On National Geographic: In one of Egypt's most spiritual places, Bedouins find peace and resilience
Maya Valentine
Photo Editor
based in Washington, DC
An embroidered photograph of Mahmoud Abdo in his home in Al Tarfa Village. His cousin Nora Mohamed embroidered the image.
Zeinab Ibrahim, 27, makes her way back to the village of Al Tarfa before sunset with three other Bedouins after a day's walk across the mountains to feed the village herd. Al Tarfa is among several settlements nestled between the imposing mountains of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. Zeinab, who is preparing to become a bride, asked for a "sparkling red dress from Cairo" to wear at her bachelorette party, a gathering that is referred to simply as henna. "It's much more important than the wedding dress," she says. "Henna is where the fun happens."
Left: Yasmine Oum Mohamed, stands for a portrait in the sparsely populated desert region in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, home to the Bedouins. The mother of five has been involved in a community effort that uses embroidery and poetry as a form of expression. She is from Sheikh Awad, one of the many villages in the Sinai that remain without electricity or running water.
Right: Young Bedouin women wear henna on their hands to celebrate the first day of Eid. Expensive Bedouin gold accessories have been replaced with plastic rings due to the community's economic challenges.
Right: Young Bedouin women wear henna on their hands to celebrate the first day of Eid. Expensive Bedouin gold accessories have been replaced with plastic rings due to the community's economic challenges.
Moussa Algebaly, a member of the Jebeliya tribe, lies under a flower plant after working on his garden in Al Tarfa Village. After years of drought, a major flood occurred in mid-March 2020, providing an agricultural opportunity for the Bedouin community amid the economic shortfall as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A father and son walk over the hill to watch the last moments of sunset. Fathers within the Bedouin community help care for the children when the mothers are off walking the village herd for hours.
In this embroidered photograph, Hajja Oum Mohamed, 53, is seen standing in her garden. Up until the 1990’s, women were prohibited from being seen, even in photographs, by men from other tribes without consent. As part of a community effort that uses embroidery as a form of expression, female Bedouins add embroidery to self-portraits printed on fabric. This way, they control what to reveal or conceal.
Left: Nora Om Aly, from the Al Tarfa Village, uses embroidery on a photograph of her hands.
Right: Yasmine Oum Mohamed used embroidery to enhance this photograph of a centuries-old traditional Bedouin house in Sheikh Awad Village built with rocks from the surrounding mountains.
Right: Yasmine Oum Mohamed used embroidery to enhance this photograph of a centuries-old traditional Bedouin house in Sheikh Awad Village built with rocks from the surrounding mountains.
An embroidered photograph by Nora Oum Jamil of her husband Ashraf and her youngest son Jamil in the living room of their home.
Left: Mohamed Ghonim, 12, adjusts his scarf as he plays with his friends in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. As part of a four-year community effort, original poetry written by males is coupled with photographs. Poetry by Seliman Abdel Rahman Abu Anas. Photo and poem translation by Rehab Eldalil.
We are the Arabs the genuine Bedou'
We carry loyalty and kindness at heart
We walk with all kinds with no hate
We protect our guests and welcome them
No color but all color equally Equals without calculations.
We shake hands to form bonds Our hearts has no doubt but agony
We are the Arabs the genuine Bedou'
We carry loyalty and kindness at heart
We walk with all kinds with no hate
We protect our guests and welcome them
No color but all color equally Equals without calculations.
We shake hands to form bonds Our hearts has no doubt but agony
Oh valley, your love is a home for the soul’s joy
Whenever I see you my heart grows
I come to you in longing full of pains
My soul returns to me as I approach your grounds
Right: A woman stands against the wind as she waits for her turn to enter a local community clinic. As part of a community effort, original poetry written by males is coupled with photographs. Poetry by Seliman Abdel Rahman Abu Anas. Photo and poem translation by Rehab Eldalil.
Whenever I see you my heart grows
I come to you in longing full of pains
My soul returns to me as I approach your grounds
Right: A woman stands against the wind as she waits for her turn to enter a local community clinic. As part of a community effort, original poetry written by males is coupled with photographs. Poetry by Seliman Abdel Rahman Abu Anas. Photo and poem translation by Rehab Eldalil.
Children fly kites on a hill looking over Al Tarfa Village in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt in April 2021.
Left: Youssef Ateyya stands for a portrait in his family’s garden in Gharba Valley. He collects khodary leaves to grind and sell to merchants and customers.
Right: Concrete apartment buildings stand empty in St. Katherine. The government intended the structures to house Bedouin locals and workers coming from across the country, but they disregarded environmental laws and Bedouin culture during construction.
Right: Concrete apartment buildings stand empty in St. Katherine. The government intended the structures to house Bedouin locals and workers coming from across the country, but they disregarded environmental laws and Bedouin culture during construction.
Left: A photograph of a flower sprouting from dry land embroidered by Om Anas from Al Tarfa Village, St. Katherine, South Sinai, Egypt.
Right: A photograph of Nadia Mohamed embroidered by her and her cousin Mariam Ibrahim from Al Tarfa Village.
Right: A photograph of Nadia Mohamed embroidered by her and her cousin Mariam Ibrahim from Al Tarfa Village.
An embroidered photograph of Jebel Al Banat, a local mountain, by Yasmine Oum Mohamed from Sheikh Awad Village. Legend says that three girls jumped off the summit instead of going through with arranged marriages.
From left, Nora Mohamed, Nadia Mohamed, Hoda Mohamed, and Mariam Ibrahim stand on a hill in front of the mountains of South Sinai, Egypt in February, 2021. Every day, the women of Al Tarfa Village walk in a group of four from sunrise to sunset leading a herd of sheep and goats. As the animals feed on wild plants, the women talk, share concerns, ask for advice, and learn from one another.
Written & Photographed by Rehab Eldalil
Photo Edited by Maya Valentine
SINAI PENINSULA, EGYPT | Driving on the narrow road toward the imposing mountains of the Sinai Peninsula, the wind is cold, but the sun is warm and clean air rushes into my lungs. I take out my driver’s license in preparation for the upcoming military checkpoint. “Where are you heading?” comes the usual question. “St. Katherine,” I respond, referring to the St. Katherine Protectorate, an Egyptian national park that is home to the Bedouins. The officer looks skeptical. I can almost hear his thoughts, which I presume to be along the lines of this: Bedouin women don’t drive, and they don’t wear pants.
I first came to this sparsely populated desert region, situated between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, 15 years ago. I was a teenager running away from Cairo, longing for something I couldn’t comprehend. I didn’t know then about my Bedouin ancestry, nor that I would find a home away from home in these mountains. What little I knew about Sinai had come from my father’s stories about when he was stationed here during the war and Israeli occupation in the early 1970s.... Read More
On National Geographic: In one of Egypt's most spiritual places, Bedouins find peace and resilience
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