The Bedouins

The Bedouin are a hearty and resourceful people who live in some of the most demanding regions of the world. They know and respect the desert. Their lives are not wasteful or greedy and they are always open to hospitality.

There are a number of Bedouin tribes that have occupied various regions of Egypt since ancient times. They live a nomadic pastoral life, in temporary huts or tents that can be rolled up and transported, or left hanging from a tree until the next season.
Different tribes have different traditions and customs, but they share many similarities; this is a brief look at life in the Eastern Desert.

The Bedouins inhabiting the Eastern Desert are divided into four main tribes; the Maaza and Rashayed that originally come from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine and Sinai, and the Ababda and Bisharyin who have moved from Sudan and Ethiopia. Maaza and Rashayed are relatively new settlers to the area since they moved in only about 150 years ago following a period of extreme drought in their homeland. Ababda are direct descendants of the Blemmys, the old caravan raiders of Roman times.
The northern part of the Eastern Desert is Maaza territory together with some smaller clans. Moving southward is Ababda, Bisharyin and Rashayed territory respectively.
An interesting detail is how the different tribes call themselves; Ababda and Bisharyin refer to themselves as Arab ('Arab) while Maaza and Rashayed call themselves Bedouin (Badw). Even though the Nile Valley people refer to Bedouins with both words interchangeably, the Bedouins themselves make a strict distinction.

A council of tribe elders established the present boundaries to protect grazing lands for the different tribes' livestock. It is not unusual however for a herdsman to cross into another tribe's land after obtaining permission, which is granted automatically except in situations such as a bad drought or fear of an epidemic from sick animals. In all cases visitors are allowed to use the host land resources but not to take any away.

The Bedouins divide themselves into tribes and clans; a clan is basically an extended family. Marrying inside the clan takes absolute priority, "inter-clan" marriages do occur but only after a council or "magles" has decided that the clan cannot provide a suitable spouse. Such a procedure is followed for members of both sexes.
The council first proposes one or more candidates, discussions follow and a usually fair decision is reached. If a person decides to override a magles's decision by marrying outside the clan, none of the brothers or sisters of this person will be allowed to marry inside the clan. Such rules, although bearing detrimental genetic effects, were set for the preservation of inheritance land.

When a woman gets married, her husband will build a hut next to her maiden home; the bride will stay in the new house or remain at her mother's for 40 days. During this time the mother will cook and clean house, sometimes the husband's first wife will move in to take up these chores. The husband must stay outside the house from sunrise to sunset. After 40 days the new bride will take on the house duties whether the couple chooses to remain where they are or move to the husband's territory.

When a child is born, a celebration is made after 7 days, called the "week" (sobou') and another after 40 days, only then is the child given a name. This is due to a high infant mortality among Bedouin children. Before the child is named, the father is not allowed to see it or to see the mother. The parents can talk together but only through a screen, usually the wife is sitting inside the hut and the husband outside with a blanket closing the entrance. Other men and women of the clan can see and talk to the wife freely.

When the child is 40 days old all relatives gather together for the naming ceremony; they will suggest several names to the father who will discuss at length with his wife. When the parents have reached a decision, with considerable pressure from other relatives, the man will stand in the middle of the celebrants and declare: "I have named him/her: so-and-so." This statement is followed by women's cries of joy (zaghareed). All this time and since birth the child will not have touched the ground, after the naming ceremony the baby is held by a young unmarried girl and dipped in 7 consecutive plates containing flour, sugar, henna, milk etc. Then it touches the ground for the first time. The father is now allowed to hold his child and dips it one more time in the 7 plates then touches it to the ground. This is the official welcoming into the world; food, song and dance follows. Relatives cover the newborn with gifts of incense and amulets to fend off the evil spirits.