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Encyclopedia Britannica

ABABDA (the Gebadei of Pliny, probably the Troglodytes of classical writers)

This article appears in Volume V01, Page 5 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: A10-ADA

ABABDA (the Gebadei of Pliny, probably the Troglodytes of classical writers) , a

nomad

NOMAD (Gr. voµas, voµabes, wandering)

tribe of African " Arabs " of Hamitic origin. They extend from the Nile at Assuan to the Red Sea, and reach northward to the Kena-Kosseir road, thus occupying the southern border of Egypt east of the Nile. They

call

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

them-selves " sons of the Jinns." With some of the clans of the Bisharin (q.v.) and possibly the Hadendoa (q.v.) they represent the Blemmyes of classic geographers, and their location to-day is almost identical with that assigned them in Roman times. They were constantly at war with the Romans, who at last subsidized them. In the middle ages they were known as Beja (q.v.), and convoyed pilgrims from the Nile valley to Aidhab, the port of embarkation for Jedda. From time immemorial they have acted as guides to caravans through the Nubian desert and up the Nile valley as far as Sennar. To-day many of them are employed in the telegraph service across the Arabian desert. They inter-married with the Nuba, and settled in small colonies at Shendi and elsewhere long before the Egyptian invasion (A.D. 1820-1822). They are still great trade carriers, and visit very distant districts. The Ababda of Egypt, numbering some 3o,00o, are governed by an hereditary "

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

." Although nominally a vassal of the Khedive he pays no tribute. Indeed he is paid a subsidy, a portion of the road-dues, in return for his safeguarding travellers from Bedouin robbers. The sub-sheikhs are directly responsible to him. The Ababda of

Nubia

NUBIA

, reported by Joseph von Russegger, who visited the country in 1836, to number some 40,000, have since diminished, having probably amalgamated with the Bisharin, their hereditary enemies when they were themselves a powerful nation. The Ababda generally speak Arabic (mingled with Barabra [Nubian] words), the result of their long-continued contact with Egypt; but the southern and south-eastern portion of the tribe in many cases still retain their Beja dialect, To-Bedawiet. Those of Kosseir will not speak this before strangers, as they believe that to reveal the mysterious dialect would bring ruin on them. Those nearest the Nile have much fellah blood in them. As a tribe they claim an Arab origin, apparently throughtheir sheikhs. They have adopted the dress and habits of the fellahin, unlike their kinsmen the Bisharin and Hadendoa, who go practically naked. They are neither so fierce nor of so fine a physique as these latter. They are lithe and well built, but, small: the average height is little more than 5 ft., except in the sheikh clan, who are obviously of Arab origin. Their complexion is more red than black, their features angular, noses straight and

hair

HAIR (a word common to Teutonic languages)

luxuriant. They

bear

the character of being treacherous and faithless, being bound by no oath, but they appear to be honest in money matters and hospitable, and, however poor, never beg. Formerly very poor, the Ababda became wealthy of ter the British occupation of Egypt. Their

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

settlements are in

Nubia

NUBIA

, where they live in villages and employ themselves in agriculture. Others of them fish in the Red Sea and then hawk the salt fish in the interior. Others are pedlars, while charcoal burning,

wood

-gathering and trading in gums and drugs, especially in senna leaves, occupy many. Unlike the true Arab, the Ababda do not live in tents, but build huts with hurdles and mats, or live in natural caves, as did their ancestors in classic times. They have few horses, using the camel as beast of burden or their "

mount

MOUNT, WILLIAM SIDNEY (1807-1868)

" in war. They live chiefly on milk and durra, the latter eaten either raw or roasted. They are very superstitious, believing, for example, that evil would overtake a family if a girl member should, after her

marriage

MARRIAGE

, ever set eyes on her mother: hence the Ababda husband has to make his home far from his wife's

village

VILLAGE

. In the Mandist troubles (18821898) many " friendlies " were recruited from the tribe.
For their earlier history see BEJA; see also BISHARIN, HADENDOA, KABBABISH; and the following authorities:Sir F. R. Win-gate, Mandism and the Egyptian Sudan (Loud. 1891) ; Giuseppe Sergi, Africa: Antropologia delta Stirpe Cmitica (Turin, 1897) ; A. H. Keane, Ethnology of Egyptian Sudan (Loud. 1884); Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, edited by Count Gleichen (Lond. 1905) ; Joseph von Russegger, Die Reisen in Afrika (Stuttgart, 1841-185o). (T. A. J.)

End of Article: ABABDA (the Gebadei of Pliny, probably the Troglodytes of classical writers)

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