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Contents
Introduction
The Eastern Desert is by no means barren of human life today, although the aridity of the desert has provided its own challenges to its modern occupants. A number of Bedouin tribes still live in the desert and exploit its marginal resources. Some of the Bedouin groups still living there will eventually be described in brief below. They include the Ababda Bedu, south of the Wadi Hammamat, the Ma’aza to the north of the Wadi Hammamat, and the Hadendowa of Sudan.
The subject of the modern Bedouin of the Eastern Desert is of interest for a number of reasons
- They are the modern inheritors of an environment that, although apparently hostile, they exploit successfully
- They can teach us something about how the same landscape might have been employed in the past
- They may, according to number of writers, be descendants of cultural and/or linguistic traditions from within the north African Saharan and Arabia from prehistoric times (see Barnard 2007 for a short discussion).
I have provided some details on some of the tribes below, all clearly referenced. For the time being, where I have been unable to source enough information on particular groups, there are references on this page for those who wish to follow up this line of enquiry before I update the page:
Some History
The history of the nomads of the Eastern Desert of Egypt and Nubia is not always clear. Hans Barnard, who appears to have published the most wide-ranging of data on the subject of nomads of the present and their past history (modern and ancient) has summarized at least some of the available information in his forthcoming paper Additional remarks on Blemmyes, Beja and Eastern Desert Ware.
Barnard observes that the Eastern Desert has been invaded from a number of areas as follows
- Arabian Peninsula
- Banu Kanz tribe in the 10th century
- Ma’aza tribe in the 18th century
- Rahaida tribe in the 19th century
- The Sudd
- Funj (which established later the Sutanate of Sinnar)
Barnard’s analysis of the Beja considers some of the impacts of influxes of different peoples: “contacts with Graeco-Roman miners and quarrymen, Christianity, Ma’aza and Rashaida Arabs, which invaded the area in the 18th-19th centuries CE will have had a profound effects on those living in the area”.
Tribes
Beja
Wherever the Beja originated from (and there is considerable dispute on the subject), Barnard suggests that the Beja have “implemented many changes to their way of life to create what is now perceived as the Beja culture. Obvious examples include their constant adaptation ot hte changing climate and the ecological degratation of the desert environment . . . as well as the introduction of the camel”.
The following text is taken from the Sudan Update website at
http://www.sudanupdate.org/REPORTS/PEOPLES/BEJA.HTM
“During the 1950s the Beja population in Sudan was 285,000, and is probably double that figure today. As well as extending into Egypt and Eritrea, they inhabit some 110,000 square miles of Sudan between the Egyptian border and Eritrea and the river Setit; from the Red Sea coast to the river Atbara and the Nile.
Most of the Beja are regarded as being of Hamitic origin and are sub-divided into three main groups: the Hadendowa, the Amar'ar, and Bisharyyin. There are also groups of Arabic/Semitic origin who gradually adopted the Beja language (To-Bedawei) and culture and have been largely subsumed into the Beja. Another large group, the Beni Amer, who live mostly in Eritrea or around the border town of Kassala, share a common ethnic background with the Beja. Some of the Beni Amer are To-Bedawei speakers while others speak Tigre. Smaller groups in the area include the Helenga of Kassala (supposedly of medieval Arab origin mixed with Beja), Tigre, and other Sudanese tribes, who speak a `pidgin' form of To-Bedawei; and the once powerful tribe of Hamran who reside further south along the basins of the Setit and Atbara rivers. Finally, there are the Rashaidah who migrated in the last century to the Sudan from Arabia and have maintained their distinct identity. Apart from the Rashaidah, all the other tribes and groups may be regarded as part of the `Beja confederation', whilst the Hadendowa, the Bisharyyin and Amar'ar constitute the `Beja proper'. Among the three main groups of the `Beja proper' the Hadendowa are perhaps the most numerous and powerful.
The Beja have traditionally followed a nomadic way of life, mostly as camel herders. The Bisharyyin, and to a lesser extent the Amar'ar, raised only camels, while the Hadendowa additionally tended cattle and sheep. The various Beja sub-groups were also involved in grain cultivation (`dura' sorghum), and caravan services. In the early 20th century under the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, new economic ventures were introduced which partially affected the life-style of the Beja. These included the development of cotton plantation schemes in the `deltas' of the Baraka and Gash rivers, and opening of a new port at Port Sudan. Several of the Amar'ar clan took jobs as workers on the dock, whilst the Hadendowa and some of the Bisharyyin took up seasonal cultivation in the Tokar and al-Gash schemes. Pastoralism, however, continued to be the main Beja livelihood, especially for the Hadendowa, who showed less inclination towards urban life.”
The Beja language To-Bedawei is Cushitic (Afro-Asiatic), and Tigre is Semitic.
Andrew B. Smith cites work done by Cavalli-Sforza et al (1994, p.172-173) that highlights an “unusually close renetic relationship between the Tuareg of Mali, Niger and southern Algeria, and Chushitic-speakers of the Red Sea coast, particularly the Beja” (Smith 2000, p.105). He goes on to suggest that this might indicate a spread of camel pastoralism into the Sahara from the east and not from the North African littoral via the Romans (Smith 2000, p.105).
Bisharyyin
Goodman and Hobbs (1988 p.74) provide a brief introduction to the Bisharyyin sub-group of the Beja. The Bischarin are of Hamitic origin and speak an unwritten language called Tu Bedawie, which belongs to the northern Cushitic language group. Their territory extends from 24 degree N at Berenice to 19 degrees 40’ N near Port Sudan, and from the Nile in the West to the Red Sea in the East. A proportion of them today are practising muslims. They are not related to the Ma’aza of the middle Eastern Desert to the north, who derive from northern Arabia, from where they migrated some 200 years ago.
Most of the Bisharyyin practice pastoralism on a semi-nomadic basis, with sheep, goat and camel as their main herds. They tend to spend the autumn and winter in the highlands where they may stay for several months to make use of rain-fed pastures. They have much fewer contacts with non-tribal people than the Ma’aza.
There have been some suggestions that they were related to the Blemmyes who occupied the Eastern Desert in late Roman times, but Barnard believes that ti is impossible to be in any way certain of this connection.
Hadendowa
REFERENCE
Leif Manger 1996
Survival on Meagre Resources
Hadendowa Patoralism in the Red Sea Hills
Ababda
REFERENCE:
Boats of the Eastern Desert
Ababda Bedu page
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/lankester2/page5.html
By Francis Lankester
Ma’aza
Kushmaan
Bedouin Life in the Egyptian Wilderness
Joseph J. Hobbs
American University in Cairo Press 1989
The above book provides a fascinating insight into the way of life of the Kushmaan clan (the Nose People), members of the Ma’aza (Goat People) tribe. I recommend the book to anyone interested in a very digestible insight into the history and present lifestyle of a Bedouin tribe.
The following takes some points from Hobbs’s account which may help to provide an insight into the use of the Eastern Desert in prehistoric periods when the Eastern Desert was also used for herding and hunting. The objective is to show how people can and do survive, and what sort of technical and social skills are required. What Hobbs makes clear is that even in the current arid conditions, the desert can provide for the 1000 or so strong Ma’aza, who have developed ways of adapting to even difficult periods when the unpredictable rains fail altogether, and who have a very strong affinity with the landscape and environment in which they live: “I am convinced that the beliefs, attitudes , and perceptions of a society profoundly influence the way in which that society uses resources. In turn, the landscape with its associations of plants, animals and people reflects the values of that society” (Hobbs 1989, p. xviii).
The Ma’aza territory extends from the Wadi ‘Araba (26° N latitude) in the north to the Wadi Hammamat (29° N latitude) in the south. To the north are the Hamadiyiin and Tabana clans of the Ma’aza. To the south is the ‘Ababda tribe. The area supports around one person per 56 square miles, or 90 square kilometers, which is one of the lowest population densities on the planet (Hobbs 1989, p.2). Some clans have members using both desert and Nile Valley resources. The Kushmaan consist of around 125 family units (around 900 people) using the desert, and is a patrilineal kinship group. Marriages are arranged with a view to maintaining the clan’s lineage. There is clear division of labour between men and women, with both assuming important roles in subsistence activities. Men may work for periods of times in villages or towns, depending on local conditions, but women will remain with the herd and the family (Hobbs 1989, p.10-11). Family groups within clans are co-operative, assisting each other in both social and economic activities and arrangements. All Ma’aza clans are territorial and have a clear sense of homeland, associating individual elements with past clan events and incidents, and favouring certain places over others.
The Egyptian Eastern Desert Bedouin have a history as well as a present. They originate from the Arabian Peninsula, although it is not known why or precisely when they settled in Egypt, although it is thought that they probably migrated some 200 years ago (Goodman and Hobbs 1988, p.74) and are Muslims of Semitic origin. The Bedouin are renowned for their history of raids on each other and on outsiders - including travelers and settlers - from at least the 1700s. The Ma’aza formed part of this tradition: “Tot eh mobile Ma’aza, Nile Valley settlements and major caravan and pilgrim routes across the Eastern Desert were inviting targets . . . . The Ma’aza found Nile Valley peasants to be easy prey. Their favorite tactic was to steal and ransom farmer’s livestock” (Hobbs 1989, p.13). The Ma’aza also took advantage of the caravans that ran through ‘Ababda territory to the south, thereby alienating the ‘Ababda, with whom they were in frequent conflict. Their tribal territory in the Eastern Desert appears to have been established by about 1805 (Hobbs 1989, p.14).
Living conditions are challenging: “The Bedouin home is a landscape of uncertainly and anticipation” (Hobbs 1989, p.37). The main feature of the climate is aridity. Orographic rainfall over the Red Sea falls in bursts and cascades down dried up drainage valleys, wadis, towards the Red Sea and the Nile. On the way to the Nile, the wadis carve their way through plateaus and plains, forming a vast mosaic of branch-like networks of channels. The rainfall is unpredictable in all possible ways - when it falls, where it falls, and how much falls, how much will be retained by the topography. The rainfall is an absolute requirement, because without it neither humans nor their herds of sheep, goat and camels could survive the extreme conditions, and surface water is the most plentiful source of water for the Bedouin. The digging of wells provides for only a very small part of the water resources, and dripping pools where water drips constantly from cliffs into permanent pools of water, whilst precious, are few and far between. Similarly, springs are rare. Some rain fed rock basins are of particular value, retaining water for periods that can range between a few days and a few years - but these are used with considerable caution so that they are not emptied prematurely (Hobbs 1989, p.47-48). Routes to known water sources are marked with stones. Following rainfall, desert plants dot the land and seasonal pasturage is briefly available. Because the areas where this vegetation is likely to be is unpredictable, the Bedouin must travel to where it is is available when it becomes available. Only a few shrubs and trees are adapted to survive on a year-round basis, and these are usually protected by tradition and active conservation practises in Bedouin tribes (Hobbs 1989, p.6, p.106-109). They include Acacias, Zizyphus spina-Christi, Tamarix and Salvadora persica. There is one single specimen of Maerua crassifolia known from the Ma’aza’s tribal area, together with isolated examples of wild olive, white saksaul, white acacial, Indian mastiche, all of which are thought to be the last remains of the woodlands of the desert environment as it was between c.3000 and 7000BC (Hobbs 1989, p.97). The Bedouin describe their territory as countryside, not desert (Hobbs 1989, p.74).
In spite of the obvious challenges to the Bedouin way of life, the lifestyles of settled cultivators and towns people in the Nile Valley and urban areas do not attract the pastoral nomads. They have contempt for the inability of the Nile inhabitants to survive in the desert, that settled life is inferior, and they condemn their use of agricultural land for building projects. (Hobbs 1989, p.24-25, p.30-31). Hobbs says that “the desert-dwelling Kushmaan believe that their kin who have settled have compromised themselves by taking on peasant ways, even if they do maintain nominal contacts with the desert” (p.30). However, both lifestyles benefit from contact with the other in terms of exchanges of both produce and information. The main form of Bedouin income is the sale of their sheep and goats, which enables them to buy vegetables and a few luxury items like sugar and coffee. Camels are kept as beasts of burden, but donkeys may also be used by families who cannot afford camels, or who stay mainly in more mountainous areas. Plants may be grown on small plots during the brief season when the environment is favourable, which means that food production takes place on a very ad hoc basis in garden-sized plots: “Remarkably, a single spring rain is sufficient to produce one autumn harvest of some especially hardy crops. Most often planted are barley, millet, maize, watermelon, Malta jute, sweet melon, snake cucumber and okra. Winter crops include chick peas, Egyptian lupine, lentils, fava beans and fenugreeek (Hobbs 1989, p.45). These are consumed mainly by the families that grow them, but some are sold. The need to move herds to pasture and the ability to cultivate small patches of land often requires the division of labour within family groups and clans. Wild plants, of which the Kushmaan recognize at least 155 species (Hobbs 1989, p.111) are also collected for consumption and/or sale. Amongst these are caper fruits, wild figs, dates (rare and usually specially planted), wormwood, ben-tree seeds, and argel leaves. Plants are also used to supply tannins, dye, cooking oil, bowls, firewood, foot wear, camel saddles and uprights for the tents (Hobbs 1989, p.52). The diet is supplemented by the hunting of gazelle and ibex, both increasingly rare species. Techniques include trapping and stunning an animal with a thrown or dropped rock. Barbary sheep was hunted out and is now extinct in the Eastern Desert. The Ma’aza are fully aware of the risk involved with over-exploitation of either plant or animal resources, and have built in measures to prevent this happening, applying standards of ecological conservation that are bound into the culture and seasonal routines of the tribe.
All resources within a clan’s territory are the responsibility of that clan (rather than the tribe as a whole). Non-clan members may use the resources only with permission. Clan territories may be marked with an engraved sign in a rock’s surface, called a wasm, or clan signature. Routes to water sources are marked with stones, which will guide the uninitiated to the valuable resource. Although there is no concept of individual or family ownership some families may develop connections with particular places, with which they become associated. In spite of past conflicts with the ‘Abadba tribe to the south of Wadi Hammamat, there are reciprocal arrangement for the use of water and pasture, which helps the tribes to manage localized drought situations.
Living conditions are simple and mobile. Key belongings can include goat-wool tents, waterskins made of skins (although gerrycans are more in use today), simple items of clothing made of goat wool, milk containers made of goat skin, millstones and cooking pots. Sometimes disposable wind screens made of dead vegetation replace tents. Hearths and ovens are made from the stones around a campsite and can be abandoned when they are no longer needed. Motor vehicles and radios have recently been added to the assemblage of items owned: “Radios reaffirm the nomad’s perception that settled people are foolish” (Hobbs 1989, p.55).
The Bedouin observe the religious teachings of Islam. By rigorous Islamic standards, the Bedouin do not appear to be profoundly devout, but they have incorporated Islamic faith and the belief in God into their daily lives, melding it with a deeply superstitious approach to desert living (Hobbs 1989, p.58-59). The lunar cycle tells them when to observe certain rituals, so astronomical observation plays an important part in their religious life. Death is approached without fear, but the treatment of the corpse and the burial are accompanied by appropriate traditions and ceremony. Cemeteries are usually located near to a water source.
Landscape, which is the humanly perceived environment, topography and the skies overhead in the areas in which they live, is of fundamental importance to the Bedouin, as one would expect. Astronomy is of importance - constellations are named, and the movement of stars through the night skies mark key seasonal events like the beginning of summer. The mountains are each considered to have a personality and a gender. Unforgiving mountains are male, whereas gentler mountains may be female. The highest mountain in Egypt outside Sinai is the red granite Shaayib el Banat, known to the Kushmaan as Jebel Shaayib (“Old Man Mountain”). It is inhospitable, with very steep routes up the mountain, and only one permanent water source, making it very impractical for exploiting the game that inhabits it (Hobbs 1989, p.77). The nomads are very much at one with the way in which their world works around them: “The Kushmaan are exceptional way-finders and topographical interpreters able, for instance, to tell from tracks whether a camel was carrying baggage or a man; whether gazelle tracks were made by a male or female; which way a car was traveling and what make it was; which man left a set of footprints, even if he wore sandals; and how old the tracks are” (Hobbs 1989, p.81). They have mental maps of the areas through which they move, and certain key spots are imbued with ideological and other meanings. This mixture of practical navigation and ideological importance is at the heart of the nomads’ relationship with their landscape. Often places have names which express a certain characteristic about the place: “Jebel al-’Umaan (‘Mountain of Delusion’) is called this because its water source is so difficult to reach that almost everyone who tries it is disappointed” (Hobbs 1989, p.83). If a place is named after a particular person, it is because something happened at that place which involved that person directly. The landscape is personal with a set of connotations which make the desert a home in a very real and very wide sense.
The Ma’aza tribe provide a good insight into what the life of nomadic pastoralists is actually like. Often difficult to reconstruct archaeologically, due to the need for traveling light and making opportunistic use of the landscape to pull together temporary campsites, a look at a living system of nomadic subsistence can help to raise awareness of some of the social and ideological sophistication that is perfectly likely to have existed in the past.
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