The Abada (Ababdeh) are a nomadic African tribe of Hamitic origin. They extend from the Nile at Assuan to the Red Sea, and reach northward to the Kena-Kosseir road, thus occupying the southern border of Egypt east of the Nile. They call themselves 'sons of the Jinns'. With some of the clans of the Bisharin and possibly the Hadendoa they represent the Blemmyes of classic geographers, and their location today is almost identical with that assigned them in Roman times. They were constantly at war with the Romans, who at last subdued them. In the middle ages they were known as the Beja, and conveyed pilgrims from the Nilevalley to Aidhab, the port of embarkation for Jedda. From time immemorial they have acted as guides to caravans through the Nubian desert and up the Nilevalley as far as Sennar. Research Ababda
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Abbreviations
Research Abada
