The Mahdi Times The Mahdi Times July 2014 | Page 36

encountered in classical literature
provided the foundation for the ethnic
group known today as Bedouins.
The indigenous Beja people are nomads
who have inhabited the semi-desert
area in the Red Sea coast of Sudan and
the hilly country behind it for thousands
of years. The ancient Egyptians referred
to them as the people of Buka or Medju
(Medjay), the Romans dubbed them
Blemmyes and in the Odessa they were
described as Erembes. They are a
Kushitic-Khemitic people who spoke a
mixed dialect of semitic and Cushitic
language. They identify themselves
today as the most original and ancient of
the Arab tribes.
Kemitic Pharaohs called them Absha,
meaning the desert dwellers that is, the
Bedouins in Arabic language – and
Ramses II called them Beja, purporting
fighters. Thus one can reasonably see
the Bejas as fulfilling the Arab Bedouin
archetype of the fearsome, nomadic
owners of the Sahara, highly
temperamental but compassionate.
Throughout history, they have been
regarded as very efficient fighting
machines. It is important to note that
besides the Nubians, it is well
documented that the Beja were
employed in the Egyptian army and
were credited for their courage and
fortitude during the expulsion of the
Hyksos from Egypt.
The Roman Historian Ammianus
Marcellinus in spite of his odious ethnocentrism provides us more clues on the
racial and ethnic identity of the earliest
Arabs. In his book The Roman History,
Book XIV.iv.1-7. (380 A.D) the Saracens

a named that was used to describe the
Arabs in both ancient and modern times
(stems most likely from the Arabic
Sarqiyyun, meaning ‘easterners’) were
described as the Blemmys tribes who
lived along the banks of the Nile beyond
the cataracts. According to Ammianus
Marcellinus:

“Book XIV.4:
At this time also the Saracens, a race
whom it is never desirable to have
either for friends or enemies, ranging up
and down the country, if ever they
found anything, plundered it in a
moment, like rapacious hawks who, if
from on high they behold any prey,
carry it off with a rapid swoop, or, if
they fail in their attempt, do not tarry.
And although, in recounting the career
of the Prince Marcus, and once or twice
subsequently, I remember having
discussed the manners of this people,
nevertheless I will now briefly
enumerate a few more particulars
concerning them.
Among these tribes, whose primary
origin is derived from the cataracts of
the Nile and the borders of the
Blemmyae, all the men are warriors of
equal rank; half naked, clad in colored
cloaks down to the waist, overrunning
different countries, with the aid of swift
and active horses and speedy camels,
alike in times of peace and war. Nor
does any member of their tribe ever
take plow in hand or cultivate a tree, or
seek food by the tillage of the land; but
they are perpetually wandering over
various and extensive districts, having