Page 22 - Arabian Studies (I)

10 Arabian Studies I

and the baby put in feet first. The cradle looks like a small bivouac
tent. Children have no special dress. Though young girls wear a black
or indigo dress, they do not veil. Indigo is rubbed on the cheeks to
keep the cold out in winter-time.
The Mchra number about 8,000 arms-carrying males some of
whom are settled and engaged in trading, shipping, fishing, agri­
culture and livestock-rearing, and some are nomads. Dostal8
considers that the larger section of the Mehra are Bedouin, and
certainly the Mehra of Dhofar are almost all nomadic. Some Mehra
are settled on the coast and it is possible that certain settled
Sheri-speaking people are Mehri in origin.9 Settled people do not
wear Mehri dress. The traditional Mehri dress is an indigo-dyed cloth
supported at the waist by a belt of leather or a cartridge-belt. One
end of the cloth may be thrown over the shoulder. The traditional
sword, spear and heavy hide shield are no longer carried but can still
easily be obtained in Oman. They wear no head-cloths but bind their
long hair, often dressed to stand out from their heads, with a long
leather thong.
The women wear only an indigo-dyed dress and as many
ornaments of precious metal as they can afford. The amulet they
wear round their necks will be of leather, silver or gold, again
depending on their means. They do not veil. The side of the nostril is
usually pierced to take a jewel. Where a number of children have died
a male child will often have his nose pierced to mislead the jinn and
to escape the evil eye. Boys before puberty usually have the hair
shaved off their heads.
The Dhofari Mehra spend much of the year in Negd, the plain
behind (that is to say to the west of) the mountains and high plain
(Seher) of Dhofar. They live mainly by raising camels and goats,
whereas the Sheri-speakers specialize in cow-raising. Both camels and
cows are fed on dried sardines when natural fodder is not available.
This means that the herders get into debt with the coastal traders and
this is an important aspect of their economic life. Water is a source of
strife between camel-herders and cow-herders. Arguments often end
in blows, and sometimes in deaths. The area is feud-ridden, and
careful and complex arrangements have to be made before it is
possible to travel outside one’s own area. The Mehra, though divided
into tribes and clans, have a strong sense of corporate identity but
this does not prevent there being feuds between tribes.
The Mehra live in caves in the mountains when they take their
camels to the high plain in summer, and by trees in Negd. A seken
(OA. firig) is a group of about 10—15 relations, usually in touch with
other heskon which agree from time to time on the general area for a
migration.