was a long-established activity that was ruled by very clear rules of conduct. While the objective of pillaging was to capture livestock from the enemy Bedouin tribes, it also had the goal of weakening and absorbing tribes through reduction and domination.
Social order and identity became based upon membership in an extended familial structure. Grouping of several families together comprised a clan and a cluster of clans constituted a tribe. The tribes were led by a chief (shaykh) who achieved this leadership position by means of a selection process based upon consensus of the heads of the clans or families. The
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