Discover Sinai

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...