Clinton Bailey, a celebrated American-Israeli academic known for his extensive efforts to document and preserve the nomadic Bedouin culture, passed away on January 5 at his residence in Jerusalem. He was 88 years old, with heart failure cited as the cause of death by his son, Michael.
Dr. Bailey was born in Buffalo and dedicated nearly half a century to recording the rich oral traditions of Bedouin tribes throughout southern Israel and the Sinai Peninsula. His journey often involved traversing desert landscapes in a Jeep, joining Bedouins on their lengthy migrations atop camels, and capturing their oral poetry and communal rituals with his camera and tape recorder.
In a notable interview from 2021, Dr. Bailey emphasized the urgency of his work, noting the impending transformation of Bedouin society amidst modernization. As he observed the encroachment of urbanization, modern technology, and official policies restricting their nomadic lifestyle, he felt compelled to document the culture before it vanished completely. “I decided to try to capture that culture,” he said.
His remarkable archive, consisting of over 350 hours of audio recordings and a wealth of photographs, was donated to the National Library of Israel, which hailed it as an invaluable resource of orally transmitted traditions now at risk of disappearing among the younger Bedouin generations raised in a rapidly changing world. The library described his collection as “a treasure” of irreplaceable cultural heritage critical to understanding Bedouin life.
