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157 14 The Bedouin Tribes One cannot live in Iraq without being conscious all the time of the tribes. Almost the whole population outside the cities is subject to the tribal system . Someone who has lived in the country the major part of his life, and who knew the tribal ramifications, has stated that seven-eighths of the country is still tribal. Not a few who live in the cities still belong to a tribe, either as tribesmen or tribal leaders. Once in a while one hears a city-bred Arab boastingly say that he has a certain number of men belonging to him who will do his bidding. “Tribal,” of course, is more comprehensive than “Bedouin.” The tribes have always interested me, especially the Bedouin tribes, with whom a certain glamour is associated. I had not only read much about them, but while in Baghdad I constantly came in contact with them. I saw the Bedouin in the bazaars, on the street, in the government offices, and in Parliament. In our school, too, we had the children of many of the tribal leaders. These sheikhs called on us not only on business pertaining to their sons, but they came also to our public functions and occasionally were invited to tea when they were in the city. Their sons who were with us were usually more of a problem than other boys, for the life confined to walls, and to the ringing of bells and the attending of classes was the very opposite to the free and open life of the desert to which they were accustomed. Every stage in tribal development can be found in Iraq. There are the Bedouin tribes who are pure nomads, tending camels, sheep, goats, and horses; the cultivator tribes near the rivers and in the uplands; and the semisettled, seminomadic tribes—a blend of Cain and Abel—half-agriculturist , half-herdsmen. The tribal leaders, whether Bedouin sheikhs or 158 • Living in Romantic Baghdad big landlords, do not always live anymore with the tribesmen, or fallahin. Not a few have two establishments, one with the tribes and the other in the city. A paramount sheikh like that of the Shammar lives most of the time in a tent with the tribes, but has also a house at Shergat, at Mosul, and at Baghdad. Looking forward to visiting a Bedouin sheikh in his tents, we were given that privilege a year or two after our arrival in Baghdad. It was arranged by a Syrian doctor of Kadhimain whom we had learned to know well and who was a personal friend of the sheikh. The plan was that a small party should spend the day with the tribe as guests of the sheikh, the doctor himself going along to conduct the party. The tribe we visited was the Bani Tamim, now practically a settled tribe, not far from Kadhimain, near Agar Quf, a ziggurat or temple mound, which in its ruined state still stands over two hundred feet above the level of the plain and where excavations were recently made revealing a Kassite city. The sheikh and his tribesmen are Shiah Muslims. They live summer and winter out in the open plain in black tents, though the sheikh has now also a house in the city. Driving over a desert waste, we suddenly and unexpectedly came upon these black tents surrounded by flocks of sheep and goats, and by growing fields of grain in a well-irrigated area. In this unlikely spot we found charming courtesy awaiting us. We were saluted with the dignity of the true Arab and welcomed with the hospitality native to the tent. Sheikh Hassan Suheil with his three brothers received us in his large, airy guest tent, which was in readiness for the expected guests.1 Along one side of the tent mattresses were laid, which were covered with rugs, taking the place of chairs. On these we sat leaning against the stiffly stuffed cushions which we could adjust at will; I cannot say that we were very comfortable; no Westerner ever is, sitting for hours on the floor. I was readjusting my cushions and my position all the time. To the sides . I had one of the two Suhail boys as a student at the American School for Boys, where they lived as boarders. Their family had the Buick agency in Iraq, its shiny cars exhibited in an elegant showroom on the main street of Baghdad...

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