Sa'idi people


A Ṣa‘īdī is a person from Upper Egypt. Approximately 40% of Egyptians live in Upper Egypt, and "80% of Egypt's poverty is concentrated in Upper Egypt". Millions of Upper Egyptians have migrated to Lower Egypt for work opportunities.

Etymology

The word literally means "from Ṣa‘īd", and can also refer to a form of music originating there, or to the dialect spoken by Sa'idis. The Arabic word Ṣa‘īd, as a geographical term, means "highland, upland, plateau". The suffix "-i" denotes the adjective. The word Ṣa‘īdi is pronounced in the dialect itself as or and the plural is or, while pronounced in Egyptian Arabic as and the plural is.
In the Sahidic dialect of Coptic, the name for a person from Upper Egypt is meaning "person of the South" or "person of place of the south ".

Stereotypes and jokes

Ṣa‘īdis and their dialect are the subject of numerous Egyptian stereotypes and ethnic jokes, mainly from the upper-class Egyptians who own businesses in Egypt's major cities and used to hire Upper Egyptian workers in construction fields. They are popularly assumed to be rural simpletons, physically stronger and less clever than other Egyptians. An example of such stereotyping is the popular 1998 film Ṣa‘īdi fil-Gama‘a al-Amrikiya starring Mohamed Henedi, whose main character is portrayed as less fashionable and clever than the other Egyptian students of the American University in Cairo.

Religion in Upper Egypt

The Upper Egyptians follow Islam and Christianity as Upper Egypt has a significant Christian population of around 30-40 percent and a rich Coptic Christian history. For instance, Sahidic was the leading Coptic dialect in the pre-Islamic period. In the last few decades the high proportion of Coptic Christians in Upper Egypt has enabled some Christians to hold prominent political posts there. For instance, Qena Governorate had a Coptic Christian governor in 2011. Sahidic dialect of Coptic is used as a Liturgical language by the clergy and among Sa'idi Copts.