[p.558] el Arab, of which Seboua makes a part.[See Journey towards
Dongola, p. 26.] The Aleygat of Sinai are acquainted with this
settlement of their brethren, and relate that in the time of the
Mamelouks, one of them who had embarked with a Beg at Tor for Cosseir
travelled afterwards towards Ibrim, and when he passed Seboua was
delighted there to find the people of his own tribe. They treated him
well, and presented him with a camel and a slave. I am ignorant by what
chance the Aleygat settled in Nubia.
III. El Mezeine [Arabic], who live principally to the eastward of the
convent towards the gulf of Akaba.
IV. Oulad Soleiman [Arabic], or Beni Selman [Arabic], at present reduced
to a few families only, who are settled at Tor, and in the neighbouring
villages.
V. Beni Waszel [Arabic], about fifteen families, who live with the
Mezeine, and are usually found in the neighbourhood of Sherm. They are
said to have come originally from Barbary. Some of their brethren are
also settled in Upper Egypt.
These five tribes are comprised under the appellation Towara, or the
Bedouins of Tor, and form a single body, whenever any foreign tribe of
the northern Bedouins attacks any one of them; but sometimes, though not
often, they have bloody quarrels among themselves. Their history,
according to the reports of the best informed among them, founded upon
tradition, is as follows:
At the period of the Mohammedan conquest, or soon after, the peninsula
of Mount Sinai was inhabited exclusively by the tribe of Oulad Soleiman,
or Beni Selman, together with the monks. The Szowaleha, and Aleygat, the
latter originally from the eastern Syrian desert, were then living on
the borders of Egypt, and in the Sherkieh or eastern district of the
Delta, from whence they were
[p.559] accustomed to make frequent inroads into this territory, in
order to carry off the date-harvest, and other fruits.[Some encampments
of Szowaleha are still found in the Sherkieh.] Whenever the inundation
of the Nile failed, they repaired in great numbers to these mountains,
and pastured their herds in the fertile valleys, the vegetation of which
is much more nutritious for camels and sheep than the luxuriant but
insipid pastures on the banks of the Nile. After long wars the Szowaleha
and Aleygat succeeded in reducing the Oulad Soleiman; many of their
families were exterminated, others fled, and their feeble remains now
live near Tor, where they still pride themselves upon having been the
former lords of this peninsula. The Szowaleha and Aleygat, however, did
not agree, and had frequent disputes among themselves. At that period
there arrived at Sherm four families of the Mezeine, a very potent tribe
in the Hedjaz, east of Medina, where they are still found in large
numbers, forming part of the great tribe of Beni Harb. They were flying
from the effects of blood-revenge, and wishing to settle here, they
applied to the Szowaleha, begging to be permitted to join them in their
pastures. The Szowaleha consented, on condition of their paying a yearly
tribute in sheep, in the same manner as the despised tribe of Heteym, on
the opposite coast of the gulf of Akaba, does to all the surrounding
Arabs. [Arabic]. The high spirited Mezeine however rejected the offer,
as derogatory to their free born condition, and addressed themselves to
the Aleygat, who readily admitted them to their brotherhood and all
their pastures. Long and obstinate wars between the Szowaleha and
Aleygat were the consequence of this compact. The two tribes fought, it
is said, for forty years; and in the greatest and the last battle, which
took place in Wady Barak, the Mezeine decided the contest in favour of
the Aleygat. So
[p.560] great, says the Bedouin tradition, was the number of the
Szowaleha killed in this engagement, that the nails of the slain were
seen for many years after, the sport of the winds in the valleys around
the field of battle.[No nation equals the Bedouins in numerical
exaggeration. Ask a Bedouin who belongs to a tribe of three hundred
tents, of the numbers of his brethren, and he will take a handful of
sand, and cast it up in the air, or point to the stars, and tell you
that they are as numberless. Much cross-questioning is therefore
necessary even to arrive at an approximation to the truth.] A compromise
now took place, the Szowaleha and Aleygat divided the fertile valleys of
the country equally, and the Mezeine received one-third of their share
from the latter. The Sheikh of the Szowaleha was, at the same time,
acknowledged as Sheikh of the whole peninsula. At present the Mezeine
are stronger than the Aleygat, and both together are about equal in
number to the Szowaleha.
Besides the Towara tribes, three others inhabit the northern parts of
the peninsula; viz. The Heywat [Arabic], who live towards Akaba; the
Tyaha [Arabic], who extend from the chain of the mountain El Tyh
northwards towards Ghaza and Hebron; and the Terabein [Arabic], who
occupy the north-west part of the peninsula, and extend from thence
towards Ghaza and Hebron. These three tribes are together stronger than
the Towara, with whom they are sometimes at war, and being all derived
from one common stock, the ancient tribe of Beni Attye, they are always
firmly united during hostilities. They have no right to the pasturages
south of Djebel Tyh, but are permitted to encamp sometimes in that
direction, if pasture is abundant. The pastures in their own territory,
along the whole of the northern parts of Djebel Tyh, are said to be
excellent, and to extend from one side of the peninsula to the other.