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09 August 2015

Goat herder near Tabuk – record by Viv Wilson

The people of Saudi Arabia are descended from tribes of nomadic sheep, goat and camel herders and maintain many of the traditions of their past. Among nomads there is a dichotomy as well as a status differential between those who herd sheep and goats and those who herd camels. Because sheep and goats are more demanding in their need for water and thus more limited in their migrations, their herders migrate shorter distances and have greater contact with the oasis population. Camels, on the other hand, can endure much longer periods without water, and camel herders are thereby able to range much more widely than other pastoralists. Camel-herding tribes were usually the most powerful militarily and had more status than other herders.
Goat herder