Indigenous Medicine among the Bedouin in the Middle East

Aref Abu-Rabia , Indigenous Medicine among the Bedouin in the Middle East , New York: Berghahn Books, 2015. Pp. 232. £60. 978 1 78238 689 6. Adam Guerin Soc Hist Med (2017) 30 (3): 708-709. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkw138 Published: 12 January 2017 Cite Permissions Share Aref Abu-Rabia’s Indigenous Medicine among the Bedouin in the Middle East is a work of synthesis based on anthropological research on the ‘healing practices, health situation, and environmental and cultural origins of perceptions of disease among Bedouin tribes of the twentieth century’ (p. 1) in the Middle East and North Africa. The book also treats questions of access and the perceived value of state health services in countries with transhumant, pastoral and recently-settled Bedouin communities. Abu-Rabia’s expertise stems from years of research rendered through a transdisciplinary methodology that blends anthropological, historical and sociological perspectives. The result is a fascinating account of the culture of healing in diverse Bedouin societies of the region. The book is divided into four largely stand-alone chapters that blend descriptive and analytical approaches. The first chapter...

Anne Stobart, Household Medicine in Seventeenth-Century England

INDIGENOUS MEDICINE AMONG THE BEDOUIN IN THE MIDDLE EAST Aref Abu-Rabia 232 pages, 11 illus., bibliog., index ISBN 978-1-78238-689-6 $95.00/£67.00 Hb Published (October 2015) eISBN 978-1-78238-690-2 eBook Modern medicine has penetrated Bedouin tribes in the course of rapid urbanization and education, but when serious illnesses strike, particularly in the case of incurable diseases, even educated people turn to traditional medicine for a remedy. Over the course of 30 years, the author gathered data on traditional Bedouin medicine among pastoral-nomadic, semi-nomadic, and settled tribes. Based on interviews with healers, clients, and other active participants in treatments, this book will contribute to renewed thinking about a synthesis between traditional and modern medicine — to their reciprocal enrichment. Aref Abu-Rabia is an Anthropologist at the Department of Middle East Studies at Ben-Gurion University. His research and publications focus on the Middle East, North Africa and Islamic communities in the West. Subject: Medical Anthropology Area: Middle East & Israel LC: DS36.9.B4A38 2015 BISAC: SOC057000 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Disease & Health Issues; SOC002000 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Anthropology/General BIC: VXHT Traditional medicine & herbal remedies; PSXM Medical anthropology CONTENTS List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1. Health and Health Services among the Bedouin in the Middle East Chapter 2. The Treatment of Human Ailments — Part A Chapter 3. The Treatment of Human Ailments — Part B Chapter 4. “Don’t Touch My Body”: The Qarina and Bedouin Women’s Fertility Bibliography Index