Bedouin Culture and Desert Heritage

For thousands of years, Bedouin tribes moved with their herds across the deserts of Arabia, the Levant and North Africa, following rain and grazing. Survival depended on deep knowledge of stars, wells and weather, and on a code of honor in which protecting a guest was a sacred duty. A traveler arriving at a tent could expect food, shelter and safety for three days before being asked his business.

The traditional home is the bayt al-shaar, the house of hair, woven from black goat hair that swells in rain and breathes in heat. Inside, a woven curtain divides the men's majlis, where guests are received, from the family quarters. Many Gulf families still pitch a winter tent in the desert today, a cherished link to their grandparents' world.