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The Bedoul of Petra
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14878 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
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10 / 1988 |
2,451 Words |
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Vivian Ronay Barry
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For nearly three hundred years, Western travelers to the Arabian peninsula have noted the remarkable attitude of the Bedouin people toward their guests. Hospitality is perhaps the most important virtue in Bedouin culture, and that kindness and generosity has remained with Bedouin families and tribes despite the great material changes that have transformed most of their lives.
The Bedoul tribes at Petra in southern Jordan keep the Bedouin tradition of hospitality very much a part of their lives. Petra had been a culturally and commercially significant center in ancient times but had long since been uninhabited. The Bedoul came to Petra "four grandfathers ago" and stayed because the grazing was good for their goats and the sandstone cliffs offered protection from the weather. (Snow does not accumulate on the sandstone in the winter.) The Bedoul and their home are consequently unique in the Arab world.
The hospitality accorded a guest reflects on the honor of a Bedouin family and tribe. It is judiciously demonstrated, however, and is based on trust. The traveler, his family, or his tribe must be known to the host, or the visitor must have an introduction. For the tourist who meets the Bedouin, such trust is established by the Jordanian government. An ordinary tourist visa issued by the government is a sufficient introduction for the Bedoul. Anyone who might sneak into the area unofficially, however, is stopped and questioned. The Bedoul view their responsibility as extending beyond the village and tents to the land among the cliffs of Petra.
Treatment accorded visitors in the Bedoul village of Umm Sayhun continues to reflect the old traditions. If a stranger visits a house, he must wait outside the gate until the man of the house arrives home; if, however, the visitor is known to the family, the women of the house will receive him with all the customary courtesies of food and conversation.
The attitude of care and kindness toward acquaintances begins with a family's neighbors. The Bedoul say that the Koran instructs a family to first invite those living closest to them to any large gathering. Responsibility for other members of the family and tribe is also integral to the Muslim religion and extends to care of the less fortunate members of the family and village. In Umm Sayhun, for example, there are a few very poor, old people who regularly receive money and food from their neighbors.
Some of the folk customs of the Bedouin also reveal caution toward strangers and are used to protect a home. For example, flowers grown in the garden in front of the house are not just for decoration, but are planted so that the first glance of any stranger toward the house will be drawn to the bright colors of the plants. Thus, malevolent thoughts the visitor brings with him will be left outside the house.
Sheikh Salameh Eid Alfaqir described to me the traditional way guests are received at a tent encampment. The guest is always welcome to stay three and a half days before the host will ask the reason for his visit. Every day a different family at the encampment will provide food for the guest, and in the mornings, the breakfast coffee and sugar are brought to the guest's tent. The coffee and sugar are carried by a man in the corners of his headdress and then prepared in the
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