Bedouin

Late afternoon in Tassili-N-Ajjer in southeastern Algeria, and two Bedouin enjoy an animated discussion.

Bedouin women weaving at a fort in Jordan. The Bedouin are traditionally a nomadic people, with a livelihood based on rearing camels, horses, and sheep. However, government attitudes in the 20th century have forced them to adopt a more settled way of life.

Member of any of the nomadic, Arabic-speaking peoples occupying the desert regions of Arabia and North Africa. Originating in Arabia, they spread to Syria and Mesopotamia, and later to Egypt and Tunisia.

Bedouins are organized into tribes, each led by a council of elders and a sheikh chosen for his qualities, whether of wealth, birth, or courage. Traditionally, they migrated to the desert in the rainy season with their herds (cattle in Sudan and Saudi Arabia; goats and sheep in Syria, Jordan, and Iraq; camels in the Sahara Desert, Syria, and Arabia) and in the dry season settled near water sources and oases, where they sowed crops of millet and wheat. They have now become increasingly settled.

The Bedouins call themselves Ahl-el-beit (the people of the tent). In the Sahara, families tracing descent from followers of the prophet Muhammad are considered noble and dominate other tribes. The Sanusi, for example, controlled a vast area from western Egypt to Mauritania in the 19th century, until the British, French, and Italians reduced their influence after a long struggle. Many Bedouin groups have been active in jihads, the missionizing Islamic holy wars, although, on the whole, most Bedouins are not strict observers of Islamic ritual practices.