#bedouin

Belts with sheath and dagger. Bedouin, c. 20th century.

via The British Museum 1 2

Pair of children's boots (zarabil) made of red leather with indigo-dyed silk tassels and an iron heel-piece.

via The British Museum.

© The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

These red boots (yezmeh or zarabil) are made of camel leather dyed from natural pigments such as the madder plant or pomegranate peel. The iron heels attached to the soles suggest that their owner came from a Bedouin family of horse or camel riders. The indigo-dyed tassels on the boots were meant to protect children against the ‘evil eye’.

via Life and Sole: Footwear from the Islamic World

Appliqued Shepherd Aba The traditional Bedouin shepherd coat, or “aba”, is simply constructed of two pieces of fabric, joined lengthwise, folded and stitched along the top edge. Cuffs are then made by making a six inch cut along the folds at the upper right corners. The dark brown and tan striped ground is of plain-woven, weft-faced goat wool over a cotton warp, joined and hemmed with blue wool yarn. Impervious to water, this material is also used to make tents. Chain-stitched cotton stripes on the chest are reminiscent of frogs on traditional Turkish garments. The hems are reinforced on the inside with a faded, but striking, red cotton applique that terminates at the center of the back in the shape of a spearhead. This bold, yet hidden graphic was not intended to be a fashion statement, but rather as a protective talisman with the power to pierce the evil eye.

via Sarajo.com

WOOL IN NATIONAL DRESS — SYRIA

SYRIA borders the Eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey. The coastal strip is known as the Lebanon. Here, between mountains and sea, lies fertile country. But to the East, Syria itself is mostly desert cut by the valley of the river Euphrates. To and from Damascus, one of the oldest cities in the world, rich caravans cross the desert, prey to the wild Bedouin. The Syrian Camel Corps are really desert ‘mounties’ formed to prevent crime. These tough desert policemen live hard and travel light. Their square-cut cloaks of wool keep out the hot sun and stinging sand-storms. They serve as awnings to rest under in the heat of the day, and rolled up in them they stay snug at night when the desert air turns very cold.

ISSUED BY THE INTERNATIONAL WOOL SECRETARIAT

Kaftan. Bedouin, Saudi Arabian (Possibly Asir or Tayif). 1980-85. 

Blue velvet kaftan with machine stitching in gold, green, red and blue. High waistline. Along the V neckline is a decoration of heavy stitching in linear designs (very symmetrical). The embroidery seen at the cuffs mirrors the embroidery seen at the chest area of the kaftan (there are rows of stitched lines variating in color (occupying approximately 2in. of space from the cuff), and yellow stitching in a looped line. Approximately a 1.5 in from the looped yellow line are more rows of colorful stitching. Along the sleeve is a vertically stitched yellow trim. Along the right and left sides, underneath the arm, are two horizontally stitched yellow lines. Below the horizontal lines are 3 vertically stitched lines (one yellow chain stitched line with a red chain stitched line of either side) that extend to the bottom of the kaftan.

I am confined to a place

A land ruled by the smallest of small

Where the lizards skitter across the rocks

And the birds fly through blazing heat

Where the sand rolls west

And the sun shines east

And all the corals are spiny and grey

And all the trees are without leaves

And the sea is too far

And the rain is long gone

Where the rivers are empty

And the lakes are shallow

That is my home, a world of little men and women

That is my heritage, a land of bugs and birds

Am I a heretic? Does it feel poetic?

Is my existence anticlimactic?

When I come back to the sea

Where the nights are long

And the days are short

And the winter bites

And the summer flies

Will you be happy to see me?

Or will tears stain your short-faced cheeks,

Hot rain strike your ridden skin,

Golden Dusk Over Arabia

A stunning ultra-realistic AI-generated photograph capturing a solitary Bedouin woman against the backdrop of a breathtaking desert sunset. The warm golden light illuminates the intricate folds of her traditional attire while the vast Arabian dunes stretch endlessly into the horizon. Perfect for wallpapers, digital art collections, and Middle Eastern-themed projects. High quality 8k resolution with professional photography style.