Wool weaving is an essential element of the ancestral Bedouin heritage, not only in Jordan but in the whole Middle East and Arabic Peninsula. Rugs, pillows, bedding furniture, bags, belts but also the shelter, called the "hair house" (Ar. beit es-shar), bridles, ropes and saddle blankets for the camels, horses and donkeys... There are therefore many aspects of the everyday Bedouin life that depend on the weaving production.

The traditional weaving activity requires mutual assistance, solidarity and social cohesion. Weaving the long strips of a tent or even smaller pieces is impossible to be worked out individually. Even building the ground loom requests the coordination of at least three individuals. Under the trend to sedentarization, the lifestyle modification and the fracturing of the Bedouin society to cellular familial groups, traditional weaving is threatened of total disappearance. This is the reason why some projects have been created for its survival. The pieces produced in the frame of those projects are then tourism-oriented: small rugs, bags, belts...

The material for the nowadays Bedouin tents is no longer produced locally but imported from outside of Jordan, till recently from Syria, but rather now from Turkey or from Saudi Arabia. Moreover, a goat hair tent is very expensive and many Bedouin families can not afford such expenses  anymore. In this case, they live under tents made of jute and plastic sheeting. 

Enjoy a modest weaving day in Madaba and feel the Bedouin heritage!