The clans of the Beni ʻAṭijje possess the territory from the aš-Šera range in the north to the station of Ḫašm Ṣanaʻ in the south and from the mountains of al-Ǧalad, or al-Ǧeles, in the west to the table mountains bordering the Pilgrim Route in the east. The great chief is of the clan of the ʻAṭjât, after whom the whole tribe is really named, although some clans, such as the Sbût, for example, are of a different origin. They assert that they have dwelt from time immemorial in the various halting places by the Pilgrim Route and that these are their property, although today they are nomads. Concerning the various families, their connections, property, and traditions, I had detailed records in the notebook which disappeared when we were attacked and robbed by the Beli.[1] I should have liked to replace what was lost, but on the journey from Wâdi al-Ǧizel to Tebûk we did not meet with the Beni ʻAṭijje, and at Tebûk I learnt only what I have here reproduced.
On Thursday, July 7, 1910, I spent the whole day drawing maps of the environs of Tebûk in accordance with statements made by various Bedouins who had resided for some time in the settlement. My companions overhauled the baggage. Ǧwâd made enquiries in the village as to whether some member of the Beni ʻAṭijje had not arrived from the north, or whether anybody would be going in that direction, but he discovered that telegraphic news had arrived from the station of al-Mdawwara concerning a great band of Šammar raiders which had crossed the railway line to the south of al-Mdawwara and was making its way to the southwest. As the Šammar are the enemies of the Beni ʻAṭijje, it was certain that they were looking for the camps and flocks of the latter. Accordingly it was not to be expected that any ʻAṭiwi would in the next few days proceed from the northwest to the southeast, or vice versa.
Neither the mudîr nor Sâlem visited us in the infirmary. The gendarme Ḫalîl came to me with the request that I protect him from the mudîr, who had threatened to have him imprisoned for having left Tebûk with me without his consent. He had referred to the telegraphic order received from the commander of the gendarmes at Damascus, in accordance with which I was to be strictly watched and not allowed to speak with the Bedouins, because I was to be permitted to
- ↑ See above, pp. 210—211.
