Ababda people

Ababda
Arabized Beja tribe
A tribesman in the Shalateen camel market
EthnicityBeja [1][2]
LocationEastern Egypt and Sudan
Population250,000+[3]
LanguageArabic
ReligionSunni Islam

The Ababda (Arabic: العبابدة, romanized: al-ʿabābdah or Arabic: عبّادي, romanized: ʿabbādī) are an arabized Beja[1][2] tribe[4] in eastern Egypt and Sudan. Historically, most were nomads living in the area between the Nile and the Red Sea, from Qena to Berber on the Nile and from Halayeb to Hurghada on the Red Sea.[5] the Ababda are considered to be a Beja subtribe. Most Ababda now speak Arabic and claim descent from Kawahla while also considering themselves Beja.[6] The Ababda have a total population of over 250,000 people.[7]

Tribal Origin

Ababda tribal origin narratives identify them as the descendants of an alleged common ancestor by the name of Abad. Abad is said to be a descendant of Kahil, the common ancestor of the Kawahla and the Ababda claim that Kahil was a descendant of Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, a companion of the prophet Muhammad. Claims of descent from Selman of the Banu Hilal have also been heard through Ababda in Shendi during the 19th century. [8][9][2] other Beja like the Bishareen and the Amarar claim Kahili descent through their tribal ancestors, Bishar and Amar respectively, though the Amarar claim that Kahil was a descendant of Walid ibn al-Mughira, not Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.[10]

The Ababda may have formed through an Arab-Beja alliance, similar to the alliance between the Rabia and the Hedareb in the late ninth century[2][1]

Despite the Arab genealogy there is nothing pointing to an Arab origin of the Ababda, The Ababda are virtually indistinguishable from the Bishareen and the rest of the Beja except through language. [11][12][13][14]

Further information: Egyptian invasion of Sudan 1820-24 § Invasion of Nubia

History

Camel support was provided by Ababda during the Turco-Egyptian conquest of Sudan,[15] in return the Egyptian government recognized their control of the route and allowed them to levy a 10% toll on all goods passing through their lands.[16]

Identity

The Ababda consider themselves to be Beja and at the same time of Kawahla descent. The Ababda refer to themselves as Arabs, not as an ethnic identifier but to refer to their nomadic lifestyle, in contrast to the settled Fellahin on the Nile valley.[6][2]

Language

Arabic

The Ababda dialect of Arabic is considered to be a northern extension of Sudanese dialects. The closest dialect to the Ababda dialect is that of the Shukria of eastern Sudan. The Ababda dialect is heavily influenced by the Beja language.[17][2][18]

Beja

Numerous traveler accounts from the nineteenth century and before that report that the Ababda at that time still spoke Beja or a language of their own. As late as the second half of the 19th century the Ababda were bilingual in Arabic and a Beja language that was either identical or closely related to Bisharin.[19][12][20]

Culture

Ababda culture is mainly the same as the culture of other Beja groups but with slightly more Arab and Upper Egyptian influence. One of the most important parts of Ababda and Beja culture generally is the Jabana, it is a type of coffee which is made using roasted coffee beans and ginger. An important aspect of Ababda culture is dance, the two most known dances among the Ababda are the Shakreeb and Hosheeb dances. During Shakreeb, men form a line with one of them playing the Tanbura while 2 others dance opposite the line, they compete and try to out-jump eachother, while women and other spectators announce a winner using ululations. Hosheeb is a dance where a group of singing men gather around two other men who are facing each other while holding their sword and shield high and shaking their sword using their wrist to the rhythm of the men in the line singing, stamping and clapping. The shields used in Hosheeb are usually made of elephant or giraffe hide. Terbal, Housiet or Maggad are other names for Hosheeb, while Beebob is another name for Shakreeb. [12][6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Murray, G. W. (1935). Sons Of Ishmael.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Murray, G. W. (July 1923). "The Ababda". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 53: 417. doi:10.2307/2843579.
  3. ^ Olson, James Stuart (1996). The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-313-27918-8.
  4. ^ "The Ababda Tribe in Egypt: On the desert that suffocates its residents". Nawaat. 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  5. ^ Murray, G. W (1935). Sons Of Ishmael. p. 303. ISBN 9781645251705. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  6. ^ a b c Barnard, Hans; Wendrich, Willeke, eds. (2008-12-31). The Archaeology of Mobility: Old World and New World Nomadism. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctvdjrq8t. ISBN 978-1-938770-38-8.
  7. ^ Olson, James Stuart (1996). The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-313-27918-8.
  8. ^ Paul, Andrew (1954). A History of the Beja Tribes of the Sudan. London: Frank Cass and Company, Ltd. p. 143. ISBN 0714617105. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  9. ^ Abdel-Qadr, Mustafa; Wendrich, Willeke; Kosc, Zbigniew; Barnard, Hans (2012). "Giving a Voice to the Ababda". The History of the Peoples of the Eastern Desert (History / Middle East / Egypt, Social Science / Archaeology, Social Science / Sociology / General, Desert people -- Congresses -- History -- Egypt -- Eastern Desert -- Antiquities, Eastern Desert (Egypt) -- Congresses -- Antiquities -- Antiquities, Roman, Excavations (Archaeology) -- Congresses -- Egypt -- Eastern Desert). Los Angeles: The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. pp. 399–418. ISBN 978-1-931745-96-3.
  10. ^ Sandars, G. E. R. (1935). "The Amarar". Sudan Notes and Records. 18 (2): 195–220. ISSN 0375-2984.
  11. ^ Stokes, Jamie, ed. (2009). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East. New York: Infobase Publishing, Inc. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-8160-7158-6.
  12. ^ a b c Klunzinger, C. B (1878). Upper Egypt : its people and its products : a descriptive account of the manners, customs, superstitions and occupations of the people of the Nile Valley, the desert and the Red Sea coast, with sketches of the natural history and geology. p. 251. ISBN 9780404158668. The Bisharin and Ababdeh are very closely related, and along with some other races dwelling farther to the south are classed together as "Bedya". {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  13. ^ Hartmann, Robert (1863). Reise des freiherrn Adalbert von Barnim durch Nord-Ost-Afrika in den jahren 1859 und 1860 (in German). pp. 229–230. ISBN 9781275951358. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  14. ^ de Jong, Rudolf (2002). "Notes on the dialect of the ʿAbābda". In Arnold, Werner; Bobzin, Hartmut (eds.). "Sprich doch mit deinen Knechten aramäisch, wir verstehen es!": 60 Beiträge zur Semitistik: Festschrift für Otto Jastrwo zum 60. Geburtstag. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 337–360. ISBN 978-3447044912.
  15. ^ Shillington, Kevin, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of African history. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 978-1-57958-245-6.
  16. ^ Moore-Harell, Alice (2014). Egypts African Empire: Samuel Baker, Charles Gordon and the Creation of Equatoria. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-84519-641-7.
  17. ^ de Jong, Rudolf (2002). "Notes on the dialect of the ʿAbābda". In Arnold, Werner; Bobzin, Hartmut (eds.). "Sprich doch mit deinen Knechten aramäisch, wir verstehen es!": 60 Beiträge zur Semitistik: Festschrift für Otto Jastrow zum 60. Geburtstag. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 356–358. ISBN 978-3447044912.
  18. ^ von Kremer, Alfred (1863). Aegypten: Forschungen über Land und Volk während eines zehnjährigen Aufenthalts. Vol. 1. Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus. pp. 126, 131–132.
  19. ^ Gerhards, Gabriel (2023). "Präarabische Sprachen der Ja'aliyin und Ababde in der europäischen Literatur des 19. Jahrhunderts". Der Antike Sudan. 34: 135–138.
  20. ^ Burckhardt, John Lewis (1819). Travels in Nubia. London: John Murray. p. 149.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.