Traditions like camel riding and camping in the deserts are still popular leisure activities for urban Bedouins who live in close proximity to deserts or other wilderness areas.Ī widely quoted Bedouin apothegm is "I am against my brother, my brother and I are against my cousin, my cousin and I are against the stranger" sometimes quoted as "I and my brother are against my cousin, I and my cousin are against the stranger." This saying signifies a hierarchy of loyalties based on the proximity of some person to oneself, beginning with the self, and proceeding through the nuclear family as defined by male kinship, and then, in principle at least, to an entire genetic or linguistic group (which is perceived as akin to kinship in the Middle East and North Africa generally). Urbanized Bedouins often organise cultural festivals, usually held several times a year, in which they gather with other Bedouins to partake in and learn about various Bedouin traditions-from poetry recitation and traditional sword dances to playing traditional instruments and even classes teaching traditional tent knitting. While many Bedouins have abandoned their nomadic and tribal traditions for a modern urban lifestyle, others retain traditional Bedouin culture such as the traditional ʿašāʾir clan structure, traditional music, poetry, dances (such as saas), and many other cultural practices and concepts. They are referred to as the ʾAʿrāb ( أعراب) in Arabic. īedouins have been referred to by various names throughout history, including Arabaa by the Assyrians ( ar-ba-ea) being a nisba of the noun Arab, a name still used for Bedouins today. The vast majority of Bedouins adhere to Islam, although there are some fewer numbers of Christian Bedouins present in the Fertile Crescent. They are traditionally divided into tribes, or clans (known in Arabic as ʿašāʾir عَشَائِر or qabāʾil قبائل), and historically share a common culture of herding camels and goats. Bedouin territory stretches from the vast deserts of North Africa to the rocky sands of the Middle East. The English word bedouin comes from the Arabic badawī, which means "desert dweller", and is traditionally contrasted with ḥāḍir, the term for sedentary people. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Arabian Desert but spread across the rest of the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa after the spread of Islam. The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( / ˈ b ɛ d u ɪ n/ Arabic: بَدْو, romanized: badū, singular بَدَوِي badawī) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. Source for regions with significant population: Bedouin wedding procession in the Jerusalem section of the Pike at the 1904 World's Fair.
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