Once a prized source of protein among Bedouin tribes, the Arabian spiny-tailed lizard—known locally as ḍabb or dhab—is finding new attention as a window into folk traditions, desert ecology, and sustainability in Saudi Arabia. Like locusts eaten by Jews in Egypt and Yemen (get the recipe here), lizard tails are delighting Saudi Arabians as news of this dish circles social media. The roots of lizard tails are rooted in survival, like Americans who eat prairie oysters, Gazans eating whales that swim close to shore, or pickled pigs’ feet were for slaves in the Caribbean.

In the heart of the Arabian Peninsula, long before farms and refrigeration, desert communities relied on their surroundings to survive. Among the most unusual yet enduring examples of this resilience is the tradition of eating the spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia), a reptile that thrives in the arid sands of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE. Known in Arabic as ḍabb or dhab, the creature has been hunted, roasted, and stewed for generations by Bedouins who considered it a gift from the desert.

In many tribes, dhab stew was seen not as an exotic but as essential—a reliable protein source that could be found during long migrations. Historical accounts from travelers and early British explorers describe entire desert feasts centered on lizard meat, cooked slowly over open fires and served with flatbread. The meat, they wrote, was “white, mild, and a little like chicken.”

The Arabian spiny-tailed lizard is herbivorous, feeding on desert grasses, making it clean and permissible (halal) to many desert dwellers. The Prophet Muhammad reportedly neither ate nor forbade the consumption of ḍabb, leading Islamic scholars to conclude that while it’s not a delicacy for all, it is permissible—especially in times of need. Bedouins respected the animal for its toughness and spiritual symbolism: surviving where few other creatures could. To eat it was to honor the desert’s wisdom.

Traditionally, the lizard was hunted using snares or chased into burrows, then roasted whole or cut into chunks for dhab stew—a mix of meat, desert herbs, salt, and occasionally camel milk. The dish embodied the values of resourcefulness, adaptation, and gratitude—hallmarks of Arabian desert culture that began in what is known as Saudi Arabia today.

From a sustainability perspective, the lizard stew tradition is more than a curiosity—it’s a reflection of a closed-loop ecosystem. Bedouins hunted only what was needed, never to excess. The spiny-tailed lizard helped maintain insect and grass balance in the fragile desert biome. Understanding how traditional diets aligned with natural cycles offers modern lessons for food security in the Gulf.

Today, as Saudi Arabia reexamines its cultural identity through Vision 2030, heritage foods like dhab are being discussed not just as relics but as pathways to sustainable living. Perhaps this dhab will be a featured dish at one of the Saudi’s so-called sustainable resorts.

How do you hunt the reptiles:  “There are several ways to hunt the dabb lizard, one is to let it sink in water by pouring water into the hole and forcing it to come out, another way is by chasing it and hunting it especially if it is far from the hole, the other way of hunting it is to use a firearm,’’ said Saudi lizard hunter Majed al-Matrudi to Al Arabiya News.

This blog woldbirder provides photos and a recipe from Jordan:

Recipe for Dhub Mansaf  (recipe from eastern Jordan)

2 whole dhubs

½ kilo rice

5 pieces Arabic bread (Khubz mashrouh)

¼ kilo laban or yoghurt

100 g ghee

50 g pine nuts

Salt, pepper, allspice, cardamom

Serves 2 to 3.

Method: Catch two adult, well-grown dhubs, skin them and remove organs (except liver). Cut the dhubs into small pieces, wash them and cook in a small amount of water together with spices until the meat is half done. Add the laban and simmer until tender. Add the browned ghee, reserving a small quantity to brown the pine nuts. Meanwhile in another saucepan cook the rice. Keeping some bread aside to dip, break open the rest over a large tray, leaving an edging around the rim.  Spread more of the laban sauce over this and pile with rice. Arrange the pieces of dhub on top of the rice. Sprinkle the entire plate of rice and dhub, with browned pine nuts.

Eat with right hand.

Like the problematic hunting of birds and owls in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, modernization has made lizard hunting largely symbolic. They are a protected animal in the UAE but are still reportedly eaten in Jordan.

The ḍahb population is under pressure from habitat loss, 4×4 vehicle use, and over-hunting. Conservationists now warn that without regulation, this ancient species could disappear from Saudi sands. The Saudi Wildlife Authority has begun monitoring populations and promoting education to protect the reptile’s role in the desert ecosystem. Since there is no free press in Saudi Arabia, your guess on how that’s going is as good as mine.

Related Reads on Sustainable food:

The Birth of Bread in Jordan and Israel

The Sacred Ritual of Arabic Coffee

Saudi Vision 2030 and the Revival of Folk Culture

Sustainable Food From Desert Landscapes

UAE Green Finance and Cultural Sustainability

Eco-Tourism and Bedouin Heritage

By exploring forgotten folk dishes like lizard stew, Green Prophet continues to connect the dots between culture, ecology, and the future of sustainable living in the Middle East.

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Saudi artist Ahmed Mater talks about his work involving magnetism, mirage and Mecca. Ahmed Mater: Chronicles is taking place at Christie’s headquarters located in the heart of St. James’s, London, from July 17 to August 22.

Curated by Dr. Ridha Moumni, Chairman, Christie’s Middle East and Africa and organised thematically, the exhibition will trace Ahmed Mater’s expansive career, from his first artistic experiments to his latest projects.

As an acclaimed multimedia artist working across mediums including photography, videos, paintings, sculptures and installations, the exhibition will illustrate Mater’s unique visual reflections on the transformations across the social and spiritual landscapes of Saudi Arabia, and the Arab World.

Ahmed Mater: Chronicles will trace his artistic genesis from experimental forays during medical school, his formative years in the Al-Meftaha Arts Village, and his involvement in enriching the Kingdom’s contemporary art scene with Edge of Arabia, to the laboratory of ideas and collaborations that his current studio represents.

The Christie exhibition will highlight Mater’s seminal works, which include early-career abstract paintings, the Illumination series, the celebrated Desert of Pharan photography project (featured below) and will also unveil his most recent work, including Magnetism Book.

Drawing on themes of mutation, modernisation, land, and faith, the artworks included in Ahmed Mater: Chronicles will be on loan from prestigious institutions in the Middle East, from important private collections, and from the artist’s studio.

Some of his themes involve nomadism, desert dwellings and the shifting sands of Saudi Arabia. The exhibit will also feature Mater’s upcoming AlUla exhibition.

::Ahmad Mater

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We pulled up into a barren plot of land that stretched for miles. I, and the rest of my Onward friends in my Israel internship program were utterly confused. Where were we? I remember thinking. We were quite literally in the middle of nowhere, just miles of open, dry land, the land of Israel.

Once we got off the bus we were brought into a room with tables and a board where we learned what we were here for. Project Wadi Attir, is a sustainable development organization that aims to farm through Bedouin traditions in an eco way. Fostered by The Sustainability Laboratory, the goal of this project and the other projects is to integrate sustainable practices of agriculture.

The property is located in the north Negev desert and it desires to bring back original Bedouin traditions like folk medicine that have been long forgotten from the past. Traditional Bedouin culture were nomad Arabs who farmed the land in a sustainable way. This project brings back this method of farming so that farmland is better preserved and taken care of, and this was very clear as we were taken on our tour of the property.

They showed us around the 100-acre land and showed us some of the goats and sheep. The goats are milked by hand only and we even were able to hold one of the goats. They also served us some labneh, which was goat cheese they made on-site. You can make your own labneh with our recipe here.

Hold a goat

“This whole project is to take all the tradition and knowledge the Bedouins had for thousands of years in the desert and try to use it and bring it back with the most advanced technique and technology,” said Mohammed Alnabari, one of the founders of the project.

This project was also inspired to achieve a holistic approach back to a natural way of healing. Similarly to Tavlinsky and Cafe Levinsky crafting their ingredients on site, the project produces its own herbs, dairy products, and vegetables all made sustainably through an ancient Bedouin method of cultivation, and is supposed to provide a more natural way of living.

It is also hopeful to inspire other farmland to adopt this agricultural style in order to preserve the planet and support the Bedouin community and lifestyle. You can also buy their herbs and medicinal plants in the store they have on site.

Although it may seem like this place is all designed to be ancient and hand produced, there are solar fields on site that they use to generate electricity. In addition, the goat milking facility is one of the most advanced in Israel. Each goat has an ID bracelet, which tells them a lot of information like how much milk it yielded, how much time it milked, how old she is, and information on the milk cycle. “It can milk 48 items, goats or sheep at one time,” said Alnabari on the milking process. There are 100 goats and 100 sheep being milked right now on-site, giving about 3 liters of milk and being used to produce traditional Bedouin cheese.

What was so unique about my experience at Project Wadi Attir was that there were little kids there, learning, playing, and just experiencing the culture. When we arrived, the kids were staring at us like deer in the headlights. A group of modern, flashy young adults from America standing in front of tiny children that knew nothing of our lifestyles. I wasn’t able to speak to any of these children (mostly because they didn’t speak English), but it would be so interesting to know what they are thinking and get the perspective from their side.

The children that were at Project Wadi Attir

This Project not only builds a more sustainable Bedouin farm life, but also reestablishes a Bedouin tribe that brings people together from all over the world. As international relations is a complicated subject that is so heavily discussed in the Middle East, these projects are crucial in creating stronger bonds between people because it allows us to look each other in the eye and see different perspectives.

Seeing how other people live is the first step in forming peaceful relations and also grows our intellect just to see how other people live.

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In contrast to eco tourism in other countries in the Middle East, such as Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, there is an extremely active Ecotourism Committee in the Egyptian Tourism Federation, which makes eco tourism in Egypt especially diverse, authentic, and unique. You can find high-end, and low end –- all satisfying experiences based on your budget. We offer some examples below.

Since 1997 Egypt’s Ecotourism Committee, which is the most active of all of the Egyptian Tourism Federation’s committees, holds over 14 meetings a year that include top environmentalists, cabinet ministers, scientists, and ecotourism professionals.

They do important work, including protecting natural areas and cracking down on illegal hunting. The Committee also produces a weekly half-hour program in cooperation with Egyptian satellite television called Misr Ard Al Jamal (Egypt the Land of Beauty) which features Egypt’s protected areas, ecotourism activities, eco-lodges, and indigenous tribes of Egypt’s three deserts.

The passage of a law in 1983 has also led to the declaration of 27 Protected Areas in Egypt that represent most of the habitats and ecosystems in Egypt. But the Committee isn’t willing to stop there – they want to increase the number of Protectorates to 40 by the year 2017. Consider nomad travel insurance when booking a trip to Egypt. To ensure peace of mind while traveling or living abroad, we recommend getting health insurance. SafetyWing’s Essential plan covers travel and medical emergencies with options for adventure sports and electronics theft. Their Complete plan offers comprehensive health coverage with routine healthcare, mental health support, and maternity, anywhere in the world, including in your home country.

So what’s an eco-loving, sustainability-touting tourist to do in Egypt? Here are some great options:

Adrere Amellal Ecolodge

This high-end, off-grid Adrere Amellal Ecolodge in the Siwa Oasis includes 40 rooms constructed out of mud, salt, and palm leaves with traditional Siwan methods, and is located 12 miles away from Siwa, an Egyptian oasis. Today this most isolated settlement is home to a small population of Berbers and one of the world’s most interesting hotels.

There are ancient olive and palm groves nearby, and the traditional cuisine offered at the lodge is prepared with organic herbs and vegetables picked the same day. The entire lodge is telephone (hide your cell phone!) and electricity free, with candles and torches used for lighting.

Low-key sustainability comes with a hefty price-tag unfortunately, starting at about $500 USD a night for a single room. Budget-minded folks are better off heading to Sinai’s beaches of Bir Sweir or Nuweiba, to get an authentic, spiritual desert experience.

Shali Fortress, Tombs of Jabal el Mawta, the Oracle of Amun, the Temple of Um Ubeydah, Cleopatra’s water spring, Fantasy Island, Jabal Dakrour sandbaths, and Bir Wahed – a natural jacuzzi in the desert – are some nearby eco-highlights.

Al Karm Ecolodge

The Al Karm Ecolodge is a Bedouin owned and operated lodge in the St. Katherine Protectorate.

Like Adrere Amellal, it has no electricity but uses solar panels to heat water for the showers, and has sanitary compost toilets. The small hotel has only seven double rooms. We have tried to contact the lodge to see if they have recovered from Covid but we have no updates and find no dates available for rooms online. If you are an eco-tourism researcher, this paper outlines the sustainability efforts put into place while building the Al Karm Ecolodge.

Ras Muhammad National Park

Ras Muhammad National Park: This natural protectorate in southern Sinai is protected by law and has a variety of beautiful natural features for the eco tourist’s viewing pleasure. In addition to its stunning coral reefs which attracts snorkelers and divers, the park has an eel garden and is a great spot to watch migratory birds.

Sinai Bir Sweir Beach Nuweiba/Taba

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Africa is getting its Great Green Wall, meanwhile Saudi Arabia is also suffering from climate change-induced draught and is starting to do something about it by planting more local trees that love the desert. The country is looking to a traditional tree used by the Bedouins to stop desertification. It’s called the saxaul tree and what’s great about it is that like how pine tree seeds open by fire, the saxaul tree seeds open when it’s extra hot and dry. 

Environmental activist Abdullah Abduljabar sees these trees as silver lining for deserts, as reported in Reuters.  And beyond slowing desertification by holding back the sand, the saxaul trees, (known in Arabic as Al-Ghadha or Etsion Parsi in Hebrew), provides firewood, food for animals plus shade and medicine for Bedouins who still live in the wild deserts of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Sinai. 

Our writer Saeb in Jordan wrote in depth here on the wisdom inside Bedouin folk medicine and traditions.

Abduljabar, vice-president of the Al-Ghadha environmental association, will plant 250,000 of these trees in Saudi Arabia as a way to improve environmental stability in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government will provide the funds for the trees.

It’s all part of mangrove reforestation and an ambitious plan to plant 10 billion trees in the next few decades. Back in 2014 we reported how one woman was pioneering the idea of saving mangroves in Saudi Arabia. Give it a read. 

The country also plans to work with other Arab states to plant an additional 40 billion trees across the Middle East, the Reuters report explores: 

“Many Middle Eastern countries are suffering from rising temperatures and longer and more frequent droughts, placing pressure on water supplies and food production.   The saxaul can survive for months without a drop of water and thrives in particularly harsh environments where temperatures can soar to 58 degrees Celsius (136 F).”

“The Gulf is one of the hottest places on earth.  The Unaizah park last year was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest saxaul botanic garden, stretching over 172 sq km (66.41 sq miles).   On a recent visit, an expanse of saxaul trees stretched to the horizon, enlivening the desert as wind blew through their needle-like leaves.  

“The saxaul tree has many qualities, one of the most important ones is that it doesn’t need a lot of water,” said Al-Ghadha association president Majed Alsolaim, as he walked in the park while holding the Guinness certificate in his hands.   “That’s why people in Unaizah have taken care of it (in order for it) to become an environmental symbol for this region.” 

Saxaul trees typically grow one to four metres high and are indigenous to the deserts of Saudi Arabia, especially in places where the sand is thicker. The wood from these trees can be used to make both furniture and glue, and the tree itself has medicinal uses.

Its latin name is Haloxylon persicum, the white saxaul, is a small tree belonging to the family Amaranthaceae. Its range is Western Asia, including Israel, Egypt, Sinai,  Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Oman, UAE, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, to Central Asia.

To sum up, we like the approach Saudi Arabia is taking (they could reverse the destruction seen in this Atlas of the Arab world), but take note: if you cut a tree in the Kingdom: it could land you 10 years in jail. 

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Glow bacteria activated to sniff out nitrogen oxide, a gas emitted from old landmines

Buried landmines left and forgotten from wars and conflict of the past maim women, children and men alike. All sorts of technological solutions have been proposed to clear landmines from the Middle East, and years ago we reported on how Egyptian scientists proposed bacteria to do do just that.  

A solution is badly needed as 20% of the world’s land mines are planted in Egypt, where they have killed or maimed a total of more than 7,000 people in the last 30 years. They are scattered in the western desert and Sinai and pose an enormous impediment to development as well as considerable risks to animal and human safety. In Cambodia they employ an award-winning rat to sniff out landmines: 

Magawa is a Tanzanian-born African giant pouched rat who has been trained by the nonprofit APOPO to sniff out explosives. With careful training, he and his rat colleagues learn to identify land mines and alert their human handlers, so the mines can be safely removed.

A standout landmine sniffer

Even among his skilled cohorts working in Cambodia, Magawa is a standout sniffer: In four years he has helped to clear more than 1.5 million square feet of land – an area about the size of 20 soccer fields. In the process, he has found 39 land mines and 28 items of unexploded ordnance.

Globally about half a million people around the world are suffering from mine-inflicted injuries, and each year an additional 15 to 20,000 more are injured or killed by these devices. More than 100 million such devices are still buried in over 70 countries.

The major technical challenge in clearing minefields is detecting the mines. Where are those menacing objects just under the sand? Maybe trees have grown around them? The technologies used today are not much different from those used in World War II as shown the classic film The English Patient, requiring detection teams to risk life and limb by physically entering the minefields. There is a critical need for an efficient solution for the remote detection of buried landmines and unexploded ordnance.

Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have updated existing research in researching engineered glow bacteria from E.coli to help armies and humanitarians with the task and report their findings in New Biotechnology. A couple of years ago they published similar research in Nature Biotechnology.  There they offer a system combining lasers and bacteria to remotely map the location of buried landmines and unexploded ordnances.

Biosensors activated: Smells like grenade

The system is based on the observation that all landmines leak minute quantities of explosive chemical gas, which accumulate in the soil above them and serve as markers for their presence. The researchers molecularly engineered live bacteria that emit a fluorescent signal when they come into contact with these specific type of gas. This signal can be recorded and quantified from a remote location.

How do they do it? The bacteria are covered in small beads, which are scattered across the surface of a test field in which real antipersonnel landmines were buried. Using a laser-based scanning system, the test field was remotely scanned and the location of the buried landmines was determined. This appear to be the first demonstration of a functional standoff landmine detection system.

“Our field data show that engineered biosensors may be useful in a landmine detection system. For this to be possible, several challenges need to be overcome, such as enhancing the sensitivity and stability of the sensor bacteria, improving scanning speeds to cover large areas, and making the scanning apparatus more compact so it can be used on board a light unmanned aircraft or drone,” said Prof. Shimshon Belkin, from the Hebrew University, who was responsible for genetically engineering the bacterial sensors.

Egyptians diffuse bombs with bacteria

Over in Egypt, the researchers also proposed a biological system for removing landmines by degrading them. By activating the bacteria that will attack the gas emitted from landmines.

Their biological solution involves three stages: detecting the mines, corroding its iron case, and then neutralizing its explosive power.

Aresa Biodetection, a company from from Norway, designed the first phase of the study in March, 2004 by creating a strain of mustard plant called Arabidopsis thaliana that turns red in the presence of nitrogen oxide that leaks from land mines.

Researchers hoped to spray seeds from an airplane with help from the air force.

The next phase of the then proposed idea involved spreading bacteria that will eat away at the iron casings so that the trinitrotoluene (TNT) gas will be released, but Laurel Anne Hill, moderator of the Minds Clearing Landmines, questioned whether Egypt’s land mines have iron casings.

The final stage would entails planting plants such as tobacco or sugar beet that absorbs nitrogen, which the Egyptians claim will finally deactivate the mines.

Landmine detection for the birds?

But Richard Butler, program Managing of Halo Trust which specializes in disarming hazardous war debris told the paper back in 2012 that birds will eat the seeds. Researchers countered by claiming that the area of northern Egypt where they plan to test the technology does not have a lot of birds.

Looking further into the Egyptian idea, it’s not clear whether the solution came to light. But there are loads of others for inspiration, like the mine detection boot. And of course Afghani dreamers like came up with this idea: artistic mine sweepers. 

Over in Egypt, the Bedouin have a creative solution to remember those maimed by mines. Awareness helps bring creative solutions from those who can help. 

______________________

Have a creative landmine detection idea like the one below? Or a company that wants to work with creative teams to deploy your solution in a pilot. Reach out and hopefully we can help you connect to the right folks.

Email Green Prophet’s editor: karin@greenprophet.com

Mine sweepers powered by the wind

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You are at a hotel in Morocco wondering what delights might await you around the corner in Casablanca. Maybe you are going to pass Richard Branson’s eco-hotel in the Atlas mountains and land at a Berber hotel, where a quaint donkey ride will lead you up to your room.

This all makes you feel good because you are in touch with local culture and are having an adventure of a lifetime. 

But if you weren’t at 5 Star Four Seasons Casablanca or Marrakech – what would you know about the local people in Morocco? A video produced by Greenpeace helps show some of what happens as a byproduct to climate change. The deserts are getting even drier. 

Palm trees at the heart of the oasis

This short video above (3.5 minutes) lets you explore the challenges that nomadic Bedouin Moroccans face from disappearing oases.

The desert may look dry but it is very much alive to these people. Every year these nomadic people starting in 1995 noticed less and less water at their wells. Where once they could dig down a couple of yards to create a well now they need to dig about 10 or 15 or more to reach water. This effect is causing not only hardship but their culture to disappear. Invest a few minutes in learning about their plight. 

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The harsh desert climate created all kinds of models for the survival of humans and their livestock – just look to the Nabateans and how they dealt with very low rainfall in the Levant. In the summer when a temperature reaches 122 degrees (50 degree C) finding water resources and preserving food is of particular importance for Bedouins. Searching for grazing and water, Bedouins – nomadic people – move from one place to another with their sheep and goats far from major towns and roads. Dealing with scorching heat, desert nomads applied inherited skills and innovated the new ones.

Making whole animal cheese

Milk and dairy products are essential part of the Bedouin diet, and to prepare cheese Bedouins put milk into messah, a part of the stomach of a young lamb that has to be dried with salt. The cheese is called laban or labne and it’s still eaten widely today in the area. Messah is like rennet for the Bedouin.

“After it gets completely dried up a small part of it is taken and wrapped in clean sheep wool or a piece of textile. It is then put into a bowl of milk using the fingers for a few minutes, and then the milk will begin to coagulated,” said Professor Fawzi Abudanah to Green Prophet.

Abudanah is a professor of Archaeology at Al Hussein Bin Talal University in Maan (in southern Jordan) and as a child he experienced firsthand some of the Bedouin lifestyle. His family still kept and fed animals in the traditional way.

Keeping meat with cheese

The large textile bag in which jameed (hardened laban or labneh cheese) was kept is used for preservation of meat when cooked pieces are placed inside the bag. Due to a high concentration of salt in jameed (a hard dried laban made of ewe’s or goat’s milk) the meat can be protected from rotting for a few days.

Traditional water cooler using an animal hyde

For water cooling, Bedouins use either goat or sheep skin called qirbah, which is first cleaned and then tanned.

“Leather tanning is common among the Bedouins in southern Jordan,” the professor continued, adding that they get the necessary material for this process from the oak trees at Al Hisheh forest, northeast of Petra.

Hygiene is a serious problem for anyone who spent even two days camping, not to mention people who are outdoors for years. Running water, boilers, different kinds of soaps, refrigerators and freezers, skin creams and perfumes of well – known brands don’t exist in the wilderness.

Natural SunIn and hair rinse for weary nomads and travellers

To wash hair, Bedouins make use of a shrub called adhuo or the shnan in Arabic – latin name Anabasis Syriaca as an ash-based soap and the hair goes blond if the washing continues.

However, the shrub should be prepared first: “Shnan should be burned and its ash is then collected and soaked in a pail of water. The liquid is then used for hair washing,” Abudanah underlined, noting that to purify drinking water nomads use flour or alum.

When Bedouins collect water from depressions, ponds and springs a small amount of flour or alum are added to the water in a large basin, after a while the sand and impurities will sink on the bottom.

Bedouin folk medicine by Miriam Aborkeek

Barnooq is another shrub used as a color fixative when wool of sheep has to be dyed for the production of a rug by weaving.

Scorpion immunity for babies! Ancient vaccines in action

In order to boost the immunity of a new born babies, the father collects scorpions, burns and crushes them, and then mixes their charred remains with olive oil. After that the mixture of the olive oil and crushed scorpions are applied on the baby’s body, as Bedouins traditionally believe that it would protect a child against scorpion venom.

The practice is known in other cultures and among indigenous communities where tribesmen give small dose of poison to children in order to improve their immunity and the poison may develop antibodies against stings.

Closing herd wounds with stinging ants

When their animals, sheep, camels and goats have to be operated, a Bedouin treats possible cuts and wounds with desert ants (fire ants?) that are placed on the wound where the stitches would go. Ants stick to the skin and the herder removes their heads, while their body remains closing the wound until they dissolve naturally.

Slow cooking in the ground

Regarding specialty food dishes, they are prepared in so-called Zarb, and that underground cooking isn’t typical for Bedouins from the Wadi Rumm, for instance, but it has been practiced in places as far as New Zealand and the Balkans. It is an old method when food is put on coal and covered for two-three hours. Usually, chicken, goat or sheep meat are cut into equal pieces, marinated, and prepared with vegetables.

For Professor Abudanah, these hacks are part of his heritage and culture, however, some of these old school tricks are not anymore in use due to modernization, tools and new materials.

Read more on the pursuits and woes of Levantine region Bedouin:
Egyptian Bedouin Maimed by Landmines
A Peek Inside the Bedouin Tent
Israel’s Bedouin Go for Solar Energy Power
Barefoot College for Solar Energy in Jordan
See How the Ladies of Lakia Weave Together Tales and Tradition

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The rocky brown soil of the Negev desert suggests an empty environment, but recent excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority have brought to light an ancient mosque from the 7th-8th centuries CE there. It’s one of the earliest known mosques in the world, a surprising find in the area.

Dr. Jon Seligman and Shahar Zur, directors of the excavations for the Israel Antiquities Authority, say,

“A small rural mosque, dated to the 7th to 8th centuries C.E., is a rare finding anywhere in the world, especially in the area north of Be’er Sheva, where no similar building has previously been discovered. We know of large mosques in Jerusalem and Mecca from this period, but we have evidence of an ancient house of prayer here, which apparently served the farmers who lived in the area.

“We found remains of an open-air mosque – a rectangular building with a “Mihrab” – a prayer niche – facing south, towards Mecca. These features are evidence of the purpose for which this building was used, many hundred years ago”.

Also discovered are the remains of a a farm from the end of the Byzantine period (6th – 7th Century C.E.), and a small settlement from the beginning of the Islamic period (7th – 8th Century B.C.). There are stone buildings divided into living and storage spaces, open courtyards, kitchens and places for tabuns (outdoor ovens). According to the directors of the excavations,

“These sites were part of the agricultural structure in the Northern Negev in ancient times.” They estimate that the then-fertile soil and accessible water streams attracted potential farmers to the area.

According to Prof. Gideon Avni, an Israel Antiquities Authority expert on this period,

“This is one of the earliest mosques known from the beginning of the arrival of Islam in Israel, after the Arab conquest of 636 C.E. The discovery of a mosque near an agricultural settlement between Be’er Sheva and Ashkelon also indicates the processes of cultural and religious change which the country underwent during the transition from the Byzantine to the early Islamic period.

“The discovery of the village and the mosque in its vicinity are a significant contribution to the study of the history of the country during this turbulent period.

“According to historical Islamic sources, the new Islamic regime distributed plots of land to its senior officials, including Amr ibn al-‘As, an Arab military commander who conquered Israel and Syria. The continuation of excavations on the site will perhaps provide answers to the questions regarding the foundation of the settlement and the nearby mosque, and its connection to the Arab conquerors of Israel.”

Ground preparation for constructing a new neighborhood in the Beduin town of Rahat uncovered the ancient remains. The Authority for Development and Settlement of the Bedouins in the Negev and the Israel Antiquities Authority are now examining possible ways in which this special finding can be integrated into the neighborhood .

The excavation is a joint project of the Israel Antiquities Authority with Bedouin residents and youth groups. It’s part of the Legacy Project led by the Antiquities Authority in recent years, a project organizing youth groups to help with the excavations during the summer vacation. The kids earn a fair wage, get into touch with the past, and gain experiences that will last a lifetime. The project is financed by the Authority for Development and Settlement of the Bedouins in the Negev, and the Emek Ayalon Infrastructure & Projects Management Ltd (2000).

Photos by Anat Rasiuk/Israel Antiquities Authority.

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Unless you were in a coma last month, you definitely saw that viral “first kiss” video, where 20 good-looking strangers where partnered off  and asked to kiss for the first time.

The original has been watched more than 71 million times. The Saudi version,  made by online Saudi entertainment channel UTURNent, is approaching 700,000 hits.  It shows men performing the Bedouin tradition of rubbing noses, a tribal greeting that expresses friendship, respect and pride between Arab men. Although it’s still used throughout the Gulf, the young guys in this video don’t seem too practiced in the gesture.

They start by making small talk, then move into the technical requirements. Some seemed reluctant, others jumped right in. The film starts out awkward, and ends up, well – also awkward – but hilariously endearing, too. See more on the making of the video and some of the controversy it’s kicked up, below in a BBC segment:

In the original, the camera captured how a first kiss can go from awkward to awesome in a matter of seconds.  Filmed by director Tatia Pilieva, the short was an advertisement for indie clothing label Wren, but it’s stark black and white imagery and curious premise were quickly replicated in copycat spoofs.

Related: the origins of the first kiss 

Comedy can bring rapid cohesion between different cultures. The internet allows free sharing of spoofy productions. Instead of grumping in comment boxes, don’t you think we ought to hug (and kiss?) everything that shows that everyone loves a laugh?

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