One of the best known groups from Jordan’s population is the Bedouin. As they are known in Arabic, the Bedu, or “desert dwellers,” endure the desert and have learned to survive its unforgiving climate. It is difficult to count Bedouins, but it is generally known that the majority of Jordan’s population is of Bedouin origin.

Most of Jordan’s Bedouin live in the vast wasteland that extends east from the Desert Highway. All throughout the south and east of the country, their communities are marked by characteristic black goat-hair tents. These are known as beit al-sha’ar, or “house of hair.”

Bedouins are often stereotyped as constantly wandering the desert in search of water and food for their flocks. This is only partly true. Only a small portion of Bedouin can still be regarded as true nomads, while many have settled down to cultivate crops rather than drive their animals across the desert. Most Bedouin have combined the two lifestyles to some degree. Those Bedouins who still practice pastoralism will camp in one spot for a few months at a time, grazing their herds of goats, sheep or camels until the fodder found in the area is exhausted. It is then time to move on. Often the only concession they make to the modern world is the acquisition of a pick-up truck (to move their animals long distances), plastic water containers and perhaps a kerosene stove.                                                                                                  top

It can be said that many of the characteristics of the Jordanian and Arab society are found in their strongest form in Bedouin culture. For instance, Bedouins are most famous for their hospitality, and it is part of their creed—rooted in the harshness of desert life—that no traveller is turned away. The tribal structure of Arab society is also most visible among the Bedouins, where the clan is at the center of social life. Each Bedouin family has its own tent, a collection (hayy) of which constitutes a clan (qawm). A number of these clans make up a tribe, or qabila.

As the Bedouins have long been, and still remain to a limited degree, outside the governing authority of the state, they have used a number of social mechanisms—including exile from the tribe, and the exaction of “blood money” or vengeance to right a crime—to maintain order in the society. The values of Bedouin society are vested in an ancient code of honor, calling for total loyalty to the clan and tribe in order to uphold the survival of the group.

The Jordanian government, which in the past promoted the settling of the Bedouin, recognizes the unique value of their contribution to Jordan’s culture and heritage. Indeed, it has been said that they are the backbone of the Kingdom. The government continues to provide services such as education, housing and health clinics. However, some Bedouins pass these up in favor of the lifestyle which has served them so well over the centuries.

Some of tribes in Jordan:                                                                                                 top

The Howeitat Tribe hold all the area around Wadi Rum from Taba in Egypt, north to Al Husseinyer on the Desert Highway, and well into Saudi Arabia to the south. The land in Wadi Rum however is occupied by the Zilabia and the Zuweida tribes who are an offshoot of the Aneizat in Saudi Arabia. These two sub tribes were officially confirmed as being "in possession" of these lands by the Abu Tayi and the bin Jazi sheikhs in the 1920s, after having virtually "squatted" them for a number of years. Aouda Abu Tayi, the famous leader of the Howeitat against the Turks, tacitly accepted their presence when he "invited" them to join him in one of his raids against the Bani Sakher, instead of simply calling them out. However the Zilabia and the Zuweida insist that they occupied the lands long before this, citing stories from the tribal history which (as far as I can calculate) go back easily to the 1880's. They also furiously refute any claim that they  belong to the Howeitat Tribe, although both accepted authorities and local Howeitat sheikhs claim that they do.

On rereading "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" I found it interesting that T.E. Lawrence remarked that the "Zelabeni" were worried about being absorbed by the Howeitat if they cooperated with Abu Tayi. It looks as if this is still going on.

The Zuweida lands are around the village of Dissieh, much less frequented by tourists than the area around Wadi Rum. Dissieh is a metropolis compared with the village of Rum, the water from the aquifer is to be found only a few feet from the surface and led to a settlement in this spot long before anybody built a house in Wadi Rum itself. This is the first thing that strikes a visitor to Dissieh, the green. There are trees, bushes, plants, flowers - there is even grass growing beside the road! Although the shops are still village shops, at least there are a number of them - unlike Wadi Rum.                                         top

The Zilabia live in Wadi Rum and the surrounding territory to the south. Almost the entire population of Rum village is from this family - nearly a thousand of them! Before the filming of "Lawrence of Arabia" here, the only building in the valley was a desert fort on the traditional road to Saudi Arabia and Mecca; the present Resthouse was originally built for the personnel making the film. In the valley were only tents. Wadi Rum (the valley between Jebel Um Ishreen and Jebel Rum) has always been known for its good springs, the Bedouin frequently pitched their tents here to water the flocks and so it had become a central gathering point. The lands to the south are also well watered and were a valuable asset to the tribe - well worth fighting for if necessary.

A few of them built houses on what was then "tribal land" (now government land) near to the Resthouse, and were followed by others as the Government encouraged the sedentarization of the Bedouin. Unlike some other Arab countries there was no force involved in Jordan, the offer of land for building houses and the provision of schools for the children were presented as privileges that the Government was offering to the Bedouin. King Hussein offered several of the Zilabia tribal notables a "personal gift" of a house and some surrounding land. More land was made available at special prices and subsidized loans were also part of the package. Many of the Bedouin took up this offer and Rum Village was born. All this has happened in the last twenty years or so, much of it in the last ten - see the photo at the head of the page. Since the land was cheap by normal standards, many families bought enough to build several houses later on for their children, and today Rum is unusual for an Arab town in that many houses only hold a few people, these are the "young marrieds" setting up their nurseries!                                                                                        top

This "compound" like scheme of building also provided room to pitch the traditional tents while the houses were being built, or while the money was being found to build them, and today you can often still see these tents or livestock among the houses.

The traditional money earning occupation of the Zilabia, as of many of the Bedouin tribes of Jordan, is the Army or the police. As members of the Desert Patrol or of the Arab Legion, they lived in garrison towns, they often took their wives and children with them and met the challenges of living in fixed places and of urban life. This undoubtedly helped to make the change from nomadic to settled life easier for them as they returned to their home lands.

As the Bedouin gradually left the desert for the housing in Rum, the village acquired the reputation of being a dirty and careless conglomeration of houses: the idea of actually painting them took a long time to occur to their owners. But the new generation of young guides is in the habit of meeting and talking easily with tourists and on equal terms, many of them have travelled abroad and are much more environmentally conscious than their elders. The houses are increasingly being painted and this is being actively encouraged by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature in Jordan under the rules for the Nature Reserve of Wadi Rum currently being established. The wires for electricity and telephones are being buried and gradually Rum is turning into a pleasant village, just as the idea is spreading that rubbish must not simply be discarded in the desert but brought back to Rum to be treated correctly.                                          top

This is tremendous contrast to when I first saw it, some fifteen years ago, the dirt and general sloppiness around made a greater impression than did the landscape. When one looks at the landscape today, one realises a little bit just how much dirt there must have been! I was by no means the only one. Again and again one heard tourists complaining of the bad impression made on them by the village of Rum. One can only hope that tourists today see more of the pleasant part of the village than of the potholes that are still there in the side streets! Much of the village is indeed a very pleasant place today.