Online Encyclopedia
Make a correction
Your email address will not appear on the site. Note, comments may take some time to be approved.
Back to article:
BISHARIN (the anc. Ichthyophagi)
Your email:
Article name:
Article content:
BISHARIN (the anc. Ichthyophagi), a nomad tribe of African " Arabs," of Hamitic origin, dwelling in the eastern part of the Nubian desert. In the middle ages they were known as Beja (q.v.), and they are the most characteristic of the Nubian " Arabs." With the Ababda and Hadendoa they represent the Blemmyes of classical writers. Linguistically and geographically the Bisharin form a connecting link between the Hamitic populations and the Egyptians. Nominally they are Mahommedans. They, however, preserve some non-Islamic religious practices, and exhibit traces of animal-worship in their rule of never killing the serpent or the partridge, which are regarded as sacred.