Beja

Beja, nomadic people grouped into tribes and occupying mountain country between the Red Sea and the Nile and Atbara rivers from the latitude of Aswān southeastward to the Eritrean Plateau—that is, from southeastern Egypt through Sudan and into Eritrea. Numbering about 1.9 million in the early 21st century, the Beja are descended from peoples who have lived in the area since 4000 bce or earlier.

Some of the Beja speak a Cushitic language they call To Bedawi, and some speak Tigre; many also speak Arabic. Many converted to Christianity in the 6th century, but most have been Muslim since the 13th. Most of the Beja prefer to live apart from their neighbours, and many are said to be indifferent to trade and modernization.

Essentially pastoralists, the Beja move over vast distances with their flocks and herds of cattle and camels on whose produce—milk, butter, and meat—they subsist almost entirely.

The Beja trace their ancestry through the father’s line, and their kinship organization resembles that of the Arabs. Authority is vested in the heads of kin groups. Men are permitted under Muslim law to have two or more wives, but only the rich do so. A man is expected to marry his father’s brother’s daughter, and livestock is presented to the bride’s family. Boys are circumcised, and girls are subjected to clitoridectomy. Formal groups based on age are absent.