DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10358#0274
244 PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
In frame and physique the Arab generally is a fine model. His step is elastic and his
carriage marvellously upright. In running or climbing he would be a formidable competitor
in our ordinary village games. On his simple food (so simple that beyond the coffee and
great round unleavened cakes one does not know of what it consists) he thrives, and his
white teeth, shining out between his smiling lips, remind one that to one ill at least of
high civilisation he is not heir, and that dentists would be nowhere in the Desert. Very
charming is the sound of Arab laughter, and, though one does not understand a word of it, the
never-ending song, which seems capable of any amount of " gag," and not to be injured by
constant interludes, does not really weary any one. Their demeanour is noticeably courteous,
whether one observes the threefold salutation (by placing the right hand on the heart, the lips,
the forehead or turban) with which they greet one another ordinarily, or such a salutation as
took place between an old Arab who came up to our sheikh just now—he saluted him,
embraced him, kissed him on either cheek, and then the two, with right hands clasped, said
again and again, "Are you well?"—"Thank God, well!"—as Moses said probably to Aaron
on the Mount of Salutation (Exodus iv. 27) or to Jethro in the wilderness (Exodus xviii. 7).
When they dispute, which is not infrequently in the day, and especially on the subject of
adjusting the loads on the camels each morning, or on the question of agreeing to terms or
apportioning the money, they are as violent, demonstrative, and abusive as the frequenters of
Billingsgate. In the bargaining the Arab will lie right and left and overreach you ; but, the
bargain being made, his word is his bond.
The Arab woman does all the home work, and the unmarried girls tend the flocks and
herds of an encampment and take them to pasture. Such occupation is derogatory for men.
Here, therefore, we may note a relic of that contemptuous regard which was had for the flock-
tender among the Israelites. David the shepherd boy, away from his home when Samuel goes
down to Bethlehem to visit Jesse, is of no account among his brethren, as being employed in
mere girl's work.
The religion of the Bedawin has yet to be explored. Very few, when travelling, are
regular in their devotions. There is a strange superstitious awe which certain spots and
tombs evoke, and constantly there will come to the surface little evidences of a deep religious
feeling. For instance, I and my dragoman met with a bad accident one day. The next
morning, when I went to pay my respects to our sheikh, he said, congratulating us, " You are
now two days old." Our rescue from imminent peril was regarded by him as a new lease
of life by Allah's will. Then one day I had to make a fresh agreement with my Arabs,
having changed my route ; they sealed, as it were, their promise to conduct me in safety by
another way, by solemnly repeating the Fatihat (the first chapter in the Koran).
I have said nothing about the dress of the Bedawin of Sinai ; nor have I pointed out our
sheikh, that is, the petty chief who commands our Arabs, and who is responsible for our safe
conduct. There he sits almost undistinguishable, no staff or sword of office. He does more
work, I think, than the others, and the others seem to get more angry with him than with any
In frame and physique the Arab generally is a fine model. His step is elastic and his
carriage marvellously upright. In running or climbing he would be a formidable competitor
in our ordinary village games. On his simple food (so simple that beyond the coffee and
great round unleavened cakes one does not know of what it consists) he thrives, and his
white teeth, shining out between his smiling lips, remind one that to one ill at least of
high civilisation he is not heir, and that dentists would be nowhere in the Desert. Very
charming is the sound of Arab laughter, and, though one does not understand a word of it, the
never-ending song, which seems capable of any amount of " gag," and not to be injured by
constant interludes, does not really weary any one. Their demeanour is noticeably courteous,
whether one observes the threefold salutation (by placing the right hand on the heart, the lips,
the forehead or turban) with which they greet one another ordinarily, or such a salutation as
took place between an old Arab who came up to our sheikh just now—he saluted him,
embraced him, kissed him on either cheek, and then the two, with right hands clasped, said
again and again, "Are you well?"—"Thank God, well!"—as Moses said probably to Aaron
on the Mount of Salutation (Exodus iv. 27) or to Jethro in the wilderness (Exodus xviii. 7).
When they dispute, which is not infrequently in the day, and especially on the subject of
adjusting the loads on the camels each morning, or on the question of agreeing to terms or
apportioning the money, they are as violent, demonstrative, and abusive as the frequenters of
Billingsgate. In the bargaining the Arab will lie right and left and overreach you ; but, the
bargain being made, his word is his bond.
The Arab woman does all the home work, and the unmarried girls tend the flocks and
herds of an encampment and take them to pasture. Such occupation is derogatory for men.
Here, therefore, we may note a relic of that contemptuous regard which was had for the flock-
tender among the Israelites. David the shepherd boy, away from his home when Samuel goes
down to Bethlehem to visit Jesse, is of no account among his brethren, as being employed in
mere girl's work.
The religion of the Bedawin has yet to be explored. Very few, when travelling, are
regular in their devotions. There is a strange superstitious awe which certain spots and
tombs evoke, and constantly there will come to the surface little evidences of a deep religious
feeling. For instance, I and my dragoman met with a bad accident one day. The next
morning, when I went to pay my respects to our sheikh, he said, congratulating us, " You are
now two days old." Our rescue from imminent peril was regarded by him as a new lease
of life by Allah's will. Then one day I had to make a fresh agreement with my Arabs,
having changed my route ; they sealed, as it were, their promise to conduct me in safety by
another way, by solemnly repeating the Fatihat (the first chapter in the Koran).
I have said nothing about the dress of the Bedawin of Sinai ; nor have I pointed out our
sheikh, that is, the petty chief who commands our Arabs, and who is responsible for our safe
conduct. There he sits almost undistinguishable, no staff or sword of office. He does more
work, I think, than the others, and the others seem to get more angry with him than with any