“Her acute observations of, and reactions to, the unique culture of the Petra Bedouin, as well as her own adventurous story, make it compelling. I couldn’t put it down”
Mary S. Lovell
The Book
The Bdoul Bedouin no longer live inside Petra, that ancient city in the south of Jordan. They no longer set up their tents of woven hair on the long, wind-catching ridges and invite passing tourists to share a cup of tea in the shade, an evening meal, or even a place to sleep as they did when I met my husband there in the summer of 1978.
I was from New Zealand; Mohammad had been born in one of the caves.
Married to a Bedouin is the story of how I fell in love with Mohammad Abdallah and married him; how I settled into his cave, and slept with him on the ledge in front under a sheet of stars; how I learned to fetch water by donkey, bake bread daily and how I ran the local clinic.
Seven years later, in 1985, when the Bedouin were resettled to the Umm Sayhoon village on a hillside overlooking Petra, I was a part of the tribe. And since then I have been a part of the story of Petra. I worked alongside Mohammad selling sand bottles, t-shirts and later silver jewellery and people always asked how come I was there. As I answered their questions about the life here, married to my Bedouin and living in the valley of Petra, I realised that time was moving quickly and the life I was describing was difficult to see. That’s when I started thinking of all the stories I had to tell.
Through these stories, my own and the stories of the people I shared the valley with, I offer the recent history of Petra.
You can buy the ebook online through the following links:
Petra Pieces;
The Jewellery
2023 update: Sadly, the pandemic forced us to close our shop. We moved to New Zealand and don’t know when we will return. Sorry to miss you all.
I work alongside my son Raami at our shop down inside the ruins of the ancient city. We sell special silver jewellery and personally signed copies of Married to a Bedouin.
Our range of exclusive jewellery, which we call our Petra Pieces, includes lovely contemporary designs; inspired by the pottery, caves and carvings of ancient Petra and are skilfully, handcrafted in sterling silver by women in the village. The women, who originally received training in 1997 in a project set up by the Noor al-Hussein Foundation, make many of the designs exclusively for us. Together we have developed an array of unique pieces, from rings, earrings and bangles to cufflinks, pendants and necklaces, thereby enabling the women to earn an income and fulfilling the aims of the project: to revive the traditional handcraft of silver jewellery making, create jobs for local women and produce some fine quality souvenirs.
In order to protect our designs and the livelihood of the women who make them we don’t display online. However, if you have visited and all your friends want a pendant like yours please contact me through the information below.
