HUMA 1845 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Antarah Ibn Shaddad, Rihla, Panegyric
28 Dec 2017
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Document Summary
The majority of pre-islamic arabs were pastoralists or bedouins, as they came to be known - who frequently moved with their families, domestic belongings, and their flock in a search of pasture. The vast majority of arabs were organized into tribes that occasionally formed temporary alliances. The bedouins survived by raising camels and sheep, hunting, and providing escorts to commercial caravans who traversed the arabian. Peninsula, or by being mercenaries in the syrian and iraqi frontiers. Raiding other bedouin tribes or sedentary people was another way of obtaining means for the survival. Such raids, known as the ghazwa, had two goals. First, the raiders hoped to capture camels, horses, slaves, gold and fine fabrics from other tribes. Second, the ghazwa was a means of boosting the morale and vitality of a tribe. The hardship of life in the desert and constant insecurity made.
