Bedouin facts

  • The Bedouin are a part of the predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group.
  • The Negev Bedouin have one of the highest natural growth rates in the world, 5.5 percent in 2005. This means that the population doubles once every 15 years.
  • Bedouins traditionally had strong honor codes, and traditional systems of justice dispensation in Bedouin society typically revolved around such codes. The bisha'a, or ordeal by fire, is a well-known Bedouin practice of lie detection.
  • Their foods are predominantely bread, and meat and dairy products from their goat, sheep and camels herds.
  • In 2008, 180,000 Bedouin lived in the Negev. 
  • The Bedouin of the Arabian Desert uses a black tent known as the beit al-sha'r, or 'house of hair'. 
  • Starting in the late 19th century, many Bedouins under British rule began to transition to a semi-nomadic lifestyle.
  • In recent years, the Bedouin have adopted the pastime of raising and breeding white doves.
  • A widely quoted Bedouin saying is "Me against my brother, My brothers and I against my cousins, then my cousins and I against strangers".