This book presents the findings of socio-anthropological field studies on customary laws and social order in Egypt. The first chapter presents comprehensive documentation of "Al Awayid", the customary laws of the Awlad Ali tribes, which prevail and govern political, kinship, and economic relations in the tribal semi-Bedouins and rural communities in the western desert and the Al Beheira governorate. It also traces changes in these laws that have occurred during the last forty years as a resul...