67
Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia
Seen by a Diplomat’s Spouse
strength of her son.
Centuries have elapsed and empires have vanished
but nothing has changed deep inside the desert of the
Arabian Peninsula, except that the tribes have adopted
the new forms of movement and wandering according to
the cycles of nature. Europeans have rarely penetrated in
those regions. For them, the life of the desert dwellers was
mysterious and incomprehensible. Such life, however,
has continued, being governed as it was, by the laws of
the forefathers and the traditions of the ancestors, where
everything was simple and clear.
The nomadic tribes, who consider themselves
the aristocrats of the desert, consist of moieties and
subdivisions, while the latter consist of families. A moiety
is a self-contained unit of relatives that are linked by blood
relations. But this is not an exclusive unit. Members from
other tribes may be included through fraternization and
alliances. Individuals would call one another by the term
“brother”, as though they belonged to the same father and
mother. Disputes, enmities and hatred were prohibited
among them, as such could lead to the spilling of blood
and the killing of souls, which in turn would give rise to
reprisals and the killing of the killer in an endless cycle of
vengeance and counter-vengeance. A moiety would have
several tents, in each of which there live a family. Each
tent would be divided into two parts, the one belonging
to females being larger and is used for storing mattresses,
rugs, foodstuffs and other domestic accessories. In the
tents, the young children gather together during the cold
weather and food is cooked for the whole family. The
68
Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia
Seen by a Diplomat’s
Spouse
other, smaller, part is designated for the relaxation of men
and the reception of guests. Females were not allowed in
this part, with the exception of veiled female servants.
Children occupied a special position in the family. The
bedouin method of education of the young generation is
worth talking bout. In my opinion, it can be taken as a
positive example to be emulated by the other part of the
world, provided there is a similar desert milieu that is
isolated and specially kept for children.
The mother was usually the one in charge of education,
as the father would have to spend a long part of his time
away from his children. Children would learn how to
behave from their mothers or, otherwise, mostly through
example and emulation of elders, not through violence
and compulsion. Somehow, and ever since the first year,
when starting to walk, children are left alone for a long
while. They would eat from the large, common, plate. In
case they fall down and start crying they would receive
no sympathy from their mother, who would insinuate to
them that it is a shame for men to cry. Hence, by the time
children are four years old, they stop shedding tears for
cause or for no cause. Children did not receive physical
punishment; but in case they commit something wrong
they would be gently reprimanded. Thus since early
childhood (when children are two or three years old),
when they are able to go to the men’s part of the tent, their
behavior would be under the scrutiny of the strangers and
their reputation in the future would be established on the
basis of their behavior and conduct. Thus, adults would
observe their behavior and store it in their strong memory.