Liyathnah

Some 19th century Orientalists have interestingly noted the tribe as possibly descending from a people of Jewish origins and customs,[2][3] although genetic samples place them alongside the Judhamite Arab bedouins who populate most of the Jordanian desert.

[2] He writes:"The immediate neighbourhood of Wady Musa is in the hands of Fellahin called the Liyatheneh; they are of so decided a Jewish type as to have led Dr Wilson and others to imagine them to be descendants of those Simeonites who settled in Edom.

They are the sons of Leith, a lineal descendant of Kaab, and a branch of the Kheibari Jews, who resided near Mecca and played so important a part in the early history of Islam.

"[3]In his 1942 book Arab Command: The Biography of Lieutenant-Colonel F. W. Peake Pasha, Claude Scudamore Jarvis describes the Liyathnah as a tribe of about three thousand people living in Petra and Wadi Musa.

[8] Ben Zvi proposes that both the Liyathnah and Bedul tribes are descendants of Edomites who converted to Judaism during the Hasmonean period, and later fought in the First Jewish–Roman War alongside the Jews.

[9] The Liyathnah tribe constitutes most of the population of Wadi Musa, a town in the Ma'an Governorate of Jordan, close to the ancient city of Petra.

[10] Since then, the nearby town of Wadi Musa has experienced significant development, with many hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, and souvenir shops opening up.

[1] Members of the Liyathnah are the primary operators of the hotels and the horse industry from Wadi Mousa to the entrance of the siq (gorge) leading into Petra.