Nadav Samin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164441
- eISBN:
- 9781400873852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164441.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines marriage patterns in Arabian history and how knowledge of these patterns became a key element of Saudi Arabia's modern genealogical culture. It begins with a review of new ...
More
This chapter examines marriage patterns in Arabian history and how knowledge of these patterns became a key element of Saudi Arabia's modern genealogical culture. It begins with a review of new historical evidence from the central Arabian oasis town of al-Ghāt, which reveals the way marital patterns preserve knowledge about premodern status hierarchies. It then considers Hamad al-Jāsir's use of marital patterns as a tool of lineal authentication, a practice epitomized in his study of a historically maligned Arabian tribe, Bāhila. It also shows how al-Jāsir made use of Arabian marital patterns as a form of ethnographic data that could serve as a basis for rehabilitating the reputation of historically maligned Arabian tribes and advancing a nativist ethical blueprint for modern Saudi society in which tribal and religious values could cohere harmoniously against perceived external threats.Less
This chapter examines marriage patterns in Arabian history and how knowledge of these patterns became a key element of Saudi Arabia's modern genealogical culture. It begins with a review of new historical evidence from the central Arabian oasis town of al-Ghāt, which reveals the way marital patterns preserve knowledge about premodern status hierarchies. It then considers Hamad al-Jāsir's use of marital patterns as a tool of lineal authentication, a practice epitomized in his study of a historically maligned Arabian tribe, Bāhila. It also shows how al-Jāsir made use of Arabian marital patterns as a form of ethnographic data that could serve as a basis for rehabilitating the reputation of historically maligned Arabian tribes and advancing a nativist ethical blueprint for modern Saudi society in which tribal and religious values could cohere harmoniously against perceived external threats.
Nadav Samin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164441
- eISBN:
- 9781400873852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164441.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter investigates the role of race in Saudi narratives of tribal authenticity by focusing on two stories of migration from a common point of origin, the villages and grazing lands south of ...
More
This chapter investigates the role of race in Saudi narratives of tribal authenticity by focusing on two stories of migration from a common point of origin, the villages and grazing lands south of Medina. The parallel migrations are rooted primarily in the collective memories of two kin groups: the Shubūl and the descendants of one Hasan al-Nuʻaymī who are now living in the western Arabian oasis town of al-ʻUlā. After discussing the genealogical politics of al-ʻUlā, the chapter explores how the intense pressure to claim affiliation with historically recognized Arabian tribes plays out in al-ʻUlā. It shows that the people of al-ʻUlā are (ironically) constituted more “tribally” than many bedouin- origin Saudis who assert nominal tribal identities across the kingdom's atomized spaces.Less
This chapter investigates the role of race in Saudi narratives of tribal authenticity by focusing on two stories of migration from a common point of origin, the villages and grazing lands south of Medina. The parallel migrations are rooted primarily in the collective memories of two kin groups: the Shubūl and the descendants of one Hasan al-Nuʻaymī who are now living in the western Arabian oasis town of al-ʻUlā. After discussing the genealogical politics of al-ʻUlā, the chapter explores how the intense pressure to claim affiliation with historically recognized Arabian tribes plays out in al-ʻUlā. It shows that the people of al-ʻUlā are (ironically) constituted more “tribally” than many bedouin- origin Saudis who assert nominal tribal identities across the kingdom's atomized spaces.
