The Bishari ( Arabic : البشارية , romanized : al-Bishāriyyah , or البشاريين , romanized : al-Bishāriyyīn ; Beja : Oobshaari ) are a Cushitic ethnic group who live in parts of Northeast Africa . They are one of the major divisions of the Beja people . Apart from local dialects of Arabic , the Bishari speak the Beja language , which belongs to the Afroasiatic family of the Cushitic branch.
7-868: The Bishari live in the eastern part of the Nubian Desert in Sudan and southern Egypt . They reside in the Atabai (also spelled Atbai) area between the Nile River and the Red Sea , north of the Amarar and south of the Ababda people between the Nubian Desert and the Nile Valley , an area of limestone, mountains, with sandstone plateaus. The Bishari population numbers around 42,000 individuals. Most people of
14-592: The Bishari were Christians. Throughout their history, the Bishari tribes have practised numerous different religions, including varieties of paganism, then Christianity and now Islam. Although they are recognised as Muslims, Islam is not deep rooted in the culture. Often of equal importance are traditional beliefs. Many continue to fear the influence of jinn, or bad spirits, which they believe are all around and cause sickness and disputes between neighbours. Egypt: Handbook for Travellers : Part First, Lower Egypt, with
21-664: The Fayum and the Peninsula of Sinai , by Karl Baedeker, (1885) Nubian Desert The Nubian Desert ( Arabic : صحراء النوبة Şaḩrā’ an Nūbah ) is in the eastern region of the Sahara Desert , spanning approximately 400,000 km of northeastern Sudan and northern Eritrea , between the Nile and the Red Sea . The arid region is rugged and rocky and contains some dunes, and many wadis that die out before reaching
28-642: The Nile. The average annual rainfall in the Nubian Desert is less than 5 inches (130 mm). The native inhabitants of the area are the Nubians . The River Nile goes through most of its cataracts while traveling through the Nubian Desert, before the Great Bend of the Nile . The Nubian Desert affected the civilization of ancient Egypt in many ways. Merchants and traders from ancient Egypt would travel over
35-467: The Nubian Desert to buy gold, cloth, stone, food, and much more from the ancient civilization of Nubia. The Cairo–Cape Town Highway passes through the Nubian Desert. The largest city of the Nubian Desert is Port Sudan , at the eastern end of the desert on the Red Sea. Other important cities of the Nubian Desert are Atbara on the river of the same name and Massawa on the Red Sea. The town of Abidiya
42-585: The southern part of the Eastern Desert . This area is largely unexplored. Of all the tribes in the area, they live in the more remote areas. The Bishari and the Bishari Qamhatab, believed to be ancient Bishari, have traded agricultural commodities with other people since ancient times. The Bishari are mostly Sunni Muslims . In the 10th century CE, the Muslim geographer Al-Maqdisi wrote that
49-911: The tribe move within the territory of Sudan, where members have political representation in the Beja Congress . The Bishari speak the Beja language as a mother tongue. It belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic family. The Beja inhabiting Sudan also speak Sudanese Arabic as a second language. In 1949, a member of the Bishari tribe stated that when they meet a stranger, they immediately ask "'Are you biggaweijet (=Bišari) or belaeijt (Arab)?'" and continued "‘...We call our language biggawija and it contains many elements of Arabic ( belaeijet ).'" The Bishari are traditionally nomadic people, working in husbandry of camels, sheep, and goats in
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