4to. German with some Arabic text, Volume I: Die Beduinenstamme in Mesopotamien und Syrien: ix, [1], 387 pp., frontispiece portrait, 1 map, numerous tables of which 2 are folding, 20 b/w plates, 1 large folding map and 1 large folding table in rear pocket / Volume II: Die Beduinenstamme in Palästina, Transjordanien, Sinai, Hedjaz: xvi, 447 pp., frontispiece portrait of Ali Ibn al-Husain, 12 b/w plates, numerous tables, 2 folding maps in rear pocket / Volume III: Die Beduinenstamme in Nord und Mittelarabien und im ‘Irak: xv, 495 pp., 2 folding maps in rear pocket, numerous tables in text of which some folding, Volumes I-III in contemporary cloth, title gilt on spine & front cover / Volume IV, Part 1: Die Arabischen Stamme in Chuzistan (Iran) Pariastamme in Arabien: xiv, 154 pp., [1 errata], frontispiece portrait, tables, 2 folding maps in rear pocket / Volume IV, Part II: Register und literaturverzeichnis (Index and Biblio), 158 pp., Volume IV, Parts I & II in publisher’s original wrappers, partially unopened, as new, Otto Harrassowitz, Leipzig / Wiesbaden, first edition, 1939-1968.

Synopsis

FIRST EDITION. COMPLETE SET. Perhaps the most important and extensive study ever made on the Bedouins of Palestine, Syria, Iraq, and Hijaz. Very rare to find it complete, since it was published over a period of 40 years. Baron Max von Oppenheim (1860-1946), was a leading Prussian diplomat and researcher, who lived many years at the beginning of the 20th century in Cairo and Istanbul as a diplomat participating in international policy regarding the Arabs. As a member of the privileged diplomatic circles, Oppenheim kept in contact with local leaders, in order to be informed about the social and political conditions. He was very much interested in the Bedouin tribes and their Emirs. Accordingly, he started his research studying documents, and social structure of each tribe. He travelled extensively in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, and Northern Arabia. He also accomplished archaeological studies in the Euphrates Valley and Northern Iraq at the source of the al-Khabur attributers of the Euphrates. He discovered a previously unknown culture on two hills, namely Tell Halaf and Jabal Al-Baida.
Bibliographic references: Henze III, 650; Macro Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula Nr. 1720.