The sandstone desert of the Hisma south of Aila and Ma'an, the coast of Madyan down the east shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, and the wells of Tabuk.
The old tribe of the region is Judham; in the thirteenth century the Banu Uqba, counted as Judham, are the masters of the country between al-Karak and Aila in the Mamluk sources. Reynald of Chatillon's raids of 1181-1183 came through this country. No chief is named for 1200.
Who holds it
- Name
- not known for 1 January 1200
- Title
- Shaykhs of the Bedouin of the Hisma and the Madyan coast
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
No chief of this people is named for the winter of 1199-1200 in the sources read.
Overlord
No overlord: the Ayyubid posts of Aila and Transjordan lie just north (Latin East map); the Ayyubids pay or punish the tribes on the roads.
What it holds
- the wells of Tabuk, Haql and Madyan
- the Hisma pastures and the coastal road
Allies and rivals
Courted and fought by the Ayyubid lords of Transjordan and Aila.
How things stand that morning
Bedouin country between the Ayyubid frontier posts and the Hejaz; no ruler.
Wealth
Camels and sheep, escort of caravans on the Syria and Egypt roads, the date palms of Madyan, Haql and Tabuk.
Military
Mounted tribesmen and camel riders under their shaykhs; no fortresses.
Customs
Kin-ruled pastoralists under shaykhs chosen within leading lineages; summer camps at the wells and the edges of the oases, winter grazing in the open desert after the rains; they sell camels, sheep, butter and wool in the oasis markets, take protection money (khuwwa) from villages and caravans, and serve the sharifs or the caravan commanders for pay.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Tribal names for this coast in 1200 are inferred from earlier and later evidence.
On the map: The northern edge follows the modern Jordanian border, which is the Latin East map's limit, not a line of 1200.
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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.