Page 164 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

DISTRICTS AND TOWNS 177

villagers. The sherifa are numerous •

freemen, owning the land and the 1„„1. Sf nob,es «® privileged
caravans, but seldom do manual work trade. and conduct
to the deliberations of the commune nor "? not admitted
property whatever they possess being " I ^ aUowed *° °™
their lords who can take it at any tiZ® ¥Prded 13 belonging to
number of days ,n their owner? fiSds an7 “USt work acertain
They are bound to foho^lolT^

own crops. .... , ,
forbidden to carry arms m ordinary times, and they must not be
mounted,, nor wear turbans. In return for service, their lord pro­
tects them against all aggression
Jews are numerous in all the districts of Jauf, and, like the qarauri,
are owned, by the nobles. In Lower Jauf in particular they are
kept in hard servitude ; but in the oasis of Khab and the north are
less harshly treated. The Jew’s house, even though built by himself,
belongs to his lord, and Jewish women frequently abuse the Arabs
with impunity from the roofs, since the house, as the lord’s property,
is immune from attack. In most districts the Jews are the only
artisans, and are held in respectful toleration for this reason. Mur­ \
ders are common, but can be settled on a money basis. For a noble,
. the murderer pays not less than 2,000 cows; if a qarawi is killed,
his lord gets 500 cows ; if a Jew, 501 cows, the odd cow going to
the Jew’s family. In religion the dominant doctrine is Sunni and
Hanifi, but a good number of tribes belong to the Shafei school.

Nejr&n is separated from Upper Jauf by a four days’ journey
difficult hilly country, peopled by the Barath, Aktaf, and
NF # ; or it may be approached by a three days’ march !
trom Sa'dah. The Wadi Nejran runs east and west, and is :*
pro ^astically described by Halevy as ‘a delicious, fertile, and

• Niebuh°US TaUey extending between two mountains ’, and by
cereals ^ * ai? agreeable country with abundant water, rich in
I horses E ^ fr^ts, especially dates, having excellent pasture, and
I aneqnaii came^3 that are much sought after’. Wadi Habunah,
Wadi N ’ ?rcK^uc^ve valley according to Halevy, runs parallel with
l day’s me^rfn the north, the two being separated by a short
i uPland8aif Aac.r°88 a ridge. The water of Nejran comes from the
! lost in Jr ‘^8^r and trends eastward, being then probably soon
; Perhaps i ^ "^qaf; that of Habunah goes north-eastward and
: itself inril^1118.^8^ Dawasir (but, according to Leachman, loses
^ejran ?endently in the Ah<laf)-
'a\Bu! 18 n°teworthy, not only for its ancient civilization, but
M