration area near Kom Umbo.

During the construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1964, some 50,000 Egyptian Nubians were taken away from a way of life based around the banks of the river Nile, and immigrated to a desert life in settlements built for them near Kom Umbo, known as new Nubia.

Hajj Elias remembering old days before Tahgeer, a photo of himself while playing oud.

Hajj Elias is an old Nubian living in a neighboring village to Hajj Eissa’s Toshka village in the Tahgeer area. Both men are old enough to remember their way of life in old Nubia, before the compulsory immigration, when they were forced to abandon their homes. Both witnessed their whole villages getting submerged beneath the rising waters.

However, when I specifically asked Hajj Eissa about his feelings, he told me in an unclear Arabic dialect that everything is fine, and we are happy as we were! Unlike most old Nubians I’ve met, he didn’t complain. Maybe he was afraid that I would publish his words. Maybe he felt responsible for his small village. Maybe he is used to diplomacy after dealing with the government for many years. Maybe it’s simply because he, like many Egyptians, is used to submission and oppression. I will never know the reasons why Hajj Eissa was so peaceful, but I have utter respect for him.

We drove almost 80km to meet Hajj Eissa, because we heard that he is the oldest Nubian who kept his original Tambour and still remembers how to play it.

He first told me a few word differences from the Kinzi and Fajiki Nubian dialects, and then played the two different rhythms. The first rhythm is the Kinzi that Hajj Eissa belongs to, and the second rhythm is the Fajiki.

Hajj Eissa kept this room as his “room of memories” where he gathered all the artifacts he had before immigration. Due to modernization, most items in this room are no longer used by the Nubians.

I was so lucky to find and meet Hajj Eissa; he is truly a unique character. His old Tambour is considered one of a kind. It was made of wood covered with animal leather, consistent with how original Tambour instruments were made.

The new Tambour instruments are made of stainless steel. Sometimes made from utensils (creatively, I might add) in different colors, patterns, and sizes. However, those new Tambour instruments produce a totally different sound from the original Tambour.