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This article relates to Finding Nouf
Once the undisputed masters of the desert,
Bedouin tribes have diminished over the last couple of
centuries mostly due to governments intent on taxation and
political control to become only about 10% of today's
Saudi population. They are still a distinct sect and
although Nayir al-Sharqi is not a Bedouin by blood he has
been raised as one which sets him apart from urban Arabs in
several ways. First and foremost, he knows his way around
the desert while his urban friends (whose ancestors were
likely Bedouins) would never think of leaving home without
their GPS.
Bedouins (from the Arabic word bedu, meaning inhabitants of
the desert) have controlled the desert trade routes for
thousands of years as nomads who followed livestock
migration routes, providing meat and dairy products to
desert communities. Due to their knowledge of the shifting
desert sands they were and are often hired to escort
caravans as guides and drivers. Their knowledge and
expertise of tracking and desert navigation is legendary. In
Finding Nouf Nayir calls upon his Bedouin friend to
read the crime scene tracks and footprints. The man claims
an ability so precise as to distinguish between new and old
footprints, those made at night and during the day and which
prints belong to men or to women even though they may have
worn the same type of shoe.
Despite being among the poorest of Saudi citizens as
nomads they have, by custom, eschewed personal possessions
Bedouins have long been held in high esteem as models of
Islamic behavior. Thus Nayir feels compelled to behave
accordingly and the pressure to measure up to his Bedouin
upbringing is evident as he labors to avoid any taint of
impropriety in his dealings with women. The reputation is a
mixed bag, however, both uplifting and a burden, because he
enjoys the way his friends trust him around their women but
it is frustrating when some look upon him almost as a
eunuch.
Finally, Nayir is proud to be associated with the Bedouins
because of their strict code of ethics which maintains
values such as loyalty, obedience, generosity, hospitality,
honor, cunning and revenge. However, he isn't as
superstitious as many Bedouins and doesn't believe in the
evil eye or in
Jinns.
Also of interest: A short history of
Saudi Arabia in the sidebar to The Siege of Mecca.
Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities
This "beyond the book article" relates to Finding Nouf. It originally ran in June 2008 and has been updated for the May 2009 paperback edition. Go to magazine.
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