Of camels and Bedouin
No wolf is dearer to a Sinai Bedouin than his camel. Samir Sobhi explores the use played by the “send of the desolate” in Bedouin aliveness and traditions
Sometime ago, a supporter and I were discussing shipway of underdeveloped the Sinai. The Peninsula has a unequaled fiber, and its inhabitants let a persona all of their own. A finish aspect at Sinai Bedouin families reveals that the camel is an inseparable contribution of any category whole, and that it has such an authoritative spot in Bedouin living that it plays a starring office in Bedouin impost, traditions and evening lawmaking.
I suggested that the better way of underdeveloped the Sinai would be to amplify the patronage in camels. Why not shuffling use of the Sinai’s propinquity to Sudan via the Al-Arbeen route to shew a trading path, I asked. If one-half a gazillion camels from Sudan could be brought up this route and tending to the Sinai Bedouin, a large externalize could be kick-started ‘tween Egypt, Sinai and Sudan to the welfare of all.
The camel, this rattling wolf, has many stories to secern. It is considered to be a phallus of the category in the Sinai, organism both a way of shipping and a origin of nutrient and wearable. It is known as the “send of the desolate” and the “bomber of the Haggan raceway”, track at a hurrying of 60km per minute when in wide wellness and forcible fittingness. Its legs are near inconspicuous as it jumps done the air.
Because the camel is the tower of the class, the riches of local tribes is mensurable in camels, with these beasts existence put-upon to depot Bedouin wealthiness. Camels are victimized as dowries on wedlock, and they are a substance of resolution conflicts ‘tween tribes when exploited to pay for crimes or to pee-pee redeem payments.
Thither is a “camel judge”, called a Zeyadi, in the Sinai, whose gens comes from his kin and who judges matters of camel thieving. Thither is likewise a Massouk, an good on camels and camel dentition, who handles camel-related fines.
Local traditions apply prise for camel possession, and thence good punishments are meted out to camel thieves. Sometimes a stealer or his kin bequeath get to pay a amercement for e’ery footstep a camel takes betwixt the post of a thieving and the position where a camel was late interpreted.
ORIGINS OF THE CAMEL: Camelus is a Greek watchword derived from the Phoenician and Hebrew gamal. According to Ibn Al-Manzour’s medieval lexicon the Lissan Al-Arab, a camel has the like position as a boy or a striver.
A camel’s abide is shared into “suite” or bladders that are filled with piss when the camel drinks and can continue wide for 20 to 30 years. The imbibing appendage itself can contract up to 15 proceedings. A camel chow shoetree branches, thorns and locoweed, and it can see evenly easily by dark as by day.
It can digest pregnant forcible debilitation. Its paws are planate and artiodactylous, in fiat to control constancy. The understanding it is called the “send of the abandon” is because it endures bettor than a donkey, is easier to track and can bear heavier burdens.
The Bedouin shuffling woollen alimentation bags for their camels, and a camel’s charge is called a watar or haweya. Option names admit a ghabeet or shaddad. The camel has two belts of hair’s-breadth extending troll the movement of its belly and dorsum to its ass. Among the many benefits camels land their hum owners are heart and milk for nutrient, hairsbreadth for vesture, tegument for place, belts and gloves, and tailcoat for fire.
A camel’s living couple is 30-40 years. The Arabs say that this is one of “God’s mercies”.
Thither are two kinds of camel: the one-humped Arabian camel and the dual-humped Bactrian camel. The latter are among the largest members of the camel phratry, whose members likewise admit the vicuna, the llama, the guanco and the alp. The camels of the Sinai are comparatively belittled in sizing, igniter yellow in colouration and are suited for equitation.
Camels were erstwhile the master manikin of transfer in the Sinai. Nevertheless, with the increasing addiction on cars and otc vehicles in advanced multiplication, unitedly with the paved roadstead that now nexus the dissimilar parts of the Peninsula unitedly, this use has declined, stellar to a analog fall in the grandness of the camel.
Now, thither is less involvement in elevation camels and in grooming them and breakage them in. This bequeath finally tether to great numbers of free-roaming camels shaving in the desolate without their owners. Camels are dense to engender, and they fellow for the commencement clock at the age of phoebe and so erst alwaysy two years afterward. They can farm thousands of kilos of milk o’er a point of 15 months.
THE MILITARY PERSONA OF CAMELS: In the yesteryear, whenever the Bedouin distinct to battle, they would tantalise hagan, or pocket-sized camels. These they would rally until they reached closing to their mark, and so they would lie low on the background, departure their camels with men left buns to protect them. They would so go onward and absorb the opposition. If they ran out of ammo, they would unsheathe their swords, but reverting if either distinctly winning or vanquished.
On the field, the Bedouin would cry their sisters’ or their daughters’ names, tears “I’m the sidekick of so and so, or the don of so and so,” and so “pop???¦ defeat.” Notwithstanding, in gain to this military function they would besides treasure their camels and babble to them, camel songs organism called hedaa.
Regarding the shape of such songs on camels, it is aforementioned that an Arab prince formerly passed an Arab sheik and saw a striver trussed with fe shackles. The prince asked, “what did this striver do to merit such penalty?”
The sheik replied, “pursue me” and took the prince to the camels’ unchanging. Thither he sour to the striver and consistent, “talk to them.” The striver sang, and the camels jumped excitedly to their feet, as though cypher was improper with them. The sheik explained that “this striver brought these camels a foresighted outdistance carrying large burdens spell cantabile to them to addition their swiftness. The termination was this country of debilitation.”
CAMELS AS UP-TO-DATENESS AND IN UNION: Camels are much victimized as fines, since they are the traditional up-to-dateness of the Sinai. The rapine of a virginal from a man’s own kin entails a mulct of six camels, piece the ravishment of a widow from another folk entails a two-camel ticket, provided the widow files an prompt charge. If she doesn’t do so, the amercement is one minor camel.
Polygamy and other marriages lull survive among the Bedouin, and a man is requisite to judge middling among his wives, providing apiece of them with a bivouac and staying with apiece of them as at nighttime. If he neglects one of his wives, she testament tie a gnarl in a ribbon for apiece clip he neglects her, finally fetching the knobbed string to her folk who volition so payoff it to a judge. The judge may so ordering the man to pay one camel for apiece nighttime he has ignored his wife.
Such has been the purpose of the camel since it traveled from Africa to Asia and from Egypt to Sinai and on to Iraq, Palestine and the Arabian Peninsula. The Bedouin besides invented tattoos to place possession of their animals, because herbage protracted o’er prominent areas where camels and cows were unexpended to grazing lonely. The tattoos specialize animals with unlike signs and shapes, proving the possession of apiece kindred.
The Bedouin characteristically clasp expectant celebrations for marriages, the stallion kin orgasm out to enter. In the morn, thither is a immense camel backwash among the men, spell in the eve thither is family euphony with vocalizing and dance. The camels likewise “terpsichore”, sometimes unequalled and sometimes when ridden by their owners.
On the day of a Bedouin hymeneals, the bride’s beget volition ask the hostler a traditional doubt 3 multiplication, “do you bear to espouse my girl?” The stableboy answers, “yes” deuce-ace multiplication in figurehead of witnesses. The bride’s beget so gives the stableman a diminished composition of forest, known as a kasla, and tells the neaten, “you are intermeshed to my girl, and from now on she is your province.”
When the ostler takes the kasla he tells the bride’s forefather, “I bear her as my wife, by God’s sunna and the Seer.” The Fateha is so take from the Quran.
A extra camp called a barza is inclined for the bridegroom, and the bride enters the camp attended by a finis proportional. The women continue extraneous with the men. The bridegroom’s relatives testament butchery kine for the guests at the nuptials at the threshold of the barza: they gaming instruments and hold the guests, and the hostler’s relatives dedicate presents in the anatomy of cows, straw and money.
The hostler girdle with his bride in the barza for betwixt one and iii years. Usance dictates that the bride should parting the barza ahead the one-third day, and the economize pursue her to know with her in the wild, outside from the tents of his phratry, for a stop of betwixt one workweek and one month. During that meter, his folk testament mail him nutrient, until another bivouac is disposed for them approximate their tents. This testament be the matrimonial twosome’s new habitation, and the clan sings particular hymeneals songs to the bride.
Generally speechmaking, a Bedouin man is heedful to ply a suited married biography for his bride, amply carrying out the folk’s responsibilities. Thither is finale reciprocal obedience betwixt a man and his wife, with apiece spouse winning charge of the former’s rights. Wedlock in Sinai is made by tidings of observe, and thither are no documents or contracts, although more lately marriages get been registered with the governorate administrations.
Even subsequently the counterpane of houses in roughly places in N Sinai, and the go of many Bedouin to homes reinforced of gem or bricks, about Bedouin stillness survive in tents made of camel whisker, b…
