Bedouin

A Bedouin man resting on a hillside at Mount Sinai

Bedouin, derived from the Arabic badawī (بدوي‎), a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Arab nomadic pastoralist groups, who are found throughout most of the desert belt extending from the Atlantic coast of the Sahara via the Western Desert, Sinai, and Negev to of the Arabian desert. It is occasionally used to refer to non-Arab groups as well, notably the Beja of the African coast of the Red Sea.

Changing ways of life

Bedouin Tent in modern West Amman, Jordan

Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, many Bedouins started to leave the traditional, nomadic life to work and live in the cities of the Middle East, especially as grazing ranges have shrunk and population levels have grown. In Syria, for example, the Bedouin way of life effectively ended during a severe drought from 1958 to 1961, which forced many Bedouin to give up herding for standard jobs. Similarly, government policies in Egypt, oil production in Libya and the Persian Gulf, and a desire for improved standards of living have had the effect that most Bedouin are now settled citizens of various nations, rather than nomadic herders and farmers.

Government policies on settlement are generally put in place through a desire to provide services (schools, health care, law enforcement and so on). This is considerably easier for a fixed population than for semi-nomadic pastoralists. See Chatty (1986) for examples.

Traditional Bedouin culture

Bedouin circa 1914

The Bedouins were traditionally divided into related tribes. These tribes were organized on several levels - a widely-quoted Bedouin saying is "I against my brothers, I and my brothers against my cousins, I and my brothers and my cousins against the world". The individual family unit (known as a tent or bayt) typically consisted of three or four adults (a married couple plus siblings or parents) and any number of children, and would focus on semi-nomadic pastoralism, migrating throughout the year following water and plant resources. Royal tribes traditionally herded camels, while others herded sheep and goats.

When resources were plentiful, several tents would travel together as a goum. These groups were sometimes linked by patriarchical lineage but just as likely linked by marriage (new wives were especially likely to have male relatives join them), acquaintance or even no clearly defined relation but a simple shared membership in the tribe.

The next scale of interactions inside tribal groups was the ibn amm or descent group, commonly of 3 or 5 generations. These were often linked to 'goums', but whereas a 'goum' would generally consist of people all with the same herd type, "descent groups" were frequently split up over several economic activities (allowing a degree of risk management: should one group of members of a descent group suffer economically, the other members would be able to support them). Whilst the phrase "descent group" suggests purely a patriarchical arrangement, in reality these groups were fluid and adapted their genealogies to take in new members.

The largest scale of tribal interactions is of course the tribe as a whole, led by a Sheikh. The tribe often claims descent from one common ancestor - as mentioned above, this appears patrilineal but in reality new groups could have genealogies invented to tie them in to this ancestor. The tribal level is the level that mediated between the Bedouin and the outside governments and organisations.

More in-depth discussions on these topics can be found in Chatty (1996) and Lancaster (1997).

Bedouin tribes and populations

A young Bedouin lighting a camp fire in Wadi Rum, Jordan

There are a number of Bedouin tribes, but the total population is often difficult to determine, especially as many Bedouin have ceased to lead nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyles (see above) and joined the general population. Some of the tribes and their historical population:

• Alataway tribe ( also; known as beny ateyah), live in northwestern part of Saudi Arabia; Tabuk province.
• Aniza, s Bedouin tribe that lives in northern Saudi Arabia, western Iraq, and the Syrian steppe.
• Rwala, a large clan from the Aniza tribe, live in Saudi Arabia, but extend through Jordan into Syria and Iraq, in the 1970s, according to Lancaster, there were 250,000-500,000 Rwala
• Howeitat in Wadi Araba, and Wadi Rum, Jordan
• Beni Sakhr in Syria and Jordan
• Al Murrah in Saudi Arabia
• Bani Hajir (AlHajri) in Saudi Arabia and the eastern Gulf States
• Bani Khalid in Jordan, Israel, Palestinian territories, and Syria, also in the eastern Arabian Peninsula. Most Bedouin in Israel and the territories identify as Israeli Arabs ^{[citation needed]}.
• Shammar in Saudi Arabia, central, and western Iraq, Shammar is the second largest bedouin tribe.
• Mutair, the largest bedouin tribe,^{[citation needed]} estimated at about 1,200,000 members;^{[citation needed]} they live in the Nejd plateau, also, many small families from the Mutair tribe have lived in the Gulf States. This tribe has the utmost influence on the ruling family of Kuwait and are considered the most influential tribe in Kuwait in terms of money, power and respect.
• Al-Ajman, eastern Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States
• Sudair, southern Nejd, around the Sudair region of Saudi Arabia
• Al-Duwasir, southern Riyadh, and Kuwait
• Subai'a, central Nejd, and Kuwait
• Harb, a large tribe, living around Mecca
• Juhayna, a large tribe, many of its warriors were recruited as mercenaries during World War I by Prince Faisal. It surrounds the area of Mecca, and extends to Southern Medina

See also

Young Bedouin man wearing a fez

• Bedouin music

References in popular culture

• Omar Sharif portrayed the most famous cinematic Bedouin, Sheik Sherif Ali Ibn el Kharish, in David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

Sources and references

• Cole, Donald P. "Where have the Bedouin gone?". Anthropological Quarterly. Washington: Spring 2003.Vol.76, Iss. 2; pg. 235
• Dawn Chatty From Camel to Truck. The Bedouin in the Modern World. New York: Vantage Press. 1986
• Chatty, D Mobile Pastoralists 1996. Broad introduction to the topic, specific focus on women's issues.
• Gardner, Ann "At Home in South Sinai." Nomadic Peoples 2000.Vol.4,Iss. 2; pp. 48-67. Detailed account of Bedouin women.
• William Lancaster The Rwala Bedouin Today 1981 (Second Edition 1997). Detailed examination of social structures.
• Mohsen, Safia K. The quest for order among Awlad Ali of the Western Desert of Egypt.
• Thesiger, Wilfred (1959). Arabian Sands. ISBN 0-14-009514-4 (Penguin paperback). British adventurer lives as and with the Bedu of the Empty Quarter for 5 years.

External links

• The Bedouin: Culture In Transition
• Bedouin Culture & Folklore
• Center for Bedouin Studies and Development of Ben-Gurion University
• The Negev Bedouin, A Photographic Exhibit
• The Beduin of Arabia
• Bedouin's photographys
• Sinai Bedouin Women
• Collection of Historic Images of Bedouins from 1890-1920 from the American Colony Photgraphy Department
• Fuchsia an seven-minute documentary about Bedouin girls.
• Bedouin Culture in Dahab, Sinai

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