2. Introduction
The Bedu (or Bedouin for the plural name) are nomadic
desert herders, who roam around the desert with their
families and herds of goats, camels, donkeys, and
sometimes sheep. Their money is the guinea, worth
$1.50. But the Bedu are changing, becoming more and
more modern by the day, leaving their nomadic life
styles behind very slowly.
3. Introduction
While some people want to live by a river or the
ocean for water and an easier life, the Beduprefer the
harsh, desert land. They are out in the desert, riding
about. But still, the Bedu love and want water and
green trees, they donโt like the dry, empty desert
land. Their language is Arabic.
As Lawrence of Arabia once said to Lord Feisal, โThe
desert is an ocean, in which no oar is dipped, and on
this ocean the Bedugo where they please, and strike
where they please.โ
4. Location
The Bedu are nomads of the Middle East. They can be
found all over the deserts of mainly Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, the United Arab
Emirates, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrai
n, and Qatar.
5. Population
The exact number of Bedouins is unknown, but it
ranges from about 4 to 5 million, but thatโs only about
2 or 3 people every square mile (less than 1 person
every square kilometer). About 10% of the population
are still purely Bedu, while the other 90% are more
modern.
6. Clothing
The traditional and typical clothing for the Bedu men
and women is the dishdasha, a long, dress-like article of
clothing worn by lots of Arabs that goes down to the
ankle. The men wear baggy pant-type clothes called
sirwal underneath the dishdasha, but the modern Bedu
men wear sweatpants. Men also have a head cloth, but
it varies from tribe to tribe. Also, both men and women
wear kuhl (kohl).
7. Clothing For Women
The women wear the dishdasha as an under-
dress, beneath a large, looser dress called a
thob, which is almost always colored black. But the
female Bedualso wear the baggy pants, but theyโre
tight around the ankles and embroidered, under their
dishdasha. Some tribes require women to wear a
cloth wrapped around the hair and face so only the
eyes are visible.
8. Food
The Bedu traditionally live off a diet mainly consisting of
camel milk (cold or hot), which is usually boiled with
bread or cooked with rice. The main luxury is
meat, usually goat meat. Some Bedu, while around
coastal areas, eat fish. The Bedu also sometimes hunt
for their meat.
9. Hunting
Traditionally, they capture falcons in the fall, train
them, and then let them out in the spring to hunt
rabbits, foxes or migrating birds. Many Beduhave a
hunting dog called a Saluki, a dog similar to the
greyhound, and these are treated with great love and
affection and even sleep with their masters in the
tent. Ordinary, non-hunting dogs are filthy and not
allowed to enter the tents.
10. Jewelry
The Bedu women really like and love jewelry, and itโs
their custom to wear lots of it. Some Bedu women
even wear their familiesโ wealth in jewelry, but there
is no problem with someone trying to steal
it, because Bedu women canโt be touched by
someone not in the family (according to the code of
honor, or sharaf).
Some older women have tattoos, which back then
when they got them, they were believed to enhance
their beauty, but that has nearly died out and you will
rarely ever see a younger women with the tattoos.
11. Superstitions
Some Beduare superstitious, getting and buying lots
of special amulets and stones and lucky numbers
(usually odd). Kids, mainly boys, are protected with
special charms hung around their necks and ankles.
They also have special earrings that have what they
call magic stones. Some older men still have holes in
their ears from these ear studs.
12. Religion
The Bedu donโt all have the same religion, but they
are mainly Muslim, followers of Islam. At one time
there were Jewish and Christian tribes, but those all
died out and no longer exist. The Bedu donโt follow
the rules very well. they canโt fully practice their
religion because of their environment. They canโt do
their ritual dry washings because they donโt have the
right water. The hajj is a very important ritual and is
practiced daily, beginning at the ages of 7-8. The
prayers at noon and morning are most important.
13. Seasons
The Bedu have about 5 seasons in total, but they donโt
always have 5 seasons every year, sometimes just 4. The
Bedu seasons are determined by how much rain there is.
In a rainy year, spring could be 6 weeks in February and
March, but in dry years, without lots of rain, there could
be no spring at all, going straight from winter to summer.
14. Music and Dance
The traditional Bedu instrument is the rebab, also
known as the robab or rubab, and is a woodwind type
of instrument, similar to a guitar.
The Bedu donโt do many dances, though there is a
dance where the dancers get in a circle around one
main dancer and sing. If a girl is in the center, itโs a
love song, if a boy is in the center, itโs about their god.
15. Death
When a Bedu dies, they are buried within 24 hours of
the death. The body is prepared by washing the body
clean. The body is also shaved, especially men. The
body is finally shrouded in white cloth called kafan.
The body is buried at the cemetery nearest death.
Many ask if final words are said at the Haram. The
cemeteries are very simple, the graves arenโt
labeled, but the women arenโt allowed to enter. The
day after the burial, a 3 day mourning goes into
effect.
16. Marriage
Marriage isnโt always about love. Usually the bride
and groom are first cousins. Women get married
between the ages 16-22, but men get married
between the ages 18-30. The wedding is just mainly
negotiations, once the bride is escorted to the
groomโs tent. Itโs also really easy to divorce, too.
Either the man states he wants one in front of a
witness, or the women could just move back to her
parentsโ tent and refuse to go back.
17. Sports and Recreation
Being camel herders and all, they donโt really have
time for sports and recreation, or fun. But they do like
to have camel races, though. Most train their camels
to trot (picking up one foot at a time instead of going
left-right with 2 feet at a time), as this makes them go
faster. Hunting is only done for sport by rich
Bedu, although poor families need to.
At night, around a campfire, they tell stories to one
another, and sometimes the women sing songs to the
men in an informal preformance, and this is called
summejr.
