Historical Dictionary of the Bedouins

(Hardback)

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The term Bedouins was given to nomads who came from or lived in the desert, and consisted of a sedentary population (from the badia desert). However, in time, it came to define their social economic essence as: people who raised grazing animals and were compelled to conduct a nomadic life, to live in tents that could be dismantled, carried, and re-erected easily, and to move with their livelihood and living accommodation, according to the environmental conditions those which provided water and grass. Not all Bedouin tribes are of Arabic origin, as all Muslim nomadic groups in the area adopted the term "Bedouins." There are Bedouin tribes of Turkmen, Kurdish Baluch, and Berberic origin and there are "Arabized" African people and hybrid people, who are categorized as Bedouins. The Historical Dictionary of the Bedouins contains a chronology, an introduction, an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Bedouins.

Reviews

The term Bedouinin Arabic, badaw (sing.) and bedu (pl.)refers to Arabic-speaking nomadic and semi-nomadic groups that inhabit the arid and semi-arid regions of North Africa and the Middle East. Historically, the Bedouin were largely confined to the Arabian Peninsula and the adjacent Syrian Desert, where they made their living herding camels, sheep, and goats. Desertification and intertribal warfare forced the Bedouin to migrate in waves; over time, they abandoned their nomadic lifestyle to settle in the villages and cities of the region. Bedouin were, and remain, organized into tribal groups based on descent through the male line. As noted in the introduction to this newly published historical dictionary by Suwaed, tribal identity and tribal loyalty continue to play significant roles in organizing political and social life today. The author provides a chronology and an extensive bibliography along with the AZ entries, which are generally brief and include some non-Arab nomadic groups living in Turkey, Iran, and North Africa. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels of students; general readers. * CHOICE *

Author Bio

Muhammad Suwaed is a senior lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences in Western Galilee College and Kinneret College in Israel. He won the first prize of the Prime Minister of the State of Israel for his studies on the subject of the Bedouins in 1994. He was a laureate of the Research and Creation Prize of the Ministry of Science and Culture of the State of Israel in 2008.