Discover Sinai

Originally posted on March 12, 2014 Although the temperature has dropped significantly and it might be still a bit cold for a few more days even in the desert, spring is here. According to the Bedouin - the Arabs - there is only spring if there are plants for their animals to eat. Unfortunately that’s not always the case: for many years, due to a long drought, there was no spring, but last year it has returned. When the plants are big enough to take the animals to graze, many Bedouin move out to their traditional grazing grounds in the desert. First they go and check if plants are growing, and what plants exactly: some are good for sheep and goats, others for camels. If everything is fine, they pack up and go. In the past that was done by camels and on foot, these days pickups are used. They stay in a place as long as there is enough food for their animals, then either move to another area or go back to their settlements. These settlements with the simple brick houses are fairly new, i...

Originally posted on March 12, 2013 With tourism ruined and at the same time plenty of grazing for the animals, many Bedouin families have moved out to the desert. Wherever you go, there are tents and big flocks of sheep and goat. It is a hard life, but the people are as happy as one can be – and free. Sour milk might be made in plastic bottles and cars bring the water, but this is still the true Bedouin life, very much like as in the past. Thanks to Selim and his family for their hospitality.

Originally posted on November 22, 2015 It’s a beautiful story about a Bedouin tribe’s honour and a very unique, ancient ritual that is practiced by the Bedouin, the Ordeal by Fire . It is one of those rare cases where a Bedouin writes about their own culture, not an outsider: the story is told by the son of the Sheikh whose tribe was involved in the case. The son, Salim Alafenisch, went on to study in Europe, and now lives and works in Germany. Unfortunately his books, including this one about the Fire Test, are only available in German, but here is the story in a few words. The story starts in the Negev desert, before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. In an area that was peaceful at the time someone gets shot and killed near the place the tribe of Salim lived. The footprints of the perpetrator were tracked by specialists from an independent tribe, who confirmed they didn’t lead to Salim’s settlement. Despite this, the victim’s tribe accuses Salim’s tribe of murder and want revenge. To keep t...

Originally posted on May 28, 2015 The Bisha (Bisha’a) is a unique ritual practiced by the Bedouin tribes of the Sinai and Negev for the purpose of lie detection when one is accused of a serious crime but there is no proof. The ritual consists of the accused being asked to lick a red-hot metal spoon three times. His tongue is then inspected by the official who presides over the ceremony – the Bishari (or Mubasha) – and by the designated witnesses of the ritual. If the person undergoing the ritual is found to have a scarred or burnt tongue, he is found guilty. There is no way appealing the result and all have to accept the outcome and pay the fines as agreed beforehand. Sounds medieval, the ritual is still practiced today. I know several people who went through the fire test in recent years. The Bisha was described in a 1931 British publication, based on the the story of Austin Kennett, an Administrative Officer for the Egyptian Government in Sinai: “The trial by ordeal is employed to se...

Originally posted on July 23, 2010 Warning: Some people might find the following images disturbing. Note: Cultural relativism is "understanding the ways of other cultures and not judging these practices according to one's own cultural ways." ( oregonstate.edu ) The Zuwara, similar to the Sufi sects' mainstream Moulid fests, is held to ask God to bless a people and a land with the intervention of the spirit of a local holy man. Sacrifice is part of every ancient tradition -- be it coconut, chicken, the symbolic body and blood of a savior, or actual meat -- in order to gather, meet, eat and pray together. God bless those people who don't buy their food in supermarkets!