Beja People - Photographs

Eritrea is ‘camel country’, they are everywhere both...

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:02:06 -0400

Eritrea is ‘camel country’, they are everywhere both wild and domesticated, this one was on duty at Demas [ 80 km south of Keren.] From a train enthusiast website, with about a dozen pics of the steam trains in Eritrea.

Screenshot from a you tube video.

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:07:03 -0400

Screenshot from a you tube video.

Photo used as an avatar by one of the members on a discussion...

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:46:46 -0400

Photo used as an avatar by one of the members on a discussion forum based in Qatar.
http://www.kassala-asc.com/

A youth from the Amarar tribe. From “Desert and water...

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 09:16:00 -0400

A youth from the Amarar tribe. From “Desert and water gardens of the Red Sea, being an account of the natives and the shore formations of the coast” by Cyril Crossland. Photo circa 1912. The editor notes the absence of sewn clothing.

The book was written by a British explorer who was based at Donugab, about 100 miles north of Port Sudan.

Available at chrome://epubreader/content/catalog.xul in archive.org

Crossland describes the typical Beja man [though he knew them as Hamitic] like this.

“When we meet our friend we generally see a tall, well-made man, light in build but strong and active, often good-looking, with a pleasant and self-respecting expression. He may rise as we pass, to shew respect, but offers no salutation unless his superior should salute first.

If we speak to him he will address us respectfully, yet as an equal, first shaking hands as he would to one of his own nation. If he is not a very poor man, or engaged in manual labour, he is probably much more gracefully dressed than we are, in the folds of yards of calico looped about his person, leaving arms and neck free. True his hair, a great fuzzy mop, plastered with mutton fat, looks a trifle ridiculous and even unclean, the free use of grease in a tropical climate can be helpful. Or he may wear a turban, which appears more dignified to European eyes, being more familiar.

He displays his freedom, his membership of a desert community, not only by his self-reliant look, but by his always carrying arms. As we meet him, his camel has been tethered before the shop where he is obtaining provisions, and his sword, shield, or spear given into the merchant’s keeping, our mountaineer retaining only a dagger, stuck into a loose heavy leather belt, or having its sheath bound round his arm, just above the elbow. The former dagger is generally a curved blade nine inches or so long, the latter a small broad dagger with a plain round handle. The sheaths are very ornamental, bearing embossed patterns and strips of green leather among the brown.

Neither is he anything but proud of the evidences of his religion and superstitions. There may be a circular patch of dust in the middle of his forehead, where he touched the ground, bowing in prayer, and his amulets, paper charms wrapped up in little square leather cases worn as a necklace, or, more often, tied round the arm immediately above the elbow, and his string of prayer beads, are his principal ornaments.

He may wear a ring or two on his fingers, and a narrow band round his arm, both of silver, while a thin curved skewer, of hard wood or ibex horn, thrust through his hair, completes his adornment.

In conversation we find him generally intelligent, rarely surly or ill-behaved. Having self-respect himself he appreciates and returns politeness, and is not so foolish as to interpret it as weakness.

In travelling through the desert any dusty old man will expect you to give a friendly greeting, and the news, and smile upon you as a friend. Unfortunately the language is rather a stumbling-block, as many natives are not fluent in Arabic, and few British know the Hamitic speech. However, for a friendly salutation Arabic (or perhaps any language!) will suffice anywhere.

From a German site, a dozen pictures illustrate the rugged...

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:44:48 -0400

From a German site, a dozen pictures illustrate the rugged fighting in east Soudan during the time of the Mahdi’s battles against the British/Turkish army.

Assuwan type of the Bisharin Race. Photo for sale on 121bid.com

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:09:01 -0400

Assuwan type of the Bisharin Race. Photo for sale on 121bid.com

Waiting for tourists. Selected from a series of photos...

Tue, 18 May 2010 16:28:27 -0400

Waiting for tourists. Selected from a series of photos highlighting Sudan, and the April election experience in April 2010. This photo from February 2010. Photo # 35.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/scenes_from_sudan.html

Having fun! Bisharin from near Jebel Elba in Halaib...

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:06:27 -0400

Having fun! Bisharin from near Jebel Elba in Halaib triangle.

Dig around!

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/conservation-egypt/files?hl=en

Handmade goods are available to tourists at the eco-resort near...

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:56:00 -0400

Ababda guide

Handmade goods are available to tourists at the eco-resort near Wadi El Gemal - north of the Halaib Triangle(?). Local Ababda guides lead trips just 6 km to the interior desert where a constructed pond attracts local wildlife.

http://www.wadielgemal.com/index.aspx?id=1

great music vid. includes four guys doing a sword dance.

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:16:15 -0400

great music vid. includes four guys doing a sword dance.

Another old postcard featuring Bisharin. They wave their swords...

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:25:57 -0500

Another old postcard featuring Bisharin. They wave their swords to make a dramatic photo. From ebay.

http://bit.ly/8al0Bf

A Bisharin family, a postcard you could buy for $7.99 on ebay....

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:01:00 -0500

A Bisharin family, a postcard you could buy for $7.99 on ebay. Date unknown.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ethnic-Costume,-Bisharin-Family,Une-Famille-de-Bicharin_W0QQitemZ390141882822QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20100112?IMSfp=TL1001120110008r20103

Unusual picture of both a male and a female together. Noted as...

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:23:00 -0500

Unusual picture of both a male and a female together. Noted as Bisharin, this couple stands at the gate to an Arab cemetery near Aswan Egypt. Photo dates from around 1920. From a magazine page [original] on sale through Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/C1920-Egypt-Bisharin-Cemetery-Assuan/dp/B002HD8D0M/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1260324895&sr=8-14

UPDATE: Magazine pages already online. See this same [scanned] pic here.

http://ian.macky.net/secretmuseum/page_2.22.html

UPDATE2: Series of photos online here too. Try the jigsaw puzzle feature. Click next at bottom right, for more pics in the series.

http://www.museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=37388

Modern day adventurers sail their yachts around the world, and...

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:41:00 -0500

Modern day adventurers sail their yachts around the world, and they all seem to stop in Suakin to take a picture of the age old market.

“Walking into the centre of the town is like walking back in time 1000 years. The rubble of the original city gives way to the shanty town of today with market traders selling on the streets or from their small shacks. We were woken by the braying of donkeys this morning and these provide the main source of transport here towing makeshift carts with wobbly wheels sporting bulging misshapen tyres. The place is brown and dusty but the fruit and vegetables and the clothing “stores” add splashes of vivid colour to the scene. Someone likened the place to be right out of an Indiana Jones movie and I could not describe it better. A few brightly dressed camels roam around, we bought flour that had just been ground using an old petrol driven milling machine and we wondered at how the old diesel single-pot engine that was pumping the well was still going after the years of service it must have already contributed. There is no electricity in the town centre so everything must either be done by hand or combustion engine (of which we saw only three).”

http://yachtnadezhda.blogspot.com/2009/05/red-sea.html

Beja women love bright colours in Kassala.

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:46:05 -0500

Beja women love bright colours in Kassala.

Shop for manly gear! You’ve got a saddle bag, a sword in a...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:04:00 -0500

Shop for manly gear! You’ve got a saddle bag, a sword in a black leather sheath, some bags made from recycled flour supplies, low and high quality saddle pockets, coffeepot protectors, a few whips with coloured handles and lots of choice for underbelly cinch belts to hold the saddle on a camel.

It just makes sense to store the comb in the hair.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:47:14 -0500

It just makes sense to store the comb in the hair.

Looking handsome, they say.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:14:52 -0500

Looking handsome, they say.

Fruitseller in the Beja market in Khartoum, 2007.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:07:00 -0500

Fruitseller in the Beja market in Khartoum, 2007.

Wargamers paint little plastic models and reenact battles on a...

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:12:00 -0400

Wargamers paint little plastic models and reenact battles on a tabletop using miniature soldiers. It’s possible to buy Beja warriors in a variety of poses from various toy soldier manufacturers, including Perry Miniatures. [Select “The Sudan - The Mahdists”]

Some armchair generals have created blogs to share their painting efforts with other gamers.

http://sudan1883.blogspot.com/2007/05/another-beja-on-camel.html

Here’s another pic of a Beja band of warriors. [From among 124 pics.]

http://webzoom.freewebs.com/talesfromghq/Sudan%20Pics7/P1000413.JPG

http://www.freewebs.com/talesfromghq/apps/photos/album?albumid=4140735

To accurately paint their men, gamers diligently search for historic photos - check out the blog entries and links in the side column on Legatus Hedlius’s blog.

More Beja fighters here

http://bit.ly/7Ycr3R

Buy miniature soldiers here so you can paint them.

http://www.oldgloryminiatures.com/products.asp?cat=240

http://www.armiesinplastic.com/documents/egypt_sudan.html