ACCOUNT OF THE BEDOUIN TRIBES

Summary

CLASSIFICATION OF BEDOUIN TRIBES THAT INHABIT THE SYRIAN DESERT

Those tribes may be classed under two different heads: some who in spring and summer approach the cultivated parts of Syria, and quit them towards winter; and others who remain the whole year in the vicinity of the cultivated tracts. The first are the tribe of Aeneze; the latter are numerous tribes comprehended under the appellations of Ahl el Shemál and Arab el Kebly.

The Aenezes are the most powerful Arab nation in the vicinity of Syria, and, if we add to them their brethren in Nedjd, may be reckoned one of the most considerable bodies of Bedouins in the Arabian deserts. The Aenezes who live in the northern part of Arabia, generally take up their winter quarters in the Hammad desert, or the plain between the Hanran and Heet, a position on the Euphrates. The Hammad is without any springs; but in winter time the water collects there in deep grounds, and the shrubs and plants of the desert afford pasture to the Arab's cattle. The Aenezes have likewise been known to pass the Euphrates and encamp in Irak Arabi, and near Baghdad. In spring they approach the frontiers of Syria, and form a line of encampment extending from near Aleppo to eight days' journey to the south of Damascus. Their principal residence, however, during that time is the Hauran and its neighbourhood, where they encamp near and among the villages; while in the more northern country, towards Homs and Hamah, they mostly keep at a certain distance from the inhabited grounds.