During the fourteenth century, the Bedouins (ʿarab) of Egypt experienced a significant increase in power. The Bedouins were the group with the largest military and political power in the Mamluk Empire, after the ruling Mamluks themselves. This study offers the first comprehensive overview on Bedouin groups in politics and society of Mamluk Egypt with a focus on the ambivalent relationship between Bedouin and Mamluk representatives. What characterised the Bedouins’ way of life during this period, how were they perceived by the urban elites and how did the Bedouin-Mamluk-relationship change over time? These are the main questions this study deals with. In doing so, it focuses on the symbolic communication between Mamluks and Bedouins. It is shown that both groups used a common repertoire of rules, gestures and institutions that were essential to negotiating, shaping and adjusting their relations.