Alexandria Engineering Journal (2018) 57, 875–883

H O S T E D BY
Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Nubian Vernacular architecture & contemporary

Aswan buildings’ enhancement
Ola Ali Mahmoud Bayoumi

Alexandria University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Architecture, Egypt

Received 28 December 2015; accepted 16 January 2016

Available online 3 May 2017

KEYWORDS Abstract The goal of the research was to investigate and analyze how Nubian building Environ-
Nubian houses; mental systems could be an inspiring way to develop and to rebuild the new city of Aswan and sim-
Vernacular architecture; ilar contemporary cities in hot arid regions. The paper also identifies the main economic, social and
Sustainable development cultural consequences of using Nubian Vernacular systems for defining contemporary sustainable
and restorative buildings and how these systems were ignored after Nubian displacement by the
Government due to the high-dam project establishment. Moreover, it illuminates the most impor-
tant techniques and methodologies of Nubian village planning and construction and how these
ways could achieve maximum passive cooling, thermal comfort, least energy consumption and
finally the sustainable development required in the 21st century.
Ó 2016 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction The research will also try to answer simple questions, which
are summarized in the following:
Nubians are residential architects through multi-generations’
knowledge practices and they succeeded to adapt to their envi- 1. What are the Vernacular architecture trends of the
ronment and create personal architectural features that are Nubians?
environmentally, socially and culturally passive. But after the 2. What are the consequences of building the High-dam on
High-Dam was built, they were forced to leave their location, the Nubian vernacular architecture?
and relocated to new governmental villages in the North. 3. Why people in Aswan tend to use contemporary industrial
These villages were built of different materials, open widths materials and systems instead of traditional and environ-
and orientations. Even the urban fabric did not respect their mental ones?
social considerations related to privacy, family connections 4. How to maintain the presence of vernacular architecture in
or social divisions. the 21st century contemporary trends?
Through a comparative study between Traditional old
Nubian houses before relocation and the new governmental The aim of this paper was to recover the design solutions
dwellings built for their displacement. that were provided by the old Nubian peoples architecture.
In order to achieve sustainable and restorative developments,
there are three features:
E-mail address: [email protected]
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria
University.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.01.002
1110-0168 Ó 2016 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
876 O.A. Mahmoud Bayoumi

1. Environmentally (thermal efficiency, thermal comfort and

natural resource preservation) NEW NUBIAN
2. Economically (avoiding forthcoming economic and energy Kom Ombo
crisis). Aswan High

Nubian Displaced to
3. And socially (thus, attaining the social justice). Dam

After High dam,

The research methodology is qualitative, based on data col- Kunuz

Old Nubia
lection and theoretical analysis of a comparative study between (Arabic)
the architectural features and the material properties used in
the old Nubian buildings and that used in the New Nubian Vil-
lages built by the Government. The main purpose for this com-
parison was to improve the sustainable and the Environmental
life qualities of the Nubian people after the displacement.

1.1. Why Nubian architecture is selected as a case study?

Fedija
Old Nubian villages had not been influenced by the variable (Egypt)
changes happened in Egypt throughout thousands of years
ago due to their isolation and thus lots of Environmental,
social and cultural aspects still have been preserved till the high
dam was built. Some variables have been changed but still
there are evidence of preserving lots of conceptual philosophies
and thus building strategies still have been carried out. Figure 1 Old Nubian map, divisions. Source: Dr. Yasser
Mahgoub research ‘‘the Nubian Experience” p. 4.
2. History of Nubian village

The ‘‘Noba” was first built by the ‘‘Kunuz”. They settled in the
north of the Nobia and depend on trade rather than agricul- NEW NUBIAN
ture due to their desert nomadic origin. They were forced by
the floods to move up their houses farther away from the flat
plateaus on the stony hills bank near the mountains. Their
houses were row like to be well utilized, totally made of
mud-bricks and barrel vaults [4].
The ‘‘Fadija” dwell in the southern Nubia up to ‘‘Wadi
Halfa” where they cultivate the land. This group owned sepa-
rate large houses with almost square layout built around a
large central rectangular and open-ed courtyard. Also they
built loggias and spacious one storey rooms surrounding the
court and well designed for both winter and summer climates.
The last group is the ‘‘tribe of Alqat” originally from Najd,
between the first two groups. It carries the same architecture
features of the northern and the southern groups [4] (see
Fig. 1).
As a ‘‘definable groups”, the Nubians lived isolated from
the Egyptian society and totally separated from the Egyptian
way of building their homes. Also, Nubians did not benefit
from civil services such as the medical, telecommunication
and even the educational services. On other words, Nubian Figure 2 New Nubian Google map, after displacement. Source:
Vernacular architecture continued to be ignored by the world Dr. Mahgoub research ‘‘the Nubian Experience” p. 17.
until 1963, when the region was flooded for the third time. The
fir‘‘ was in 1964 [4]. Unfortunately the high dam erased historic thermal comfort level-in the upper temperature limit of accept-
treasures, and also obliterated the ancient Nubian lands and able conditions [5] (see Fig. 3).
ten small Nubian villages were resettled in southern Egypt
and more to the North of Upper Egypt [4] (see Fig. 2). 4. Before the displacement

3. Climatic properties 4.1. Old nubian dwelling elements

The climate in the Nuba, Aswan, is a hot-dry climate, exceed- 1. The Entrance gate ‘‘bawaba”: It is 1.2 by 2.4 m, in the center
ing the thermal comfort during day and night. The tempera- of a high mud wall approached to the Nile. Also, there are 3
ture elevates to 2° C-more than ASHRAE limit of the windows on its both sides (guest room windows), the only
Nubian architecture and Aswan buildings’ enhancement 877

Figure 3 Old Nubian Vernacular houses. Source: El Hakim, Omar, 200.

room that is opened to the outside, while the rest of the

room’s openings oriented inside. In outside the conventional
oven Nubian who call ‘‘Duka” plus balconies which is
about mud ‘‘Silos”, height about 40 cm builds upon (walls)
to store the grain, dates and rest all food stuff [3] (see
Fig. 4).
2. Entrance transition area ‘‘main entrance portico".
3. Mandara: it is the guest room, located next to the main
entrance and opens the inner courtyard right inside the
house [3].
5. The Courtyard.
6. Bedrooms: It has two bedrooms or more.
7. Kitchen: it consists of two rooms, usually covered with a
dome and an open vent on the top for ventilation. Also
the domes hanging up in the middle tray ‘‘Meshlaa” serves
as the refrigerator and on the reservation [3].
8. Storage room: it is one of the most important element in the
Nubian house [3].

Note: The ancient Nubian huts were small and ‘‘considered of

modest, rectangular two-room units, part for sleeping and part
for storing dried food in tall mud jars” [2]. Adding ‘‘then it is
incorporated into newer, larger structures, in which a central
court had been added and enclosed by other larger rooms. The
courtyards were an additional feature as a response to changes Figure 4 Old Nubian building components. Source: Dr. Yasser
in cultural and religious beliefs” [2]. Mahgoub research ‘‘the Nubian Experience” p. 12.
878 O.A. Mahmoud Bayoumi

W= wall width
T1& T2 =
boundary
temperatures
Λ= Thermal
Conductivity
Q = rate of heat
flow over the
area (A).

Figure 5 The relation between wall thickness and thermal

conductivity. Source: http://www.theshelterblog.co.

Figure 8 Ventilation systems through cross ventilation, stack

effect. Source: Hassan Fathy, Architecture for the poor.

Figure 6 Stack effect ventilation in the kitchen of old Nubian a b

house. Source: The researcher.

4.2. Environmental features of old nubian housing

4.2.1. Materials of construction: mud-bricks

Figure 9 (a) Courtyard covered with Jareed, (b) Ramesseum
Materials are a mixture of mud and small particles of gravel.
temple vaults made since 3000 years ago, (c) vault made of earth
brick and mortar. Source: By the researcher.
4.2.2. Dimensions
Wall thickness is 500 mm. And thus it maintains room temper-
atures to keep cool in hot climates. According to this equation:
Q = (k/w)
A
(T1 T2) [5]. 4.2.4. Roof
The rooms are covered with timber less vaults made of earth
4.2.3. Openings bricks and mortar (see Figs. 5, 6, 8).
Its width at the elevation is narrow, to maintain privacy and
decrease the exposed areas to heat and Sun glare (see 4.2.5. Advantages of this Vernacular vault
Fig. 7a). Also, the triangular slots on top of those Openings
especially in the parapets and Vaults are for natural ventilation a. Ecologically sustainable: No corrugated iron roofing
and decrease the heat effect on the Nubian roof buildings [3]. sheets, no timber beam rafters.

a b

Figure 7 (a) Narrow and high openings in the exterior wall. (b and c) Narrow vents of rooms opened to inner courtyard. Source: http://
www.theshelterblog.com/nubian-style-domed-mud-and-brick-homes-of-mali.
Nubian architecture and Aswan buildings’ enhancement 879

a courtyard b

c-group graves 2 Early Nubian Huts

1

Mastaba Transition space

After Mid- age

4 house
Mid- age house

Figure 10 (a) Courtyard of old Nubian house. (b) Nubian house revolution and court-yard formation history. Source: Dr. Yasser
Mahgoub research ‘‘the Nubian Experience” p. 12.

Figure 11 (a) Simulation results of velocity distribution at 1.2 m height, (b) velocity distribution at section X–X. Source: Book;
Vernacular architecture, toward sustainable future p. 513. H.S. Mostaf.

a b

Figure 12 (a) Wrong: left: enclosed and right urban fabric for hot arid regions. (b) Nog, the relation between social aspect and urban
fabric in the Nuba. Source: The researcher.

b. Carbon neutral: none of the constructed materials are e. Economically viable: only locally available raw materials
manufactured, or transported long distances, nor any (earth, rocks, and water).
tree are cut. f. Modular: applicable to a wide variety of buildings (such
c. Durable: It had been lived for 3000 years at the Rames- as houses and schools).
seum mortuary temple in Luxor. See figure. > Before the displacement, Egyptian Nubians used ‘‘jareed”
d. Thermally and acoustic comfortable. palm trees to cover the courtyard. This was not been used
880 O.A. Mahmoud Bayoumi

Figure 13 (a) New Nubian house, prototype 1, (b) prototype 2 (5–7 members), (c) prototype 3 (>7 members. Source: The Nubian
Experience book by Dr. Yasser Mahgoub. p. 182,18.

Before Relocation After Relocation (1960s) After Occupancy (1980s)

Figure 14 Vernacular (environmental, social and cultural aspects) influences on the new buildings after relocation and during
occupation. Source: ‘‘Space, Color and Quality of Life in a Nubian Environment” research paper, p. 82, by Diana Kamel and Aleya
Abdel-Hadi.

before (see Fig. 9a). Jareed is used to protect the courtyard enclosure, and thus the time air remain cool depending on
from daily direct sunrays and not for room protection. the width of the yard enclosure [3].
Rooms were naturally ventilated through the narrow open-
ings provided on top of the door [4]. > Ancient Nubian houses were composed of two rooms, one
as a bedroom and the second for storage, see Fig. 10b.1
(Top Left), and then turned into early Nubian huts
(Fig. 10 Top right).
4.2.6. Courtyards
Rooms are mainly opened to the courtyard and closed exter- After that, the rooms were clustered in linear shape forming
nally. The courtyard traps cool air for long time due to its a closed courtyard as in Fig. 10b.3 (see Fig. 11).
Nubian architecture and Aswan buildings’ enhancement 881

Table 1 Comparison between old (before displacement) and new (after displacement) Nubian architectural and environmental
features. Source: The researcher.
Comparative points Before the high dam After the high dam (after 1960s)

1. Location

South along the Nile coast 350 km), between

In Upper Egypt, North of Aswan Kom-Ombo region (in the
Aswan and Wadi-Halfa.
desert), 60 km North–South/Karkar village
2. Building cluster > Irregular arrangements > Linear (row arrangement)
3. Room no. and More than two rooms > Two or three rooms (bridal and guest rooms are missing)
dimension > Two and more bedrooms > Each 4 * 3 m2 and height is 3 m
> The store > A Kitchen and a toilet
> The kitchen and the toilet
> Entrance hall open court
4. Building features a. Thick walls (exceeds 30 cm) a. Red brick 25–40 cm
b. Flat Roofs b. Roofs made of Reinforced concrete
c. Arched Domes, of the rooms
d. Exterior walls are covered with natural
material painting
5. Courtyard > Smaller court yard 8 * 7 m2 > Large courtyard 7 * 16 m2
> All rooms are opened to the courtyard > All rooms are opened to the courtyard
6. Building materials > Walls: Stone, clay and sand > Walls: Reinforced concrete
> Flat Roofs: Palm leaves (jareed) and grain > Red brick and stones (thickness 25–40 cm)
stalks
> Arched domes: Clay brick
7. Finishing materials > Crockery for wall decorations > A mix of vivid colors and textures of adobe brick filigree
> A mix of vivid colors and textures of adobe > White lime paster
brick filigree
> White lime paster
8. Roof type > Flat roofs > Courtyards are covered with palm leaves (jareed)
> Arched domes
> Courtyards were not covered
9. Responsively and > Responsive to user’s needs (Biologically– > Social sustainable connections had been weakened due to Res-
social sustainability Physiologically and Culturally) idential Unit rearrangement
> Social and self-identity
10. Thermal comfort > Achieve thermal comfort > Not responsive to climate considerations (no good position-ing
of openings in accordance to orientation)
> Thermal uncomforting and acoustical infringement

4.2.7. Urban fabric 5. After displacement of ‘‘Karkar Village

> Environmentally: Appropriate spatial layout, in which 5.1. Nubian new house components
Nubian residential clusters are arranged in organic (non-
grid) layout, thus provides shade and is designed to block The National Organization for the dislocation established new
winds during winter, and speed air velocity during the sum- village for Nubians, in which each dwelling consists of the
mer (see Fig. 12). following:
In addition, narrow roads help to preserve the cold air for
long time, contradicted to grid layouts [3] (see Fig. 12b). > Prototype 1 (large): 4 rooms, a madiafa, a courtyard, a
kitchen, a stable, and a toilet (see Figs. 13 and 14).
> Socially: usually houses were clustered in groups, each > Prototype 2 (medium): 3 rooms, etc. (5 to 7 members).
group called a nog or naja, who shares a common ancestor. > Prototype 3 (small): 2 rooms, etc. (for less than 5 members)
Each person of this group participate in any work, building [6].
construction, food and water gathering [6].

5.2. Environmental features of new nubian dwelling

‘‘The largest nog includes a large number of smaller nog
spread over a number of villages and districts and is defined 5.2.1. Materials of construction
as these men who bear the same family name” [4]. Fire bricks.
882 O.A. Mahmoud Bayoumi

ECONOMIC
STABILITY

development
SOCIAL AND Urban Fabric ,

Sustainable
CULTURAL Transition spaces
ASPECTS ..etc
VERNACULAR THERNMAL
ARCHITECTURE COMFORT
ENVIRONMENTAL
ASPECTS

Passive cooling, stack Vernacular architecture, Closed cycle.AL

ventilation, evaporative..etc

Figure 15 Vernacular architecture, closed diagram = traditional sustainable design. Source: By the researcher.

5.2.1.1. Thermal mass. This graph shows the difference 5.2.2. Openings
between fire bricks and clay earth bricks in the thermal inner According to the National Organization for the dislocation all
wall surface, in which it is directly related to thermal conduc- openings should be oriented toward the north to bring the
tivity and thus thermal comfort. favorite wind into the rooms and a small opening in the oppo-
The hourly wall surface temperature was taken as internal site side for cross ventilation. And the large house should have
walls in each zone by monitor, taking an average for each mean two entrances. But the planning did not adhere to these recom-
value [7].

Internal wall surface Temperature-January

Temperature ( Degree

40
30
celsius)

20
10
0
3 6 3 7 3 6 2 7
(23/1) (24/1) (24/1) (25/1) (26/1) (26/1) (27/1) (27/1)
Fire Brick House 30.142 16.677 32.587 18.818 33.105 20.555 32.691 21.39 hour
A
B Clay House 29.992 18.295 27.579 21.127 27.284 22.358 27.358 23.208

Also the graph shows that the best thermal performance is mendations but followed other technological and economic con-
the house made of type (A), while the worst is type (B). More- siderations [6].
over, there is an increase in temperature (DTR = diurnal tem-
perature range), and this confirms the ability of the thermal 5.2.3. Urban fabric
insulation of clay house is much higher than buildings in fire In order to save as much construction material as possible and
bricks [7]. use less of the land allocated for housing, the houses were
organized in groups rows back-to-back. The streets were ori-
5.2.1.2. Relative humidity (RH).

150 RH

100
Clay house
50 Fire Brick House

0
(23/1) 3 (24/1) 6 (24/1) 3 (25/1) 7 (26/1) 3 (26/1) 6 (27/1) 2 (27/1) 7 h(D/M)

The graph shows that the relative humidity (RH) in type of ented North–South to allow the rows of rooms to be oriented
clay house is higher than that in fore brick house. Note: In North.
order to save cost, the new Nubian flats were not heat isolated. By using this system, half of the houses were exposed to the
Result: Clay mud materials and raw brick vaulting achieve max- North while the other half were oriented to the South. And due
imum thermal comfort without requiring any electric device or to poor ventilation, heat was trapped inside the rooms [6].
electric consumption for heating or cooling [5].
Nubian architecture and Aswan buildings’ enhancement 883

5.2.4. Roof poverty and social breakage, Environmental consequences

Although the flats were covered with vaults, domes or flat as non-thermal comfort dwellings, and therefore, local eco-
roofs, they were constructed of reinforced concrete with no nomic crisis took place.
heat isolation [6].

References
6. Nubian adaptation to the new planned house
[2] Nayra Atiya, Khul-Khaal: Five Egyptian Women Tell Their
See Table 1. Stories, Syracuse University Press, Boston, 1964.
[3] Hassan Fathy, Notes on Nubian Architecture, in: Fernea (Ed.),
Contemporary Egyptian Nubia, A Symposium of Social
7. Conclusion Research Center of the American University in Cairo, Cairo,
1966.
[4] R.G. Fernea, G. Gerster, Nubians in Egypt, a Peaceful People,
> Vernacular Nubian architecture is the result of lots of envi-
vol. 1, University of Texas Press, Texas, 1973.
ronmental, social and cultural aspects and economic values. [5] B. Giovini, Passive and Low Energy Cooling of Buildings, Van
This unique and traditional architectural features were the Nostrand Reinhold, London, 1994.
reason for creating new vocabulary of architecture in the [6] Yasser Mahgoub, The Nubian Experience: A study of the Social
time where lots of technology and industrial building mate- and Cultural Meanings of Architecture Nubia, Egypt, Design,
rials were developed. ‘‘Adaption” was the main theory that Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Cairo, 2010.
Nubians follow through centuries, through building dwell- [7] Walid Fouad Omar Mostafa, Nubian Vernacular Architecture
ings adapted, sustainable to the surrounding environment. Technique to Enhance Eco-Tourism in Egypt, Scholarlink
Old Nubian villages were economically, socially and cultur- Research Institute, Alexandria, 2015.
ally stable. There was no unemployment, neither economic
nor social instability or even food and water shortage. Further reading
> Nubian sustainable and vernacular architecture was con-
nected to a cycle, see Fig. 15. This cycle was not presented [1] Hani Louis Atallah, An Analytical Study of Nubian
by the Government in the new Nubian villages. And thus Modifications of Displacement Houses at Kom Ombo, The
lots of non-previous social consequences took place as College of Fine Arts, Cairo, 1981.