Dar al-Manasir

At the height of the Island of Muqrat (N 19°30') the Nile river is blocked from its northward course taking a sharp turn SSW for 280 kilometres before continuing to flow north.

Dar al-Manasir is covering a distance of approximately 130 km along the Nile with most villages lined up along the left river bank called "Western side" (…).

But the heart of Dar al-Manasir consists of 14 islands, twelve of them permanently inhabited; al-Qanaweit (القناويت), Shiri (شري), Kidir (كدر), Sherari (شرري), Sur (سور), Us (اوز), Tibit (…), Dumag (دماج), Buni (بوني), Arag (ارج), Dirbi (دربي) and Birti (برتي), (cf.

During good rainy seasons, in which grazing grounds are abundant, many male Manasir join members of their tribe in the adjacent Bayudah Desert.

But the Manasir are also aware of advantages of this situation and describe them in terms of exceptional safety and honesty (في أمان), tranquillity (الجوّ هادئ و نظيف), untainted beauty of their country (البلد سمح) and cleanness of the water which they drink straight out of the Nile.