It didn't occur to me that after all our talk about women wearing headscarves, men still wear them too! I did some research on Bedouin Culture and found out that in Arabic, Bed'u means "one who lives out in the open, in the desert."
Many Bedouin communities still exist, including in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Israel, and North Africa, like Alex mentioned. The Bedouin community are excellent animal farmers and know the "secrets of the desert," which include finding water and surviving in the hot terrain.
For headwear, the men wear a smagg (red white draped head cover) or aymemma (white head cover). For an outfit, the men wear the tunic, which is called a djellabaya.
Bedouins are known as "ideal Arabs" because of their herding lifestyle and tradition of oral poetry. Surprisingly, 5% of Bedouins still live like the older Bedouin generation, and continue the activities of raiding, hunting, and living in camel and goat-haired tents.
Some Bedouins do graduate from high school and college. Of course, the rates are extremely low, but I'm still surprised at this fact because I thought achieving an education was not part of their lifestyle.
The lifestyle has become unpopular, which I certainly understand. Personally, I wouldn't want to be a nomad traveling around the Sahara Desert, for the lifestyle can be very dangerous and comes with a strong emphasis on survival skills. However, I do admire the Bedouin's for their interest in their surroundings and their their open mindset. I didn't realize that Bedouins still exist today; I only thought of them as present during Muhammad's time.
Check out some Bedouin Links:
http://www.bedawi.com/Bedouin_Culture_EN.html
I didn't even think about this when we were in class! I personally wouldn't want to live that life, so I understand why it's unpopular. Thanks for posting pictures for reference! It really helped me to put names to certain things I didn't know about.
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