Sheepherders’ encampment – 1920s – Syria

From the Varliette collection of photographs at the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris comes this photo taken between 1920 and 1934 of a Bedouin sheep herders’ encampment near Palmyra in Syria, titled “Campement de Bedouins Moutonniers”. Sheep herding tribes present in this area and at that time include the ‘Umur, the Fawa’irah, the Lhayb, and other smaller tribes. They were called in Arabic shawayah, or “people of the sheep” (shaat in Arabic), in contrast to the jammaalah tribes (those of the “people of the camel” – jamal in Arabic); and the baqqarah tribes (those of the “people of the cow” – baqar in Arabic).