In the Sinai desert are to be found Bedouin tribes. Their nomadic practices mirror many of those practised by the Israelites when they wandered through the wilderness. Apparently Bedouin tribes still observe the following practices:
- Slaughtering a goat for the spring sacrifice and smearing its blood as protection
- Eating unleavened bread baked quickly on open coals
- Celebrating an autumn festival that includes living in the desert in booths made of palm trees
It was and continues to be common for nomadic Sinai tribes to seek pasturaga for their flocks in Egypt during years of drought. Ze’ev Meshel notes an ancient Egyptian document that records the permission given to nomads from Edom to enter the Nile Delta area during a drought year around 1200 BCE. In return for being allowed to encamp at the edge of irrigation channels and elementary food provisions the nomads would provide cheap manpower.
Meshel speaks of his personal acquaintance with Bedouins and recalls their resourcefulness in finding water in the desert, observing that some are even able to strike rocks to get water, instead of digging, as Moses himself did on one famous occasion (Num 20:11).
Exodus 16 tells how God provided quails for the people to eat in the desert. Meshel notes that in October thousands of quails reach the beaches of northern Sinai after crossing the Mediterranean Sea. He provides a photo the nets used by Bedouins to capture some of the quail for food.
The Bedouin make an annual pilgrimage (Zu’ara) to the wilderness tombs of their tribal sheikhs and enjoy festivities there. Meshel suggests that the Israelites may have been alluding to a known nomadic custom like this when God, through Moses, told Pharaoh, “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness” (Ex 5:1).
Meshel witnessed a Bedouin spring ritual (Rabi’ah) at ‘Ain Fortaga in Sinai, at the time when herds are taken into the mountains for seasonal pasturage. The Bedouin sacrificed a goat and then smeared its blood on camels’ necks and their children’s foreheads, expressing their desire for health, abundance and good fortune. He compares this with the Passover sacrifice which also involved smearing blood (Ex 12:22-23). The contexts and meanings of these sacrifices are very different, but the Bedouin practice does add weight to the plausibility of the biblical account.
The Bedouin call unleavened bread libeh (cf. Jewish matzah) and bake this on the burning coals of an open fire two to three times a day, using a quick mixture of flour, water, a pinch of salt and no leavening.
It is also common for Bedouin to construct temporary booths made from date palms. Posts are made from the trunks and walls and roofs from the fronds. Date fibre is used to make ropes to fasten the parts of the booth. The Bedouin live in such booths for but a few weeks, at the end of summer and during early autumn near oases. During autumn nights the Bedouin Date Festival celebrates, in addition to the harvest of dates, the in-gathering of the previously scattered tribes at this location.
Source: Ze’ev Meshel, “Wilderness Wanderings” in Biblical Archaelogy Review 34/4 (July/August 2008) 32-39
Posted August 26, 2008
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