"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [ظ‎‎٢‎٢‎٧] (٨٦٢/٤٥٩)

236 PEOPLE
observing the letter of the moral obligations which they recognize.
External politeness is greatly valued, and Arabs are very sensitive to
bad manners and rudeness. They have a remarkable capability for
intrigue and their loyalty is tempered by time-serving; on occasion
they commit astonishing acts of treachery and dishonesty, but it is to
be remembered that in Iraq, as in Ireland, political motives are taken
very seriously and supersede other loyalties. The Arab, like the Kurd,
may act with violence in a sudden fit of rage, but is less implacable.
Within the family there is a high standard of personal morality,
breaches of which are sharply punished, often by death (p. 33 ^)> an< ^
the countryman, whether peasant or shepherd, is noted in ordinary
transactions for simplicity and honesty. But when occasion arises,
e.g. in military camps and around archaeological diggings, the Arab
is a most skilful thief and apt at evading sentries, especially at night.
In the Christian Arabs these mental and moral qualities have been
modified by thirteen hundred years of subjection. Slyness and
dissimulation have been adopted as protective habits, and the dis
honesty which many attribute to the urban Christians has a similar
origin. The Christian Arabs adopt modern inventions, improve
ments, and education more easily than the Moslem, and are superior
as clerks and men of business. The Christian peasants are industrious,
though in certain communities the men are said to be great drunkards.
Economic Organization
Excluding the townsmen of the largest towns, the Arabs of Iraq
live either by stock-breeding or by agriculture, and their habit of life
varies accordingly from the pure nomadism of the desert beduin to
the settled condition of peasantry or fellahin in agricultural districts.
But there are many variations between these extremes. Many fellahin
live in tents for part or whole of the year, and would revert to sheep
breeding and nomadism if their water-supply failed, while many
nomadic tribesmen sow a patch of land to supplement the products
of their herds, and others are continually settling down to the
raising of crops. The only clear distinction is between the camel
breeding beduin of the Syrian desert and Jazira (p. 339), who in
their seasonal migrations traverse vast distances, and the shepher
nomads of the rest of Iraq. Among the shepherd nomads there is a
distinction between those who move in very narrow limits and may be
called semi-settled and are really stock-breeding fellahin, and those
who penetrate a fair way into the desert at the time of the spring
vegetation, such as the nomadic Dulaim; these are called shawiya or