Near Eastern Tribal Societies During the Nineteenth Century
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1928a
A01=Eveline van der Steen
Abu Gosh
Abu Zayd
Akila Agha
anaze
Anaze Tribes
Arabian Peninsula ethnography
Author_Eveline van der Steen
Bedouin Tribes
beni
Beni Hilal
Beni Sakhr
Category=JB
Category=JHM
Category=NHG
Cooking Pots
De Saulcy
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Hajj Route
Holy Man
Ibn Amm
kerak
Kerak Plateau
Late Bronze Age
Levantine anthropology
mujib
musil
Musil 1928a
Native American Tribes
nineteenth-century social dynamics
oral epic traditions
Ottoman provincial history
Palmer 1871a
Pariah Tribe
plateau
sakhr
Shammar Tribes
Southern Transjordan
tribal governance structures
tribal political economy analysis
tribes
wadi
Wadi Arabah
Wadi Faynan
Wadi Hasa
Wadi Mujib
Young Men
Product details
- ISBN 9781908049834
- Weight: 600g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 01 Nov 2005
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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This volume provides an in-depth study of tribal life in the Near East in the 19th century, exploring how tribes shaped society, economy and politics in the desert, as well as in villages and towns. Until the First World War Near Eastern society was tribally organized. Particularly in the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, where the Ottoman empire was weak, large and powerful tribes such as Anaze, Beni Sakhr and Shammar interacted and competed for control of the land, the people and the economy. The main sources for this study are travel accounts of 19th century adventurers and explorers. Their travels, on horseback, on camel or on foot opened a fascinating window on a world with an ideology that was fundamentally different from their own, often Victorian background. One chapter is dedicated to oral traditions in the region, from heroic epics to short poems, which lets the tribes and tribe members themselves speak, giving a voice to the tribal frame of mind. Evidence of tribal organization as a driving force in society can be found in documents and sometimes in the archaeological record from the Bronze Age onwards. While a straight comparison between ancient and subrecent tribal communities is fraught with difficulties and must be treated with caution, a better understanding of 19th century tribal ethics and customs provides useful insights into the history and the power relations of a more distant past. At the same time it may help us understand some of the underlying causes for the present conflicts afflicting the region.
Eveline van der Steen is an archaeologist who has worked extensively in the Near East, in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel. She studied at Leiden and Groningen universities in the Netherlands, and is honorary research fellow at the University of Liverpool. Her publications include books and articles on the archaeology of the Bronze and Iron Ages in Jordan and Palestine, and on 19th century travellers in the Near East and their interactions with the local tribes.
