The Bedouin Woman in the Writings of Western Travelers

This research explores the depiction of Bedouin women in Iraq and Arabia by Western travellers in the period between the sixteenth and the twentieth centuries. The author focuses on how these Western travellers to the region recorded the appearance, life habits, traditions, values and domestic and tribal roles performed by women. Special attention is given to the tribal political and wartime functions women carried out with the focus on the activities in the political and military life of the tribe. It presents images from the social and emotional life of the Bedouin girl, her role in marriage and what it represented for her, pregnancy and motherhood and her role in raising and looking after children. 

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This research explores the depiction of Bedouin women in Iraq and Arabia by Western travellers in the period between the sixteenth and the twentieth centuries. The author focuses on how these Western travellers to the region recorded the appearance, life habits, traditions, values and domestic and tribal roles performed by women. Special attention is given to the tribal political and wartime functions women carried out with the focus on the activities in the political and military life of the tribe. It presents images from the social and emotional life of the Bedouin girl, her role in marriage and what it represented for her, pregnancy and motherhood and her role in raising and looking after children. 

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