The Bedouin Peoples Of The Middle East
The Bedouin are an Arabian ethnic group from the Middle East who have traditionally
been divided into nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes or clans known as a ir. The name Bedouin can be literally translated as those in the dessert and is a very good description of these ancient and noble peoples.
Loyalty to family, tribe and peoples first
The Bedouin are a fiercely loyal group of peoples who have a cultural hierarchy based on the loyalty of kinship. This hierarchy can best be described using a widely quoted Bedouin saying describing this relationship:
"I against my brother, my brothers and I against my cousins, then my cousins and I against strangers"
This saying is a simple explanation of the basic structure of the entire Bedouin cultural group and explains the hierarchy of loyalties based on proximity of kinship. This kinship runs through lineage, tribal, and even linguistic groups found amongst the Bedouin.
Family Structures with the Bedouin tribes
Individual family units within the Bedouin tribes are known as a bayt and more often than not consist of up to 4 adults that included a married couple, a number of children and sometimes even an older generation (grandfather or grandmother). A number of the bayt would often travel together and form a goum. The bayt within each goum are often linked through marriage or lineage. However this there can also be goum of peoples with no clearly defined relationship other than tribe.
The largest scale of tribal interaction in the Bedouin tribes is led by a Sheikh. It is as this level that all mediation between tribes and the outside world takes place.
The Bedouin Honor Code
Traditional Bedouin communities have an extremely well developed sense of honor and traditional justice. There is a central core of judicial and honor beliefs that all Bedouin tribes adhere to, but there are also additional tribal laws that are unique to individual tribes within the ethnic Bedouin group of peoples.
The Largest Bedouin Tribes in the Middle East
Although there has never been an exact census of the Bedouin peoples been done they are an extremely large and influential group who make up a large percentage of the population in a number of countries in the Middle East, including Israel. The largest and most influential of these Bedouin tribes being:
The al-Abbadi: This is one of the main Bedouin tribes found in Jordan
The al-Awazem: This Bedouin tribe is located in Kuwait, but also includes a small group of peoples in north-eastern Saudi Arabia
The Bani Hajer is an exceptionally large and powerful Bedouin tribe found in Saudi Arabia and some of the eastern Persian Gulf States
The Bani Khalid: This is a large Bedouin tribe that can be found in a number of countries in the Middle East and include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, UAE, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan and Iraq to name but a few.
Cultural Influences on the West
As the Bedouin tribes of the Middle East have started to leave their nomadic ways and become part of larger more metropolitan their influence has started to wane, but their Bedouin tent designs and even their music still play a large part and influence many artists and designers from around the world. Their honor and judicial systems are still a major influence on certain literary circles and historical tales written by Western writers.
by: Brian Thomas
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