Within the house it is more than likely that the mother will be in charge even in such a male dominated society and she will certainly be involved in all major family decisions. Perhaps they do not have quite so much opportunity in later life to study or work outside the house. Most of the cooking is done with gas cylinders although bread is still baked in traditional ovens. The main difficulty to living above the cultivation for the families is that there is no running water and thus all water has to be fetched up by the family. Sitting outside the house of an evening and watching the world go by the tourists have long gone back to their boats and beds the stone of the Ramesseum turns a warm gold.
Nobody is a stranger here it takes a lot of tea and cigarettes to pass the time.
The people of Qurna are uniquely placed to make a living from tourism. In the past, the sale of real antiquities and today the sale of reproductions of varying quality from the very poor to the exceptionally fine provided for many of the families. It is almost impossible to travel about the West Bank without being made very aware of the commercial instincts of the villagers. If there is something you need, the chances are you can buy it. But don t spend the whole time repelling locals or you will miss out on an awful lot.