I found this man standing before a carved wall of Luxor’s Habu Temple, which is also known as the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III. Its inscribed reliefs depict the triumphs of his reign as Egypt’s Pharaoh from 1186 to 1155 BC. The carving in this image probably tells a small part of that story, while the Bedouin tribesman standing in front of it speaks to us of both past and present. The Bedouins are a desert dwelling Arab ethnic group, divided into many clans or tribes. Large numbers of Bedouins throughout the Middle East have left the traditional nomadic life to become settled citizens of various nations, rather than stateless nomadic herders. I do not know which tribe this man in this environmental portrait belongs to. He wears a white turban, a purple cloak, and carries a staff. He seems to come from another time, just as the carving behind him. Yet he is also most likely an Egyptian, and as such, the temple he stands in here can be seen as part of his own heritage.