Bedouin Weaving: The Traditional Art and Legacy of AlSadu is the most comprehensive exploration of this remarkable textile tradition. Drawing on years of fieldwork across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, Joy Totah Hilden documents the techniques, tools, and motifs of Bedouin weavers, capturing the cultural significance of their craft.

Through richly detailed photography and first-hand accounts, the book reveals how these textiles were woven not only to serve practical needs but also to express creativity, social status, and cultural identity. It also explores how AlSadu weaving continues to evolve—now recognised by UNESCO as an element of Intangible Cultural Heritage—bridging the past with the present in a rapidly changing world.

This updated edition brings together new insights from recent heritage preservation projects, rare archival photographs, and interviews with the last generation of traditional weavers. It offers a rare glimpse into a craft at the heart of Bedouin life, showing how women’s artistry shaped the material and social fabric of nomadic communities.

Beautifully illustrated and meticulously researched, it is both a celebration of Bedouin creativity and a vital record of a tradition that, while endangered, remains deeply symbolic of Arabian identity.

Joy Totah Hilden has dedicated decades to studying the weaving traditions of the Arabian Peninsula. She conducted extensive field research in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries, learning directly from Bedouin weavers and documenting their techniques, tools, and stories. Her work has played an important role in preserving the knowledge of AlSadu weaving for future generations.