Arab tribes who graze the desert fringe east of the Delta, the Wadi Tumilat towards Lake Timsah, the isthmus, and the desert between Cairo and the Gulf of Suez.
They supply camels, guides and horsemen to armies on the Syrian road, carry goods between the Delta and Sinai, and raid the villages when the government is weak. Their amirs answer to the governor at Bilbeis and some hold small grants or allowances for keeping the roads.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not pinned: no amir of 1200 is named in the sources we read. The later lists place branches of Judham and of Tha'laba (of Tayy) on the eastern edge of the Delta
- Title
- Tribal amirs and shaykhs
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
The sultan of Egypt, through the governor of al-Sharqiyya at Bilbeis
How things stand that morning
Quiet that morning; both al-Afdal's returning army and al-Adil's pursuing one will pass through their country in January 1200.
Customs
Tribal law and blood-money, the protection (khafara) of travellers and caravans for a fee, seasonal movement between the desert pastures and the edge of the cultivation.
Assemblies
The shaykhs of each clan meet when the tribe must decide; no single amir over all the tribes is attested for 1200.
Overlord claims
The state expects service as auxiliaries and guides, the keeping of the roads, and taxes on herds where it can collect them.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- January 1200The armies of al-Afdal and al-Adil cross their pastures on the Sinai road; the tribes can sell guides and camels to either side or plunder stragglers.Depends on: The civil war coming back to Egypt. Stopped by: A settlement in Syria.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The tribal names come from later lists; nothing specific is pinned for 1200.
On the map: A range of pastures, drawn as a dashed outline.
Primary sources for The Bedouin
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- History of the Observant Traveller (A Traveller in Thirteenth-Century Arabia), Ibn al-Mujawir (Jamal al-Din Yusuf ibn Ya'qub) (about 1226 to 1232). A merchant-traveller's description of western and southern Arabia a generation after 1200: Mecca and the Hijaz ports, the Red Sea crossing, Zabid and the Tihama, Aden with its customs and tariffs, the Hadramawt coast, Dhofar and Oman, Socotra, and the opposite African shore at Zeila and the Dahlak islands. Read online
Sources and studies
- The later lists of the Arab tribes of Egypt (al-Maqrizi, al-Bayan wa'l-i'rab; al-Qalqashandi), fifteenth century; from the researcher's knowledge, used only as a guide to who lived where
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.