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Thesiger in Arabia #2
The Marsh Arabs
During the years he spent among the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq—long before they were almost completely wiped out by Saddam Hussein—Wilfred Thesiger came to understand, admire, and share a way of life that had endured for many centuries. Traveling from village to village by canoe, he won acceptance by dispensing medicine and treating the sick. In this account of a nearly lost civilization, he pays tribute to the hospitality, loyalty, courage, and endurance of the people, and describes their impressive reed houses, the waterways and lakes teeming with wildlife, the herding of buffalo and hunting of wild boar, moments of tragedy, and moments of pure comedy in vivid, engaging detail.
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First published January 1, 1964
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About the author
Wilfred Thesiger
36 books199 followersSir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, KBE, DSO, MA, DLitt, FRAS, FRSL, FRGS, FBA, was a British explorer and travel writer born in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
Thesiger was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford University where he took a third in history. Between 1930 and 1933, Thesiger represented Oxford at boxing and later (1933) became captain of the Oxford boxing team.
In 1930, Thesiger returned to Africa, having received a personal invitation by Emperor Haile Selassie to attend his coronation. He returned again in 1933 in an expedition, funded in part by the Royal Geographical Society, to explore the course of the Awash River. During this expedition, he became the first European to enter the Aussa Sultanate and visit Lake Abbe.
Afterwards, in 1935, Thesiger joined the Sudan Political Service stationed in Darfur and the Upper Nile. He served in several desert campaigns with the Sudan Defence Force (SDF) and the Special Air Service (SAS) with the rank of major.
In World War II, Thesiger fought with Gideon Force in Ethiopia during the East African Campaign. He was awarded the DSO for capturing Agibar and its garrison of 2500 Italian troops. Afterwards, Thesiger served in the Long Range Desert Group during the North African Campaign.
There is a rare wartime photograph of Thesiger in this period. He appears in a well-known photograph usually used to illustrate the badge of the Greek Sacred Squadron. It is usually captioned 'a Greek officer of the Sacred Band briefing British troops'. The officer is recognisably the famous Tsigantes and one of the crowd is recognisably Thesiger. Thesiger is the tall figure with the distinct nasal profile. Characteristically, he is in Arab headdress. Thesiger was the liaison officer to the Greek Squadron.
In 1945, Thesiger worked in Arabia with the Desert Locusts Research Organisation. Meanwhile, from 1945 to 1949, he explored the southern regions of the Arabian peninsula and twice crossed the Empty Quarter. His travels also took him to Iraq, Persia (now Iran), Kurdistan, French West Africa, Pakistan, and Kenya. He returned to England in the 1990s and was knighted in 1995.
Thesiger is best known for two travel books. Arabian Sands (1959) recounts his travels in the Empty Quarter of Arabia between 1945 and 1950 and describes the vanishing way of life of the Bedouins. The Marsh Arabs (1964) is an account of the Madan, the indigenous people of the marshlands of southern Iraq. The latter journey is also covered by his travelling companion, Gavin Maxwell, in A Reed Shaken By The Wind — a Journey Through the Unexplored Marshlands of Iraq (Longman, 1959).
Thesiger took many photographs during his travels and donated his vast collection of 25,000 negatives to the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.
Thesiger was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford University where he took a third in history. Between 1930 and 1933, Thesiger represented Oxford at boxing and later (1933) became captain of the Oxford boxing team.
In 1930, Thesiger returned to Africa, having received a personal invitation by Emperor Haile Selassie to attend his coronation. He returned again in 1933 in an expedition, funded in part by the Royal Geographical Society, to explore the course of the Awash River. During this expedition, he became the first European to enter the Aussa Sultanate and visit Lake Abbe.
Afterwards, in 1935, Thesiger joined the Sudan Political Service stationed in Darfur and the Upper Nile. He served in several desert campaigns with the Sudan Defence Force (SDF) and the Special Air Service (SAS) with the rank of major.
In World War II, Thesiger fought with Gideon Force in Ethiopia during the East African Campaign. He was awarded the DSO for capturing Agibar and its garrison of 2500 Italian troops. Afterwards, Thesiger served in the Long Range Desert Group during the North African Campaign.
There is a rare wartime photograph of Thesiger in this period. He appears in a well-known photograph usually used to illustrate the badge of the Greek Sacred Squadron. It is usually captioned 'a Greek officer of the Sacred Band briefing British troops'. The officer is recognisably the famous Tsigantes and one of the crowd is recognisably Thesiger. Thesiger is the tall figure with the distinct nasal profile. Characteristically, he is in Arab headdress. Thesiger was the liaison officer to the Greek Squadron.
In 1945, Thesiger worked in Arabia with the Desert Locusts Research Organisation. Meanwhile, from 1945 to 1949, he explored the southern regions of the Arabian peninsula and twice crossed the Empty Quarter. His travels also took him to Iraq, Persia (now Iran), Kurdistan, French West Africa, Pakistan, and Kenya. He returned to England in the 1990s and was knighted in 1995.
Thesiger is best known for two travel books. Arabian Sands (1959) recounts his travels in the Empty Quarter of Arabia between 1945 and 1950 and describes the vanishing way of life of the Bedouins. The Marsh Arabs (1964) is an account of the Madan, the indigenous people of the marshlands of southern Iraq. The latter journey is also covered by his travelling companion, Gavin Maxwell, in A Reed Shaken By The Wind — a Journey Through the Unexplored Marshlands of Iraq (Longman, 1959).
Thesiger took many photographs during his travels and donated his vast collection of 25,000 negatives to the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.
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February 1, 2020I wonder if despite the draining of the marshes it might be easier for the way of life described here to return than that of the Bedouin in Arabian Sands?
Thesiger spent a number of years in the early 1950s travelling around the marshes of southern Iraq. He wasn't as taken with the Marsh Arabs as he had been by the Bedouin (his travels with them are described in Arabian Sands). The way of life in the Iraqi marshes was too settled and lacked the extreme hardship of the Empty Quarter, and Thesiger saw little in the marshes to match the ability of Bedouin to survive that had so impressed him in Arabia.
Thesiger was in pursuit of the extremes and the people who could survive in the harshest environments. To him the long settled marshes of southern Iraq were merely quaint, even though blood feuds seemed to be an important pass-time between families. But for the reader distant from those people and those places life among the small communities living on, the sometimes very large, floating artificial islands made of reeds that he visited seems more exotic and strange than struggling across the sands of Arabia's Empty Quarter.
The basic medical supplies that Thesiger brought with him and his ability to provide some simple medical care assured him a friendly reception amongst the marsh Arabs and his account does benefit from the evocative photographs that he took on his travels. The Life of My Choice puts the time spent in southern Iraq in the context of all his travels in the region.
As in Arabian Sands there is a sense of the fragility of these ways of life. The influence of a different world of state structures and economies open to world markets is seen as irrevocable breach with a traditional way of life rather than just another change. In that sense Thesiger is a rather Romantic guide to the region as a sense of inevitable loss colours his account.
Thesiger spent a number of years in the early 1950s travelling around the marshes of southern Iraq. He wasn't as taken with the Marsh Arabs as he had been by the Bedouin (his travels with them are described in Arabian Sands). The way of life in the Iraqi marshes was too settled and lacked the extreme hardship of the Empty Quarter, and Thesiger saw little in the marshes to match the ability of Bedouin to survive that had so impressed him in Arabia.
Thesiger was in pursuit of the extremes and the people who could survive in the harshest environments. To him the long settled marshes of southern Iraq were merely quaint, even though blood feuds seemed to be an important pass-time between families. But for the reader distant from those people and those places life among the small communities living on, the sometimes very large, floating artificial islands made of reeds that he visited seems more exotic and strange than struggling across the sands of Arabia's Empty Quarter.
The basic medical supplies that Thesiger brought with him and his ability to provide some simple medical care assured him a friendly reception amongst the marsh Arabs and his account does benefit from the evocative photographs that he took on his travels. The Life of My Choice puts the time spent in southern Iraq in the context of all his travels in the region.
As in Arabian Sands there is a sense of the fragility of these ways of life. The influence of a different world of state structures and economies open to world markets is seen as irrevocable breach with a traditional way of life rather than just another change. In that sense Thesiger is a rather Romantic guide to the region as a sense of inevitable loss colours his account.
March 1, 2021
I have given three stars to the two books I have read by Wilfred Thesiger, The Marsh Arabs and Arabian Sands, and yet I do prefer the former over the latter. There is more moving about from place to place in the latter. The Arabic names of places are hard to keep straight, particularly if there are many. In the former the focus is less on places and more on people, which I prefer.
The Marsh Arabs is about the Arab tribes living in the marshlands of southern Iraq at the conjunction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The author spent seven years, on and off between 1951 – 1958, living with these people. In the central region he came to know members of the Madan tribe well. Thesiger’s connection to them is perceived as strong. Some became close friends. By some he was considered one of the family! In the eastern regions along the Tigris, he travels too, but here he does not come as close to the people. This part of the book resembles Arabian Sands, with the focus more on travel rather than people. Those parts of the book where Thesiger gets close to the people are excellent, other parts less so.
Fascinating information is provided about the life of the Arab tribesmen, particularly of the Madan people living in the central region of the marshlands. Thesiger travels the marshlands by boat accompanied by native guides, and yet the book should not be considered a travel book. Thesiger was not an anthropologist, but his writing is best when he writes about people. Why? Because he enjoyed the time he spent with these people. He lived with them on their own terms. He lived in their abodes, ate their food and with time began to wear their clothes. As he became accepted as one of them, he involved himself in their disagreements and attempted to straighten out feuds. The writing shines because he writes of a period in his life that he immensely enjoyed. This shows.
Thesiger dispensed medical aid, which he had brought along with him, but he was no doctor He had observed how doctors did things, and he did what he could. He cleaned and sewed wounds, disinfected skin rashes, handed out simple medicines and circumcised boys. In the Moslem faith this is to be done at puberty. Using clean utensils, his patients healed quickly. He came to be trusted. His fame and popularity grew. The closer he came to the people, the more he learned about them and their way of life. As a gift, after many years of friendship, he was given a well-crafted tarada. (See below.)
The people live on islands made of reeds. As their abode sinks, they throw on more reeds. Look at their guesthouses / meeting places and the boats used:
Taradas: https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=A...
Mudhif dwellings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudhif#...
We are told how the houses and boats are built. We are told of the food they eat, the buffalo and crops they raise (predominantly rice), how and which fish are caught and which animals hunted. We learn of spiritual and mystical beliefs, daily routines and celebrations, such as the traditions that dictate how weddings and death ceremonies are to be conducted. Family ties, blood feuds and the rules of etiquette that may seem strange to us but must be followed are spoken of. For example, a man moving downstream in his boat is to greet the man moving upstream in a boat. It is the man traveling on a boat who is to greet a man passed on shore. It is considered wise to give a child the name of a despised beast; this will scare away wicked spirits. These small details are to me fascinating. If they are to you, I think you will appreciate this book.
Many Arabic words are used. Most are explained, but only once. You do have to somehow remember them. I should also mention that Thesiger paints the landscape of the marshlands beautifully. I am speaking of his lyrical prose. You see what he saw. You are put where he was. The atmosphere of the place comes through vividly.
Today the wetlands have been drained. Many of the Madan and the other marshland tribespeople have been displaced. Their way of life, their culture, having existed for over 5 000 years, going back to the Sumer civilization, has disappeared.
The audiobook is very well narrated by Laurence Kennedy. Of course, I cannot judge the Arabic words and there are many. He reads clearly and at a good pace. Four stars I have given the narration.
The Marsh Arabs is about the Arab tribes living in the marshlands of southern Iraq at the conjunction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The author spent seven years, on and off between 1951 – 1958, living with these people. In the central region he came to know members of the Madan tribe well. Thesiger’s connection to them is perceived as strong. Some became close friends. By some he was considered one of the family! In the eastern regions along the Tigris, he travels too, but here he does not come as close to the people. This part of the book resembles Arabian Sands, with the focus more on travel rather than people. Those parts of the book where Thesiger gets close to the people are excellent, other parts less so.
Fascinating information is provided about the life of the Arab tribesmen, particularly of the Madan people living in the central region of the marshlands. Thesiger travels the marshlands by boat accompanied by native guides, and yet the book should not be considered a travel book. Thesiger was not an anthropologist, but his writing is best when he writes about people. Why? Because he enjoyed the time he spent with these people. He lived with them on their own terms. He lived in their abodes, ate their food and with time began to wear their clothes. As he became accepted as one of them, he involved himself in their disagreements and attempted to straighten out feuds. The writing shines because he writes of a period in his life that he immensely enjoyed. This shows.
Thesiger dispensed medical aid, which he had brought along with him, but he was no doctor He had observed how doctors did things, and he did what he could. He cleaned and sewed wounds, disinfected skin rashes, handed out simple medicines and circumcised boys. In the Moslem faith this is to be done at puberty. Using clean utensils, his patients healed quickly. He came to be trusted. His fame and popularity grew. The closer he came to the people, the more he learned about them and their way of life. As a gift, after many years of friendship, he was given a well-crafted tarada. (See below.)
The people live on islands made of reeds. As their abode sinks, they throw on more reeds. Look at their guesthouses / meeting places and the boats used:
Taradas: https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=A...
Mudhif dwellings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudhif#...
We are told how the houses and boats are built. We are told of the food they eat, the buffalo and crops they raise (predominantly rice), how and which fish are caught and which animals hunted. We learn of spiritual and mystical beliefs, daily routines and celebrations, such as the traditions that dictate how weddings and death ceremonies are to be conducted. Family ties, blood feuds and the rules of etiquette that may seem strange to us but must be followed are spoken of. For example, a man moving downstream in his boat is to greet the man moving upstream in a boat. It is the man traveling on a boat who is to greet a man passed on shore. It is considered wise to give a child the name of a despised beast; this will scare away wicked spirits. These small details are to me fascinating. If they are to you, I think you will appreciate this book.
Many Arabic words are used. Most are explained, but only once. You do have to somehow remember them. I should also mention that Thesiger paints the landscape of the marshlands beautifully. I am speaking of his lyrical prose. You see what he saw. You are put where he was. The atmosphere of the place comes through vividly.
Today the wetlands have been drained. Many of the Madan and the other marshland tribespeople have been displaced. Their way of life, their culture, having existed for over 5 000 years, going back to the Sumer civilization, has disappeared.
The audiobook is very well narrated by Laurence Kennedy. Of course, I cannot judge the Arabic words and there are many. He reads clearly and at a good pace. Four stars I have given the narration.
December 11, 2015
While I was reading this book, it felt as if it were written some 75 or 100 years ago instead of 1964. Wilfred Thesiger was writing about a way of life that vanished rather abruptly after Saddam Hussein decided to drain much of the marshland in which the Madans and other marsh Arabs lived. Their way of life was ancient, perhaps going back to the days of ancient Sumer -- but then so much of what was ancient has been wiped off the face of the Earth in the last few decades.
Thesiger found himself welcome among the marsh peoples, partly because he developed a highly useful medical skill, namely circumcising young males. Also, he was a man of honor who easily made friends with the local sheikhs and their dependents. For a period of seven years, he spent large swaths of time traveling among the marshes by boat and visiting his friends.
The Marsh Arabs is a travel classic that was written not long before the way he described vanished forever. This was at a time before jihad poisoned the well for other well-intentioned foreign visitors -- and before the Sunni/Shi'a split turned men against their neighbors.
Thesiger found himself welcome among the marsh peoples, partly because he developed a highly useful medical skill, namely circumcising young males. Also, he was a man of honor who easily made friends with the local sheikhs and their dependents. For a period of seven years, he spent large swaths of time traveling among the marshes by boat and visiting his friends.
The Marsh Arabs is a travel classic that was written not long before the way he described vanished forever. This was at a time before jihad poisoned the well for other well-intentioned foreign visitors -- and before the Sunni/Shi'a split turned men against their neighbors.
February 1, 2020
There is a place between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris where the mythical Garden of Eden is supposed to have been.
This is probably not it, as the marshlands here takes a lot of adaption to live in and the famous Adam and Eve would not have been that quick adaptors.
But, it has been inhabited for centuries if not more by the tribes Wilfred Thesiger collectively calls the Marsh Arabs.
During the 50-ties Wilfred Thesiger spent 8 years on/off in this area, exploring and doctoring and getting familiar with customs later wiped out by a government deeming the tribal life "primitive". As in other areas, progressive regimes encouraged city-life to country-life as the preferred life style.
What we tend to call "Indigenous Peoples" were battered into modernism by political measures and later by damming which laid bare much of the marsh land, thus de facto taking away the livelihood.
1958 was the year of the overthrow of the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq and it was a turning point in many ways - on of them was the impossibility of Wilfred Thesiger to return to the marshes.
But, Wilfred Thesiger documented the life of the marshes in this book including a lot of photographs and preserved if for the future this way.
Worth reading for a better understanding of the patchwork of tribal life and to get a feel of a time more care-free - or rather a time when people cared for more than the next Instagram moment.
The marshes were not at all picture-happy, there were eminent risks of famine, floods and sickness and the ever rising blood feuds, but to a certain extent there seemed to be a "leave us alone and we will manage" attitude which also attracted Wilfred Thesiger.
This is probably not it, as the marshlands here takes a lot of adaption to live in and the famous Adam and Eve would not have been that quick adaptors.
But, it has been inhabited for centuries if not more by the tribes Wilfred Thesiger collectively calls the Marsh Arabs.
During the 50-ties Wilfred Thesiger spent 8 years on/off in this area, exploring and doctoring and getting familiar with customs later wiped out by a government deeming the tribal life "primitive". As in other areas, progressive regimes encouraged city-life to country-life as the preferred life style.
What we tend to call "Indigenous Peoples" were battered into modernism by political measures and later by damming which laid bare much of the marsh land, thus de facto taking away the livelihood.
1958 was the year of the overthrow of the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq and it was a turning point in many ways - on of them was the impossibility of Wilfred Thesiger to return to the marshes.
But, Wilfred Thesiger documented the life of the marshes in this book including a lot of photographs and preserved if for the future this way.
Worth reading for a better understanding of the patchwork of tribal life and to get a feel of a time more care-free - or rather a time when people cared for more than the next Instagram moment.
The marshes were not at all picture-happy, there were eminent risks of famine, floods and sickness and the ever rising blood feuds, but to a certain extent there seemed to be a "leave us alone and we will manage" attitude which also attracted Wilfred Thesiger.
March 2, 2021
Where the Euphrates and Tigris rivers meet used to be a Marsh. Mostly these places are uninhabitable, but in the case of Iraq, there were people there who had developed a way of life that fitted and suited their environment almost perfectly. They had lived this way for around 5000 years, absorbing changes that suited them but keeping their culture and spirit very much alive. That was before Saddam Hussein drained the marshes and did all he could to wipe them out.
Thankfully before their life disappeared completely, it was documented by various people, including the author of this book, Wilfred Thesiger. The middle east was a particular passion for him and his book, The Arabian Sands is his account of crossing the Empty Quarter. He has an affinity with the people of the region and this area of Iraq fascinated him. He visited many times between the years of 1951 and 1958 staying for extended periods of time and got to know the various tribes and people of this marsh.
Memories of that first visit to the Marsh have never left me: Stars reflected in the dark water, the croaking of frogs, canoes coming home in the evening, peace and continuity, the stillness of a world that never knew an engine. Once again I experienced the longing to share this life, and to be more than a mere spectator.
He visited on the native people’s own terms, sharing their meals, staying in their reed constructed accommodation. He was a modest guest, but the people of the marshes grew to trust this man and to a certain extent rely on the medicines that he bought with him. He tried to treat as many cases as he could, from cleaning wounds and treating illnesses and he came to realise that some of what he was seeing was caused by a total lack of hygiene. At one of the villages he was asked to circumcise a lad and he took more care than was usual and he healed quickly with very little paint. It would be the first of many hundreds that he would do.
He engaged some lads to help him get around the marshes in their long slim canoes called taradas. He didn’t employ them, a sensible precaution as it could have sparked jealousy with other members, but he did ensure that they were generously supported in lots of ways. Their intimate knowledge of the waterways was such they would be heading to a wall of reeds and as the almost touched them the narrow passage through would be revealed. If he were alone, he would never have spotted it. He bought himself a boat one year to find out soon after that one on the tribal leaders had had had one made for him.
He documents all layers of the life of these people, from the intertribal rivalries and the disagreements that sometimes happened, to the crops they grew, how they sealed the Taradas and the way that they built their homes. There is a substantial section of the amazing photos that he took of the people. I did find his writing a little cold and matter of fact, probably an effect of his upbringing, but you do get an underlying sense of how fondly he saw the people. It is an important historical document of a way of life that can never exist anymore since the Marshes were drained. Well worth reading.
Thankfully before their life disappeared completely, it was documented by various people, including the author of this book, Wilfred Thesiger. The middle east was a particular passion for him and his book, The Arabian Sands is his account of crossing the Empty Quarter. He has an affinity with the people of the region and this area of Iraq fascinated him. He visited many times between the years of 1951 and 1958 staying for extended periods of time and got to know the various tribes and people of this marsh.
Memories of that first visit to the Marsh have never left me: Stars reflected in the dark water, the croaking of frogs, canoes coming home in the evening, peace and continuity, the stillness of a world that never knew an engine. Once again I experienced the longing to share this life, and to be more than a mere spectator.
He visited on the native people’s own terms, sharing their meals, staying in their reed constructed accommodation. He was a modest guest, but the people of the marshes grew to trust this man and to a certain extent rely on the medicines that he bought with him. He tried to treat as many cases as he could, from cleaning wounds and treating illnesses and he came to realise that some of what he was seeing was caused by a total lack of hygiene. At one of the villages he was asked to circumcise a lad and he took more care than was usual and he healed quickly with very little paint. It would be the first of many hundreds that he would do.
He engaged some lads to help him get around the marshes in their long slim canoes called taradas. He didn’t employ them, a sensible precaution as it could have sparked jealousy with other members, but he did ensure that they were generously supported in lots of ways. Their intimate knowledge of the waterways was such they would be heading to a wall of reeds and as the almost touched them the narrow passage through would be revealed. If he were alone, he would never have spotted it. He bought himself a boat one year to find out soon after that one on the tribal leaders had had had one made for him.
He documents all layers of the life of these people, from the intertribal rivalries and the disagreements that sometimes happened, to the crops they grew, how they sealed the Taradas and the way that they built their homes. There is a substantial section of the amazing photos that he took of the people. I did find his writing a little cold and matter of fact, probably an effect of his upbringing, but you do get an underlying sense of how fondly he saw the people. It is an important historical document of a way of life that can never exist anymore since the Marshes were drained. Well worth reading.
May 28, 2018
In The Marsh Arabs, Wilfred Thesiger describes his intermittent eight-year stay with the Marsh Arabs of Southern Iraq during the 1950s. The marshlands consist of a 6,000 square area of wetlands where the Tigris and Euphrates close in on each other and eventually meet before flowing into the Shatt Al-Arab waterway, pass the city of Basra, and merge into the Arabian Gulf. Regarded by many historians as the location of the Biblical Garden of Eden and Great Flood, the area is known as the cradle of civilization. The Sumerians established a thriving civilization in the area, establishing an elaborate irrigation system that allowed the culture to flourish. Their descendants are the modern-day marsh dwellers.
Seeking to lose himself in a place untrammeled by the trappings of modern civilization, a place where people live as they have lived for many thousand years, Thesiger found what he was looking for in the marshlands. He lived among the Marsh Arabs for the better part of eight years, traveled from one village to the next in his tarada (canoe) with his skilled canoe boys; stayed at the village mudhif (guest house); enjoyed legendary Arab hospitality; ate meals and drank endless cups of coffee and tea with his hosts; hunted alongside them for game, pigs, boars, and other wildlife; witnessed the hardships of drought and flooding on their crops; participated in a mourning ceremony; and observed them building their incredible structures made of tightly bound reeds. In short, Thesiger experienced life with the Marsh Arabs as it had been lived for centuries. During that time, he made many friends and provided rudimentary medical assistance to the indigenous population who lined up to meet him with their ailing relatives when they learned his tarada was coming to their village.
Thesiger provides a fascinating glimpse into the life of the Marsh Arabs. In addition to the detailed descriptions, he includes several pages of invaluable black and white photographs which help the reader visualize the people, structures, activities, and environment. His immersion in the culture is all the more impressive because he does not exhibit the prejudices of a technologically advanced culture against a people living under very primitive conditions. Nor does he idealize the Marsh Arabs as “noble savages.” He provides a balanced perspective, admiring many of their qualities while recognizing their failings.
The Marsh Arabs live under a brand of justice that can be harsh and frequently cause bloody family feuds since the aggrieved party has the right to demand blood money or kill the killer. Justice is usually dispensed by the tribal leader who settles disputes and metes out compensation and a punishment that is frequently violent and lacks compassion. But these are also a caring people, coming to the aid of one another in times of difficulty; caring for their disabled; and affording great respect to the mustarjil—a man born in the body of a woman. The mustarjil is accepted on equal terms as any male and is treated accordingly with no hint of stigmatization or marginalization.
With the 1958 revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy, Iraq descended into a period of chaos and lawlessness. The rise to power of Saddam Hussein presaged a reign of terror. Saddam drained much of the marshland, destroying a culture and an ecosystem that had remained virtually unchanged for many thousand years. Attempts are currently being made to restore the marshlands, but the way of life that thrived in this environment is probably lost forever.
Thesiger concludes his book with the words, “. . . another chapter in my life had closed.” But what has been closed is more than a chapter in the life of one man. What has been lost is the remnants of an ancient civilization—a devastating loss from which we can never fully recover.
Seeking to lose himself in a place untrammeled by the trappings of modern civilization, a place where people live as they have lived for many thousand years, Thesiger found what he was looking for in the marshlands. He lived among the Marsh Arabs for the better part of eight years, traveled from one village to the next in his tarada (canoe) with his skilled canoe boys; stayed at the village mudhif (guest house); enjoyed legendary Arab hospitality; ate meals and drank endless cups of coffee and tea with his hosts; hunted alongside them for game, pigs, boars, and other wildlife; witnessed the hardships of drought and flooding on their crops; participated in a mourning ceremony; and observed them building their incredible structures made of tightly bound reeds. In short, Thesiger experienced life with the Marsh Arabs as it had been lived for centuries. During that time, he made many friends and provided rudimentary medical assistance to the indigenous population who lined up to meet him with their ailing relatives when they learned his tarada was coming to their village.
Thesiger provides a fascinating glimpse into the life of the Marsh Arabs. In addition to the detailed descriptions, he includes several pages of invaluable black and white photographs which help the reader visualize the people, structures, activities, and environment. His immersion in the culture is all the more impressive because he does not exhibit the prejudices of a technologically advanced culture against a people living under very primitive conditions. Nor does he idealize the Marsh Arabs as “noble savages.” He provides a balanced perspective, admiring many of their qualities while recognizing their failings.
The Marsh Arabs live under a brand of justice that can be harsh and frequently cause bloody family feuds since the aggrieved party has the right to demand blood money or kill the killer. Justice is usually dispensed by the tribal leader who settles disputes and metes out compensation and a punishment that is frequently violent and lacks compassion. But these are also a caring people, coming to the aid of one another in times of difficulty; caring for their disabled; and affording great respect to the mustarjil—a man born in the body of a woman. The mustarjil is accepted on equal terms as any male and is treated accordingly with no hint of stigmatization or marginalization.
With the 1958 revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy, Iraq descended into a period of chaos and lawlessness. The rise to power of Saddam Hussein presaged a reign of terror. Saddam drained much of the marshland, destroying a culture and an ecosystem that had remained virtually unchanged for many thousand years. Attempts are currently being made to restore the marshlands, but the way of life that thrived in this environment is probably lost forever.
Thesiger concludes his book with the words, “. . . another chapter in my life had closed.” But what has been closed is more than a chapter in the life of one man. What has been lost is the remnants of an ancient civilization—a devastating loss from which we can never fully recover.
February 5, 2012
There is no-one who does this kind of book better. No-one who can take you inside a vanishing Arab culture better than Wilfred Thesiger. He did it in the wonderful book Arabian Sands and he has done it here again with The Marsh Arabs.
If you are familiar with Thesiger's books you will know that he has a passion for photography and he includes many photos in his books, more photos than you get in any non fiction published these days. The Marsh Arab was no exception. It had plentiful photos (all black & white) and I learned as much about the culture and lifestyle of these Arabs from the many photos, as I did from reading the book. The workmanship and skill involved in making their dwellings, boats and large meeting halls have to be seen to be believed. That is quite some skill.
If I had never read The Marsh Arabs I would never have known these people existed or that reed building on this scale even took place. Thesiger truly is a gem for capturing this in the pages of his books.
I did wonder throughout this book and after finishing it, how life under the Saddam regime and then multiple wars, have changed them. I hope their lifestyle and the ecosystem they dwell in has persisted despite the tumultuous events their country has endured.
If you are familiar with Thesiger's books you will know that he has a passion for photography and he includes many photos in his books, more photos than you get in any non fiction published these days. The Marsh Arab was no exception. It had plentiful photos (all black & white) and I learned as much about the culture and lifestyle of these Arabs from the many photos, as I did from reading the book. The workmanship and skill involved in making their dwellings, boats and large meeting halls have to be seen to be believed. That is quite some skill.
If I had never read The Marsh Arabs I would never have known these people existed or that reed building on this scale even took place. Thesiger truly is a gem for capturing this in the pages of his books.
I did wonder throughout this book and after finishing it, how life under the Saddam regime and then multiple wars, have changed them. I hope their lifestyle and the ecosystem they dwell in has persisted despite the tumultuous events their country has endured.
October 25, 2018
"The Marsh Arabs" is a travel book first published in 1964 that describes the 8 years during the 1950s that Wilfred Thesiger spent travelling in Iraqi marshs where the Maʻdān or shroog tribesmen lived. The author's intent is to write a lyrical tribute to a people whose style of life "had not changed for 5000 years". He makes their blood feuds, high rate of infant mortality and crushing poverty seem both charming and bucolic.
It should not be ignored that Thesiger spouts a great deal of nonsense. The boats and homes of the Madan may have been fabricated in the same way as in the iron age however they hunted and murdered each other with the best handguns available in the 1950s. They were all ardent Shiites which means that they were practicing a religion that was not 5000 years old but less than 1500.
However, despite the frequent poetic excesses, Thesiger's book provides an excellent case study of an archaic society collapsing in the 20 the century. He writes with brio and fills his text with marvellous anecdotes. The best component of the book however is the stunning set of photographs which illustrate the daily life of the marsh Arabs.
It should not be ignored that Thesiger spouts a great deal of nonsense. The boats and homes of the Madan may have been fabricated in the same way as in the iron age however they hunted and murdered each other with the best handguns available in the 1950s. They were all ardent Shiites which means that they were practicing a religion that was not 5000 years old but less than 1500.
However, despite the frequent poetic excesses, Thesiger's book provides an excellent case study of an archaic society collapsing in the 20 the century. He writes with brio and fills his text with marvellous anecdotes. The best component of the book however is the stunning set of photographs which illustrate the daily life of the marsh Arabs.
March 30, 2021
Review to follow
February 10, 2012
I enjoyed Thesiger's book Arabian Sands better and debated about giving this one 4 stars. Once I finished this book though, I realized it deserved no less than 5 stars. Although I didn't find myself as absorbed in the stories of the Marsh Arabs as compared to the desert Arabians, I was nonetheless so impressed with Thesiger's ability to integrate himself fully into the lives of whatever culture he was living with, in this case the Marsh Arabs. He seemed to fully respect whichever culture he was embedded with, truly wanting to be with and understand them. This comes through completely in his writings. I love that. I have learned so much about these Arabs from Thesinger. He was a master at his craft both in writing and in humanity.
April 27, 2017
It could be unfair to rate three stars, but I born and grew in the Marshes of Dhi Qar, so I guess I know more facts the the author knows.
from one side this book looks like a novel in the way of his writing about the protagonists,
overally I like this book and I guess this is the better book wrote about Iraqi Marshes.
from one side this book looks like a novel in the way of his writing about the protagonists,
overally I like this book and I guess this is the better book wrote about Iraqi Marshes.
March 21, 2021
Ο Γουίλφρεντ Θέσιγκερ έζησε μεγάλο διάστημα μεταξύ 1951 και 1958 περιπλανώμενος στα χωριά και τις φυλές που ζούσαν σχετικά απομονωμένες στους βάλτους που σχηματίζονται γύρω από τις εκβολές του Τίγρη και του Ευφράτη. Κέρδισε την εμπιστοσύνη τους με τις στοιχειώδεις ιατρικές του γνώσεις και τα φάρμακα του, κατέγραψε και φωτογράφισε τη ζωή τους. Η αφήγηση του, λεπτομερής και μονότονη, αποτυπώνει μια καθημερινότητα χιλιάδων ετών που σύντομα θα έπαυε να υπάρχει. "Οι μακροπρόθεσμες συνέπειες της αμερικάνικης κουλτούρας που τρυπώνει σε κάθε άκρη και γωνιά των ερήμων κσι των κοιλάδων, θα είναι το τέλος της ανθρωπότητας. Η απληστία μας για υλικά αγαθά, η καλλιέργεια της απληστίας, η έλλειψη ισορροπίας στη ζωή μας, η πολιτισμική μας έπαρση, θα μας αφανίσουν μέσα σε έναν αιώνα, εκτός αν σταματήσουμε και σκεφτούμε σοβαρά. Και πάλι, ίσως είναι πια αργά."
December 31, 2021
The author spent the 1950s traveling by canoe among the people living in the marsh lands of southern Iraq. This is a culture strongly governed by ancient practices. This way of life has been largely obliterated by draining of the marshes, economic forces and war. I am fascinated by unique and ancient societies, so really enjoyed this book.
July 28, 2018
I was initially quite impressed with this. It has been a while since I read _Arabian Sands_, and I had forgotten how powerful Thesiger's imagery can be. The first chapter in particular is very poetic, and scattered throughout the rest of the book you can find occasional scenes of startling beauty, as Thesiger describes the life of the Madan, pieces of touching drama, or the otherworldly scenery of the marshes. For its communication of a 'sense of place', this is very worthwhile.
However, there is a major flaw to the book. Where _Arabian Sands_ could sometimes be unclear, _The Marsh Arabs_ is just hopelessly confused as a narrative. The story features a vast array of sheiks and Sayids whom Thesiger is constantly meeting and describing, very few of which are distinctive characters. There are quite a few different tribes, which all have different relationships with each other and live in different regions, some of which are in the marshes and some of which are not, and the geographical relationship of which is extremely hard to follow. Thesiger proceeds vaguely chronologically, but in a very loose sense, often darting his story off into the future or the past as and when some connection arises -- another story about a character just mentioned, for example, or a different pig-hunt to the one the narrative just broke off from. This doesn't negate the positives of Thesiger's writing, but it does limit my enjoyment of them.
The book is strange in that it manages to communicate Thesiger's enjoyment of the Madan lifestyle whilst simultaneously making clear how abjectly terrible I would find the whole experience. The dirty, dank living space. The constant lack of privacy. The demanding, ungrateful locals. The long, tedious ceremonies full of insincere insistences. The complete lack of respect for stated preferences. The wasteful exhibitions. Somehow Thesiger enjoyed or tolerated all of this far more easily than he tolerated life in the West, and actively sought out what I would consider a trial of patience and endurance.
A decent enough read for anyone with a subject interest, but a decidedly uneven composition. Light nonfiction with plenty of interesting tidbits (like the Madan acceptance of transexuality), and occasional bits of stirring poetry.
However, there is a major flaw to the book. Where _Arabian Sands_ could sometimes be unclear, _The Marsh Arabs_ is just hopelessly confused as a narrative. The story features a vast array of sheiks and Sayids whom Thesiger is constantly meeting and describing, very few of which are distinctive characters. There are quite a few different tribes, which all have different relationships with each other and live in different regions, some of which are in the marshes and some of which are not, and the geographical relationship of which is extremely hard to follow. Thesiger proceeds vaguely chronologically, but in a very loose sense, often darting his story off into the future or the past as and when some connection arises -- another story about a character just mentioned, for example, or a different pig-hunt to the one the narrative just broke off from. This doesn't negate the positives of Thesiger's writing, but it does limit my enjoyment of them.
The book is strange in that it manages to communicate Thesiger's enjoyment of the Madan lifestyle whilst simultaneously making clear how abjectly terrible I would find the whole experience. The dirty, dank living space. The constant lack of privacy. The demanding, ungrateful locals. The long, tedious ceremonies full of insincere insistences. The complete lack of respect for stated preferences. The wasteful exhibitions. Somehow Thesiger enjoyed or tolerated all of this far more easily than he tolerated life in the West, and actively sought out what I would consider a trial of patience and endurance.
A decent enough read for anyone with a subject interest, but a decidedly uneven composition. Light nonfiction with plenty of interesting tidbits (like the Madan acceptance of transexuality), and occasional bits of stirring poetry.
February 25, 2009
An account of the author’s extensive travels through the marshes at the confluence of Iraq’s Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The author boats where fancy takes him, no over-arching quest to guide him, just the spirit of exploration and the desire to experience a culture largely untouched by the modern world. Along the way he describes his environment and its wildlife; the people he meets; their stories, customs, rituals and rivalries; their architecture and material culture. With some loyal indigenous companions and a store of medicines and medical knowledge to recommend him into unfamiliar society, Thesiger achieves a remarkable familiarity with the culture of the marsh Arabs.
Thesiger’s style is matter-of-fact, with only the occasional glimmer of lyricism, but the culture and environment he describes are so far removed from one’s own, and consequently so rich in surprises, that the book is still wonderfully evocative. Only infrequently do Thesiger’s reports smack of the mundane. The Marsh Arabs is a remarkable ethnographical document.
Revolution and political isolation followed close on the heels of Thesiger’s last visit to Iraq in 1958. Subsequently, following the first gulf war, Sadam Hussain saw to the draining of ninety percent of the Tigris-Euphrates marshes – the cradle of civilisation – to deprive rebel guerrillas of their hiding grounds. The UN Environment Program has ranked this vandalism, alongside the deforestation of the Amazon and the draining of the Aral Sea, as one of the three greatest environmental catastrophes in human history (see the UNEP's report here). Thesiger’s work, thus, takes on a particular poignancy; he took the last Western glimpses of a culture before it was brought to its knees.
Even without the spectre of this tragedy, the episodes and sights of The Marsh Arabs are inherently engaging. They will intrigue anyone wishing to broaden their understanding of human culture and history.
Thesiger’s style is matter-of-fact, with only the occasional glimmer of lyricism, but the culture and environment he describes are so far removed from one’s own, and consequently so rich in surprises, that the book is still wonderfully evocative. Only infrequently do Thesiger’s reports smack of the mundane. The Marsh Arabs is a remarkable ethnographical document.
Revolution and political isolation followed close on the heels of Thesiger’s last visit to Iraq in 1958. Subsequently, following the first gulf war, Sadam Hussain saw to the draining of ninety percent of the Tigris-Euphrates marshes – the cradle of civilisation – to deprive rebel guerrillas of their hiding grounds. The UN Environment Program has ranked this vandalism, alongside the deforestation of the Amazon and the draining of the Aral Sea, as one of the three greatest environmental catastrophes in human history (see the UNEP's report here). Thesiger’s work, thus, takes on a particular poignancy; he took the last Western glimpses of a culture before it was brought to its knees.
Even without the spectre of this tragedy, the episodes and sights of The Marsh Arabs are inherently engaging. They will intrigue anyone wishing to broaden their understanding of human culture and history.
July 23, 2015
An excellent read on a world that no longer exists.
July 26, 2018
Some say it was the true "Garden of Eden" -- and now it's nearly gone. Renowned British explorer/traveler Wilfred Thesiger gave us this fantastically readable 1964 book about the marshlands of Iraq and the Arabs who inhabited them. They got around by skiffs and operated a water-based economy such as growing and weaving reeds, quite unlike the arid lands/desert lifestyle usually associated with Middle Eastern Arabs. Thesiger lived among them -- observing their ways, interviewing them, sometimes doctoring to them -- and frequently grieving along with them when their sons out-migrated to distant cities for technical education.
Sadly, Saddam Hussein later drained most of these marshes because he knew the inhabitants would not bend to the ways of modern Iraq unless their water was taken away. Thankfully, we have the remarkable Thesiger to tell us about those days, and to offer an implicit warning about what happens to societies that give in to technocracy and brute nationalism under guise of anti-colonialism. Also recommended: Thesiger's intrepid "Empty Quarter" account Arabian Sands, 1959.
Sadly, Saddam Hussein later drained most of these marshes because he knew the inhabitants would not bend to the ways of modern Iraq unless their water was taken away. Thankfully, we have the remarkable Thesiger to tell us about those days, and to offer an implicit warning about what happens to societies that give in to technocracy and brute nationalism under guise of anti-colonialism. Also recommended: Thesiger's intrepid "Empty Quarter" account Arabian Sands, 1959.
July 18, 2018
با تغییرات سریع و گسترده اقلیمی در سرتاسر جهان، هر روزه شاهد از بین رفتن فرهنگ ها و زبان های مردمان بومی می باشیم؛ مردمانی که سبک زندگی آن ها برای قرون متمادی با طبیعت محل زندگی شان گره خورده و به آن وابسته اند.
یکی از این مردمان، اقوام عرب ساکن در هورالعظيم (واقع در مرز ایران و عراق در جنوب غرب خوزستان) می باشند که خانه هاشان را در حاشیه و وسط این تالاب می سازند و روستاهایشان به روستاهایی شناور بر روی آب می ماند. متاسفانه با بروز خشکسالی های اخیر در خاورمیانه بیم آن می روند که زندگی این مردمان هم به فراموشی سپرده شود.
کتاب حاضر نیز حاصل سفرهایی متعدد نویسنده در دهه های 40 و 50 میلادی به میان این مردمان هورنشين(معدان) می باشد و تلاش نموده که از طریق مشاهده ی بی واسطه و مشارکت در مراسم هاشان، گزارش مردم نگارانه ی دست اولی از زندگی روزمره، آداب و رسوم، آیین ها و سلسله مراتب قدرت آن ها فراهم آورد.
یکی از این مردمان، اقوام عرب ساکن در هورالعظيم (واقع در مرز ایران و عراق در جنوب غرب خوزستان) می باشند که خانه هاشان را در حاشیه و وسط این تالاب می سازند و روستاهایشان به روستاهایی شناور بر روی آب می ماند. متاسفانه با بروز خشکسالی های اخیر در خاورمیانه بیم آن می روند که زندگی این مردمان هم به فراموشی سپرده شود.
کتاب حاضر نیز حاصل سفرهایی متعدد نویسنده در دهه های 40 و 50 میلادی به میان این مردمان هورنشين(معدان) می باشد و تلاش نموده که از طریق مشاهده ی بی واسطه و مشارکت در مراسم هاشان، گزارش مردم نگارانه ی دست اولی از زندگی روزمره، آداب و رسوم، آیین ها و سلسله مراتب قدرت آن ها فراهم آورد.
July 4, 2025
单论故事的精彩程度，这本确实略逊于《阿拉伯之沙》。但这一次塞西杰至少有机会长期生活和周游于数个部落之中，而不再是那种沙漠极端环境中的严酷冒险了。于是比起《阿拉伯之沙》，《沼地阿拉伯人》才更接近于一本游记，甚至有时也带着一丝人类学田野笔记的意味来。
其中的许多细节都给我留下了极其深刻的印象，诸如：不戴面纱的妇女、取名叫汉济拉（猪）的部落居民、哈卡宾塔（男扮女装的职业舞者）的存在、部落社会对穆斯塔吉（像男人一样生活和战斗的女性）的尊敬，以及他们对一个像女性一样生活的男性的接纳。这些在原教旨主义崛起之前的社会特征，往小了说，是让我们这些时空远隔的读者得以窥见一些刻板印象之外的真实画面；往大了讲，那就是理应促使我们更认真地去思考关于传统价值乃至神圣信仰的另一种解读与发展的可能。
其中的许多细节都给我留下了极其深刻的印象，诸如：不戴面纱的妇女、取名叫汉济拉（猪）的部落居民、哈卡宾塔（男扮女装的职业舞者）的存在、部落社会对穆斯塔吉（像男人一样生活和战斗的女性）的尊敬，以及他们对一个像女性一样生活的男性的接纳。这些在原教旨主义崛起之前的社会特征，往小了说，是让我们这些时空远隔的读者得以窥见一些刻板印象之外的真实画面；往大了讲，那就是理应促使我们更认真地去思考关于传统价值乃至神圣信仰的另一种解读与发展的可能。
November 2, 2017
This book is a sort of time capsule, having captured and saved for posterity an intimate, detailed, clear-eyed and very personal description of an environment and an entire way of life that no longer exists. Regrettably, world politics, oil and despotism totally destroyed this unique world shortly after Thesiger's sojourn. A brutal dictatorship culminating in Saddam Hussein's folly saw to it that the iconic wetlands that had sustained life for thousands of years were drained, destroying not just an entire ecosystem but the Marsh Arabs who had lived there so successfully. Thesiger's writing is so understated that I often found myself re-reading a paragraph to fully appreciate his astonishing observations. Perhaps even more impressive was the degree to which he was able to immerse himself in a way of life so vastly foreign to a European, the depth of personal friendships that he developed, the trust and respect that he won. A truly remarkable man who has left us a valuable historical and cultural artifact.
March 28, 2013
The author hangs out with the Marsh Arabs
September 14, 2025
Thesiger first went to the marshes in Southern Iraq in 1951 and spent months of every year there except 1957, until 1958 when the Iraqi revolution broke out. His family were British colonial administrators and he developed a love of Arabic language and culture.
One of the great strengths of this book is that despite Thesiger’s colonial attitudes he tended to like and empathise with ordinary people. “Marsh Arabs” were various tribal grouping with different cultures and histories. Some raised livestock and crops, were manufacturers or professional fishermen with a cash oriented economy. Others, then called “Mandan” had a “tribal" system led by their Sheikh. They fished, hunted birds, kept water buffalo and chickens and grew rice or kept a few sheep where they had some dry land. They were nomadic when it suited and treasured their independence, despising neighbouring cultivators' reliance on making money.
Thesiger describes people here generally as good tempered, laughing and celebrating a great deal with singing and dancing.
The Marsh people built their houses and the Sheik’s magnificent Mudhif guesthouse of tightly bound reeds. Tall, fragile reeds formed the basis of the Marsh Arabs' economy. Reeds fed the buffalos and were material for building walls and thatching. They made rafts and oars to move them and other boats. These reeds formed floating islands and an ecosystem supporting hundreds of species.
Thesiger usually stayed in Mudhifs where every male guest was welcomed with food and coffee. It would have been insulting to offer to pay for hospitality or even to say thanks, Thesiger said, but his contribution was that he provided medical services to all comers. Alarmingly he didn't have formal medical training but he had seen operations, read books and did his best where there was no alternative. He got skilled at circumcisions and minor operations including the removal of an eye that healed cleanly. He carried lots of bandages, disinfectant and antibiotics in his precious medical box. He also wrote in detail about boat building and fishing methods.
Whatever the limitations of some of his attitudes he recorded important aspects of Marsh society including people's attitudes to disability and gender.
Tribespeople treated “the afflicted” with kindness, some were paralysed by illness, probably Poliomyelitis and people born blind were treated inclusively and therefore their disability was less of a “major handicap”, they were less disabled, “than in some parts of the world”. One blind person he met had their own canoe and collected hashish (grass fodder) for buffalos). He described meeting several “deaf and dumb boys and men who were happy and healthy and fitted usefully into the life of the community”.
It was a highly gendered society and he had little to do with women so didn't write much about them. But he did meet the “mustagil”, Trans gender people. One person was described by a local man as, “Born a woman, she cannot help that but she has the heart of a man and so she lives as a man”.
Thesiger asked, “Do men accept her?” “Certainly, we eat with her and she may sit in the Mudhif and when she dies we fire off our rifles to honour her, we never do that for a woman.”
There were both Trans men and women and at one point Thesiger is asked by his friend whether he could remove the male genitalia of such a woman. He admits that's beyond his skill, “It's a pity" his companion says, because “apart from that he really is a woman”.
Thesiger was lucky to be visiting his publisher in Britain when the Iraqi Revolution broke out in 1958 because British embassies and consulate buildings were burnt down and he may not have survived. Marsh draining plans had been formed soon after the Second World War and Saddam Hussein famously meant to drain the marshes to rid himself of the independent Marsh people and places where political opponents could hide. Many people had left the Marshes by the time Saddam took over, to escape poverty and hopefully educate their children. But when news came that he was dead, local people broke dykes to reflood the marshlands to start to recreate what they had lost. This book describes some of that lost culture and why it was so worth living.
One of the great strengths of this book is that despite Thesiger’s colonial attitudes he tended to like and empathise with ordinary people. “Marsh Arabs” were various tribal grouping with different cultures and histories. Some raised livestock and crops, were manufacturers or professional fishermen with a cash oriented economy. Others, then called “Mandan” had a “tribal" system led by their Sheikh. They fished, hunted birds, kept water buffalo and chickens and grew rice or kept a few sheep where they had some dry land. They were nomadic when it suited and treasured their independence, despising neighbouring cultivators' reliance on making money.
Thesiger describes people here generally as good tempered, laughing and celebrating a great deal with singing and dancing.
The Marsh people built their houses and the Sheik’s magnificent Mudhif guesthouse of tightly bound reeds. Tall, fragile reeds formed the basis of the Marsh Arabs' economy. Reeds fed the buffalos and were material for building walls and thatching. They made rafts and oars to move them and other boats. These reeds formed floating islands and an ecosystem supporting hundreds of species.
Thesiger usually stayed in Mudhifs where every male guest was welcomed with food and coffee. It would have been insulting to offer to pay for hospitality or even to say thanks, Thesiger said, but his contribution was that he provided medical services to all comers. Alarmingly he didn't have formal medical training but he had seen operations, read books and did his best where there was no alternative. He got skilled at circumcisions and minor operations including the removal of an eye that healed cleanly. He carried lots of bandages, disinfectant and antibiotics in his precious medical box. He also wrote in detail about boat building and fishing methods.
Whatever the limitations of some of his attitudes he recorded important aspects of Marsh society including people's attitudes to disability and gender.
Tribespeople treated “the afflicted” with kindness, some were paralysed by illness, probably Poliomyelitis and people born blind were treated inclusively and therefore their disability was less of a “major handicap”, they were less disabled, “than in some parts of the world”. One blind person he met had their own canoe and collected hashish (grass fodder) for buffalos). He described meeting several “deaf and dumb boys and men who were happy and healthy and fitted usefully into the life of the community”.
It was a highly gendered society and he had little to do with women so didn't write much about them. But he did meet the “mustagil”, Trans gender people. One person was described by a local man as, “Born a woman, she cannot help that but she has the heart of a man and so she lives as a man”.
Thesiger asked, “Do men accept her?” “Certainly, we eat with her and she may sit in the Mudhif and when she dies we fire off our rifles to honour her, we never do that for a woman.”
There were both Trans men and women and at one point Thesiger is asked by his friend whether he could remove the male genitalia of such a woman. He admits that's beyond his skill, “It's a pity" his companion says, because “apart from that he really is a woman”.
Thesiger was lucky to be visiting his publisher in Britain when the Iraqi Revolution broke out in 1958 because British embassies and consulate buildings were burnt down and he may not have survived. Marsh draining plans had been formed soon after the Second World War and Saddam Hussein famously meant to drain the marshes to rid himself of the independent Marsh people and places where political opponents could hide. Many people had left the Marshes by the time Saddam took over, to escape poverty and hopefully educate their children. But when news came that he was dead, local people broke dykes to reflood the marshlands to start to recreate what they had lost. This book describes some of that lost culture and why it was so worth living.
October 26, 2024
This is a fascinating true account of the years British traveler Wilfred Thesiger lived among the Ahwaris in the 1950s. The Ahwaris lived in southern Iraq in the marshlands where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers meet before they empty into the Persian Gulf. The Ahwaris (or Maʻdān as Thesiger calls them) had a unique way of life adapted to living in the marshes. They built their homes out of the marsh reeds, traveled everywhere by boat, kept buffalos, and grew rice. The book is an interesting look at an ancient way of life that was quickly disappearing.
There was one surprising aspect of Ahwaris culture that is relevant to modern readers in places like the United States. According to Thesiger, the Ahwaris acknowledged and accepted that some people are what we would call transgender. Biological women who identified and lived as men were accepted as men by their society, and vice versa. The Ahwaris men told Thesiger that some people were just born in the wrong bodies. So the claim that being transgender is a new phenomenon and only found in “western” countries is just false. Transgender people have existed and been accepted in many societies around the world and throughout history. Learning about different cultures, places, and times is one important way to gain much needed perspective.
There was one surprising aspect of Ahwaris culture that is relevant to modern readers in places like the United States. According to Thesiger, the Ahwaris acknowledged and accepted that some people are what we would call transgender. Biological women who identified and lived as men were accepted as men by their society, and vice versa. The Ahwaris men told Thesiger that some people were just born in the wrong bodies. So the claim that being transgender is a new phenomenon and only found in “western” countries is just false. Transgender people have existed and been accepted in many societies around the world and throughout history. Learning about different cultures, places, and times is one important way to gain much needed perspective.
November 2, 2018
It could be unfair to rate three stars, but I born and grew in the Marshes of Dhi Qar, so I guess I know more facts the the author knows.
from one side this book looks like a novel in the way of his writing about the protagonists,
overally I like this book and I guess this is the better book wrote about Iraqi Marshes.
from one side this book looks like a novel in the way of his writing about the protagonists,
overally I like this book and I guess this is the better book wrote about Iraqi Marshes.
May 4, 2021
Account of months spent living with the tribal Marsh Arabs in the wetlands where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flow into the sea in southern Iraq, 1951-1958, before the revolution that ended the monarchy, the discovery of oil, and the relentless modernization and wars that ended this way of life. Water-based lives of hospitality, courage, loyalty, and endurance. And blood feuds.
August 14, 2021
Excellent short travel memoir of years spent living with unique Arab tribes living in marshlands in Southern Iraq in the 1950s. Very well written and enjoyable.
"It was often difficult to know which religious expressions should be used by a non-Muslim and which should not. Many are part of everyday speech, for example, 'The praise be to God', 'In the name of God', 'Remain in the safe keeping of God', and above all, 'If God wills'. No one can speak Arabic without such expressions."
"It was often difficult to know which religious expressions should be used by a non-Muslim and which should not. Many are part of everyday speech, for example, 'The praise be to God', 'In the name of God', 'Remain in the safe keeping of God', and above all, 'If God wills'. No one can speak Arabic without such expressions."
January 5, 2024
Man…. My mind was blown by the cultural traits of the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq.
It’s such an unlikely thing, this story, I’m glad the author got in there and got to know a simple yet fascinating corner of humanity.
It’s such an unlikely thing, this story, I’m glad the author got in there and got to know a simple yet fascinating corner of humanity.
March 20, 2025
Fantastic. Thesiger writes something between a travel narrative and an anthropological work. He’s an acute observer and enthusiastic participant. His love for the life of the Madan is palpable, in a way that feels authentic and respectful. This is one of my favorite books in this genre.
April 13, 2022
An endearing account of the lives of peculiar tribesmen living in the Mesopotamian marshes for thousands of years, among whom a British traveller feels at home.
May 5, 2022
Really insightful
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