ABSTRACT
The households of the Al Murrah are located deep within the desert. A more complete understanding of household structure and family life must necessarily await a male-female team that can sit and talk on both sides of the tent. All but a few Al Murrah households are composed of more than one conjugal family. Most include three generations of males—grandfather, father, and grandson—and their wives. The household in Al Murrah culture and society is especially associated with three aspects of their life—hospitality, herding, and the special domain of Al Murrah women. Individual members of the household sometimes own a few of the herd’s animals as their own private property, but most of the animals of any herd are held communally by the group as a whole. The major reason the Al Murrah give for preferring marriages between closely related persons is that these marriages are more likely to be successful and not to result in divorce.
