After an interregnum of eight years Constantius II ruled as archbishop
from 1804 to 1859, and was succeeded by Cyrillus III (1859-67). The
next archbishop, Callistratus (1867-85), was the first prelate who
returned to the convent in 1872, but his installation was attended by
difficulties. His successor, Porphyrius, fell out with the patriarch
of Alexandria, who caused him to be expelled from Cairo. He was in
residence at the convent in the winter of 1905-6.
Modern accounts give a further insight into the temper of the men of
the desert.
The pilgrims of the Middle Ages generally dreaded the Bedawyn who were
apt to swoop down on them, clamouring for dues, as they passed from
the territory of one tribe into that of another, but we hear of few
excesses committed by them. Burckhardt, Prof. Palmer and Sir Richard
Burton gave an account of the different tribes.
The Bedawyn of southern Sinai are collectively known as Towarah from
Towa, Arabic for mountain, as distinct from the Tiyaha, or Bedawyn of
the Plain and the tribes who hold the northern districts.
Among the Towarah Prof. Palmer included (1) the Sawaliheh, who are
divided into three clans or families, of which each has its sheykh, so
that there are three sheykhs to each tribe. In 1870 the sheykhs of the
Sawaliheh were Fatir, Kadir Ibn Simhan and Abu Farh, of whom Fatir was
_agyd_ or commander-in-chief of all the military operations undertaken
by the Towarah generally. Burton spoke of the Salihi (_i.e._ Sawaliheh
or Benu Saleh) as the principal tribe of the Sinaitic Bedawyn.
The next tribe, included among the Towarah, were (2) the Auled Said,
who include several families. The sheykhs in 1870 were Hasan Ibn ’Amir
and Embarek ed Dheiri.[308]
The next tribe mentioned were (3) the Garrasheh, who are principally
found in the neighbourhood of Wadi Feiran. Their chief sheykh, Ibn
Nasir, was made responsible to the Egyptian government for the good
conduct of the Towarah. He had died when the expedition returned to
England. Husein Abu Ridhwan was the only remaining sheykh in 1870,
Mansur Ibn Gormah also having recently died.
Another tribe were (4) the Aleyat (or Aliki), whose district was the
neighbourhood of the (western) Wadi Nasb. Their sheykhs were Suleiman
Ibn Emdakkhal, Juma Abu Shawish, and Amdan Abu Ukri. This tribe was
described as not numerous by Prof. Palmer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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