Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The availability of water was somewhat different. Many of the villages and small towns in
the more arid regions used bores for their water. In some areas, including the major towns
and cities, water was often made available only for set hours during the day, which ex-
plained the proliferation of water tanks on each roof the householder fills the tanks during
the hours water was available, and thereafter uses the water from the tank.
There was only a partial mail distribution system in operation. Those in villages and small
towns were required to go to the central post office for the region to pick up their mail.
There also appears to be no mail delivery to homes as such, even in the larger towns.
As we travelled south, we were regaled with stories of Lawrence of Arabia and his various
exploits in the region during the First World War. I said my bit by reminding people that
it was the Australian Light Horse who provided the primary impetus for the advancement
and subsequent suppression of the enemy, regardless of some of the self-perpetuated myths
about Lawrence.
From time to time Bedouin tents would slip by in the distance. Traditionally they were
black and white and, while these predominated in some areas, in others the tents were a
grab-bag of materials. Livestock, primarily sheep and goats, were generally being held in
conjunction with each encampment.
The Bedouin, are traditionally desert-dwelling Arabs and nomadic pastoralists. They are
found throughout most of the desert belt extending from the Atlantic coast of the Sahara
through to the Arabian Desert. They are divided into related tribes, with the tribes organised
on several levels — a widely quoted Bedouin saying is:
"I and my brothers against my cousins, I and my brothers and my cousins against the
world."
If I recall correctly, such phrases are simply a selfserving justification of whatever they
want to have justified.
From the late 19 th Century under the British, many Bedouin transitioned to semi-nomadism
and in the 1950s as well as the 1960s, large numbers started to settle in the cities. It seems
that population growth and climate change are also playing a part. In Syria, for example,
the Bedouin way of life effectively ended during a severe drought from 1958 to 1961, for-
cing many Bedouin to give up herding and take up other forms of employment. Similarly,
government policies in Egypt and Israel, oil production in Libya and the Persian Gulf, as
well as a desire for improved standards of living, effectively led most Bedouin to become
settled citizens of various nations, rather than stateless nomadic herders.
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