Tent Work in Palestine: A Record of Discovery and Adventure

by C. R. Conder

The migrations of the western tribes do not extend over large tracts, but are confined to small districts marked by recognised boundaries. Thus Wâdy Fŭsâil is the border between the Mes’aid and the K’abneh Arabs, and the Plains of Jericho belong to the Abu Nuseir. In the Desert of Judah, the two most powerful tribes are the Tâ’amireh, who wear turbans and sow corn, and the Jâhalîn; south of these are the Dhullâm, and south of Beersheba the ’Azâzimeh. West of this last great tribe are the Tiyâhah round Gaza; and the Terabîn extend towards Egypt. The Arab clans in Philistia and Sharon are too numerous and insignificant to require notice; and in Galilee also there is a large number of very small tribes. The above enumerated are the most important Bedawîn divisions west of Jordan; but the Sugr, from the east, occupy in spring the whole of the Valley of Jezreel, and in times of disturbance they enter the Plain of Esdraelon.

Within the assigned limits, the migrations of a tribe over some 200 to 400 square miles are regulated by the temperature of the seasons, and by the pasturage and water supply. Ranging from one spring to another, and from the sheltered valleys visited in winter to the favourite camps on breezy slopes in summer, the nomads seem to resemble the Hebrews at the period when, for forty years, they lived in the wilderness—not, as we often imagine, travelling steadily in one line, but rather ranging over the small area of the Sinaitic peninsula, till the time for a further migration arrived.

The camps are scarcely ever placed in the immediate neighbourhood of water, but the Arab women go perhaps a mile away from the tents, and bring the needful supply in the black skins (Ghirbeh), carrying them on their backs or on diminutive donkeys. I have often asked the Arabs why they did not pitch close to the water, but never got a satisfactory answer. They have probably learnt from experience that the low ground near water is often malarious, and the great requisites for a camp seem to be shelter and concealment. The situations are not always, however, wisely chosen; for, in more than one instance, a sudden thunderstorm in the hills has brought a flood down the great valleys, in the bottom of which the smaller groups of tents are often found, and the water has carried away and drowned the whole settlement, together with its flocks.

The scantiness of pasture and of water supply, obliges the Arabs to divide themselves into numerous small camps, dotted over their territory. The Sheikh of the tribe, with his family, generally collects the largest encampment round his tent, and this forms the rendezvous of the rest. Among the Arabs of the Judean desert the largest number of tents in one camp is about thirty, and these contain some thirty families, or over a hundred persons. The total numbers of a tribe like the Tâ’amireh are about 1000 persons, or 300 tents, but the average is about 100 families.

The tents are arranged in different ways. Among the Sugr a large encampment was set out in parallel lines some fifty yards apart, the tents in each row being close together, end to end. Among the Tâ’amireh and Jâhalîn the usual form is a rectangle. The average length of the tent is from twenty to twenty-five feet, but the small ones will sometimes be only ten feet long, and the larger forty feet. The distance between two tents in a line is about four feet. Thus a camp of twenty tents occupied a space of two hundred feet by seventy feet. In another case the form was a triangle, the reason of this arrangement being that the flocks are driven into the enclosure at night, and thus protected from the attacks of robbers or prevented from straying by themselves.

The Arab tent is extremely unlike the usual representations, in which it is shown either as a sort of hut, as among the Turkomans, or as a bell-tent, instead of a long black “house of hair,” with a low sloping roof and open front. It has, however, been carefully described by Burckhardt, and there is little to add to his account. The canvas of the roof and side walls is of goat’s hair, black, with occasionally stripes of white running horizontally (Cant. i. 5). The pieces of stuff are about two feet wide, and thirty to fifty feet long. The tent has generally nine poles (’Awamîd), arranged three and three, those in the centre being the longest; thus the tent has a low ridge both ways in order to run the rain off. The cloths at the side can be easily removed as the sun or wind requires, one side being always left open. The tents are supported by cords and by pegs (Autâd), which are driven with a mallet (Judg. iv. 21). The average height of a tent is about seven feet.

Frail and cold as these habitations might be thought to prove in winter, they are really far more comfortable than would be expected. Being so low, the wind does not blow them over, and they are, moreover, most skilfully pitched, generally below a steep bank or low swell. Even in heavy storms I have found the interiors dry, and the heavy canvas does not let the rain through. The Arabs, however, suffer very much from rheumatism in winter. In summer they occasionally inhabit reed huts (’Arîsh), which are cooler than the tents.

The language of the Bedawîn differs from that of the peasantry, being nearer to that of the Arab tribes from the neighbourhood of Mecca, and thus to literary Arabic. Their names for natural objects are not always the same employed by the Fellahîn, and they are seemingly less ancient, though this difference is also partly due to the different character of the ground in the districts which the nomads inhabit. The old names are not preserved among the Arabs as they are among the peasantry, but descriptive titles have, as a rule, replaced the former nomenclature. These facts tend rather to confirm the views already expressed as to the antiquity of the Fellâh race, contrasted with the more modern settlers who have encroached on their territory.

The Bedawîn have, in addition to their ordinary language, a kind of slang, which they use among themselves, and which we were quite unable to understand. The corrupt pronunciation of ordinary words also renders it very difficult for any one accustomed to the peculiarities of the Fellâh dialect to comprehend the Arabs.

The character of the Bedawîn is not so easy to penetrate as at first appears. They are a crafty and reserved people, with strong ideas of policy and prudence. Nothing is more disagreeable to an Arab than to be made to look foolish, and they are careful not to put themselves in a false position. They also conceal under an affectation of carelessness and indifference a very keen perception of what is going on. I have often watched a Bedawi walking by my side, and noticed how carefully he scanned every pebble in the road, and how the slightest sign of life—a bird, a gazelle, or a distant figure—attracted his attention at once, long before I had observed anything. Their sight is generally very clear and good, and their agility and endurance are astonishing.