Page 48 - Arabian Studies (II)

38 Arabian Studies II

Weapons. The traditional types of weapons are the sword (esaf),
rifle (edlq), spear (qenet, ghummah), shield (qiub) and club (silt and
'asa).

al-HarasIs
The tribal area is mainly located in the Raidal al-HarasIs, it extends
to the lands of the DunV (‘Uman branch) and the A1 Wahibah. Their
language belongs to the branch of the modern non-Arabic dialects of
Southern Arabia, but they are to a high degree bilingual. They
decided for the Hinawi Party and are said to be Sunnis (ShafiTs).
The political organisation shows the division of the tribe (aqabiet)
into various sub-tribes (fekhewed). It seems that the sub-tribe J
represents patrilineal segments and consists of extended families
(ardker). The hereditary headman of the tribe is called eqanu, the
headman of a sub-tride sor. At present the hereditary headmanship is
held by Sharql b. ‘Akes, who is assisted by Salim b. Huwaifah as a
na'ib.
The following sub-tribes are reported:
Bt. Aksld Bt. Qadhren
Bt. ‘Afari Bt. Berhol
Bt. Sha‘alah Bt. Muterah

The Harasls maintain friendly inter-tribal relations with the
‘Awamir, Bait Kathlr, A1 Wahibah (called A1 WahubT) and al-ManasIr.
The relations with the Mahrah and Batahlrah are neutral, but with
the Janabah hostile.
Kinship Terminology. The kinship terminology reflects the partri-
lineal kinship organization.

Fa: heb FaBrSo: hebr hed
Mo: ham FaBrDa: hebrit hed
So: hebr MoBrSo: hebr khel
Da: hebrit MoBrDa: hebrit khel
Br:g/w
Si: ghet
FaFa/MoFa: 'dm
FaMo/MoMo: somet
FaBr: haded
FaSi: ‘ammedeh
j
MoBr: khel
MoSi: ghet min ham/khalet
!
The older brother is called sah, the younger ghen *eqanndn; the
elder sister is named ghet 'agha, the younger ghet 1aqanneh