Musa (K) had recently lost a wife through sickness. In the absence of any other adult woman, this loss caused disastrous disorganisation to his household during the harvest. In this crisis, the group which I found harvesting his fields consisted mainly of agnates. All the acknowledged members of his lineage in the village were present, his two brothers, his two agnatic first cousins (father's brother's sons), and his only agnatic second cousin. In addition, the group contained his son-in-law from the next village, who came in duty bound, and two close neighbours to whom he automatically acquired a strict, if not urgent, duty to repay a day's labour. Among agnates also, a reciprocal-duty was of course acknowledged, but within a much more constant and flexible flow of mutual services. They all stated firmly that they had formed the group to help Musa. But in fact the group went in turn round the fields of each member, spending one day on each, so that Musa's advantage was, it seemed to me, eventually eroded.
Agnates have special responsibilities to assist at marriages. If a boy's father is no longer alive, his close agnates are likely to bear the main burden of seeing him married. Zübeyr (F) who, when I reached the village, was away in town working, returned to the village in December, and was married in March (p. 144). His senior agnatic first cousin (father's brother's son), Hüseyn (F), acted as host, made most of the arrangements, and helped financially. He was an older man, by village standards prsperous and honourable. It was to Hüseyn's