ew peoples have been more over-romanticised in literature than the Bedouin, traditionally the nomads of the Arab world. English writer-adventurers of a certain stamp, such as TE Lawrence and Wilfred Thesiger, deliberately sought them out, believing that their tough lifestyles (the name Bedouin derives from the Arabic , or ‘desert dweller’) would provide solace from the apparent corruption of modem life. In doing so, they helped fashion the cliché of the noble ascetic with a timeless culture that persists to this day. Like all tropes, this is an unhelpful reduction; the truth is far more interesting, as any visitor to Jordan will discover.
