It's time to correct some misapprehensions about Egypt's Tuesday markets. There is not a single Tuesday market in Cairo's Gamaliya district, this was not established during the time of the Mamelukes, and Tuesday markets are not even necessarily held on Tuesdays. To Cairenes, all this may still seem to be true. But not to Um Mahmoud who lives in Luxor's Gurna village and visits the village market along with her neighbours every week, and not to Mahmoud Al-Abnoudi, from Qena's Abnoud village. And indeed not to Isis, the wife of the ancient Egyptian god Osiris, who sang “The Tuesday market is upon us, ladies. No money needed, it's all about trade.” Markets in Egypt have never had a specific day or place. They have been held in every Egyptian village on the day most convenient to the inhabitants, whether Saturday, Sunday or Tuesday, and this has been the case since ancient times. One of the best-known of today's weekly markets is held in the village of Gurna on the west bank of the Nile opposite Luxor in Upper Egypt. Tourists take pictures of authentic Egyptian folklore as it happens in this market, and, just like at others in Upper Egypt, women are rarely seen as vendors in the market and men form discussion circles to talk about the latest local news. Luxor's market is held in a village that goes by the name of Al-Oraba Al-Madfouna, a reference to the many ancient artefacts that were found buried beneath the sand in the area. It is held close to the Temple of Abydos, where the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Seti I raised a glorious temple dedicated to the worship of the god Osiris, this later becoming an important burial centre in ancient Egypt. With this beautiful Pharaonic heritage in the background, Al-Oraba Al-Madfouna's weekly market today is home to the “donkey barber”, who much to the surprise of the present writer explained that there were many different donkey haircuts and each owner would choose the one most fitting for his animal. One of the traditional jobs still found in the Luxor market is that of the al-saqqa, or water-carrier. The al-saqqa's job is to tour the market to give water to vendors who neither have access to tap water nor to bottled water. He is usually referred to as being “possessed”, a word used by the Upper Egyptians to refer to men possessed by divine love. Such men are regarded as saints and are revered. Despite the fact that the market sits on further artefacts that have yet to be unearthed, the vendors have refused to relocate. Antiquities inspectors have discovered the remains of an ancient monastery in the area and have tried to seal it off, but the ministry lacks the funds to protect it. Another example of where weekly markets are infringing on antiquities is the Akhmim market in Sohag in Upper Egypt on the east bank of the Nile. Many of the ancient buildings in Akhmim have been destroyed, and little exists today in original form. But there are still the remains of a temple built by the pharaoh Ramses II for his daughter Meritamun. A colossal statue of Meritamun 11 metres tall and carved in limestone can still be seen, with Meritamun wearing a pleated robe and crowned with a modius (head-dress) decorated with serpents and the double feathers of a wife of the god Amun. When it was discovered in 1981, the statue was found lying face down and was broken during attempts to re-erect it. Now restored, it stands at the entrance to the remains of the temple, or, to put it more accurately, at the entrance to the Akhmim market. Held on the site of a great ancient temple, the Akhmim market sells fruit, vegetables and poultry. Another dying traditional job can be found there, which is that of the man who irons clothes using both his hands and his legs. Long before modern irons were invented, there used to be a man whose job was to iron long galabiyas with an appliance using both his hands and legs. Modern Akhmim is also famous for its weaving and its textiles, one of Egypt's oldest industries. Several shops sell tapestries. In addition to its ancient churches and monasteries, Akhmim is home to the Monastery of the Martyrs, located on top of a hill. Many of the 8,140 Christians killed at the hands of the Roman governor Irianos during the persecutions of the early Coptic period are buried there. The massacre lasted three days, an elderly priest explained to Al-Ahram Weekly. Another weekly market is located in the Abnoud village in the Qena governorate. The village was the residence of the famous Egyptian poet and songwriter Abdel-Rahman Al-Abnoudi who died in April 2015. Al-Abnoudi was known as al-khal, or “uncle”, in Cairo circles, but in his hometown every elderly man is referred to as uncle. I once visited the Abnoud market for an interview with the poet. It is full of meat and fish sellers, and in the centre are vendors displaying fruit and vegetable produce. Conducting interviews with different vendors from Cairo to Upper Egypt, the Weekly heard the same complaints. “The goods are expensive despite the fact that the produce comes from the farms straight to the market without passing through wholesale merchants. Sometimes the farmer is also the vendor,” noted many buyers. On the other hand, the vendors complained of a drop in sales, a complaint that has rarely changed throughout the years. One thing that has changed, though, can be seen when looking at collections of old photographs of Egypt. In those days more women worked as vendors in the weekly markets.
