A e-book printed by way of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage within the Emirates “The Tent within the Atlantic Desolate tract: An Ethnographic Find out about”which is 237 pages of medium dimension, by way of Dr. Rahal Bobrik, researcher in anthropology and historical past, first version 1445 AH / 2024 AD / Sharjah.
Within the writer’s creation, Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Muslim says: “That is the place we commence, from those fashionable variations that we in moderation select for you, with a purpose to chart a transparent trail to pop culture, variations which can be guided by way of tradition, whose content material is conventional wisdom, and whose benefit is get entry to to the center with out affectation or frowning…”
In the similar regard, the top of the Sharjah Heritage Institute provides: “By way of conserving and documenting our widespread literature, traditions, and widespread wisdom, we maintain heritage, and thus the foundations of nationwide id are consolidated and develop within the spirit and sense of right and wrong, so we maintain id. That is the slogan of the Sharjah Heritage Institute (We maintain heritage… We maintain id).”
The tent within the Arabic language
Dr. Rahal Bobrik issues out that the tent is named “the home of poetry” in Arabic. It’s made basically of goat hair, whilst its edges are woven from camel hair, which provides the tent a black colour tending to brown. It is named the hair tent, and in overseas literature: The darkish tent (L. a. tente noire). There are in reality different types of tents, however the tent that’s the matter of our find out about is the “hair tent,” using which seemed within the Arab East. Subsequently, it is usually known as: “the Arab tent” with a purpose to distinguish it from different sorts unfold in Asia and Africa amongst nomadic peoples.
The anthropological researcher highlights that we can’t cut back the tent to its geometric bodily look, or believe it a easy residing that protects from the chilly and the solar, or a spot for financial actions. Despite the fact that it in reality represents a circle of relatives financial unit supervised by way of the top of the circle of relatives, its position is going past the purely financial facet. It’s true that the tent is a bodily residing, nevertheless it additionally comes to a social and symbolic international. Our find out about of the tent isn’t simply an outline of the weather, apparatus, and methods utilized in making the tent as cellular housing, however moderately seeks to spot the character and essence of nomadic lifestyles and way of life within the barren region, which additionally can’t be decreased to its bodily look. This can be a fabricated from human adaptation to the herbal prerequisites represented by way of the barren region.
Getting into the hair tent into the barren region
Dr. Rahal Boubrik confirms that the access and unfold of the poetry tent within the Atlantic barren region dates again to the time of the delegations of the Arab stronghold tribes to the barren region, coming from the Arab East beginning within the 14th century AD. It first of all settled in North Africa, prior to a few of its elements started shifting against the barren region south. The Arab tribes arriving in North Africa from the Arabian Peninsula introduced…
Along with the above, anthropological researcher Bobrick issues out that the tent was once provide within the narratives of a few overseas texts for the reason that 15th century AD. The Portuguese Gomes Ainz de Zurara (1453) notes using wool or material tents by way of the population of this area. He talks about two sorts of housing for the Atlantic barren region tribes: those that survive the coast, who’re the Aznaga (Sanhaja) fishermen, are living in villages composed of (reed properties), whilst those that are living within the inside, who’re Arab nomads and Aznaga (Sanhaja), are living in (wool tents). or material).
Rahal Bubrik issues out that the Arab affect was once transparent in regards to the names of the hair tent apparatus, because the Arab tribes followed native gear. The dictionary of utensils and day by day lifestyles gear is derived from the Berber language of the nomadic Bedouins who discuss Hassaniya (the Arabic dialect spoken within the Atlantic barren region). A part of the gear for making the tent, its furnishings and cooking utensils are of Berber foundation. like: Agrshal, Amshaqab, Tasufrah, Azarma, Tazia.
On their lengthy adventure from the East, the Maqal tribes carried their tents and a little bit utensils and furnishings. Anywhere it is going, it builds its tents and makes use of the native gear, utensils, and furnishings of the area during which it lives. When she arrived within the Atlantic barren region, she didn’t trade her habitat, however moderately tailored it to the straightforward barren region atmosphere.
The primary elements of the tent are: the falajah, the tent cover, the pegs, and the mountains.
Dr. Bobrick presentations that of the entire several types of tents (amongst them the ones made from animal pores and skin, tree fiber, or straw), the hair tent established itself as a style within the barren region West. The cover of this tent is basically made from goat hair and camel hair. We use the phrase “cover” to seek advice from the piece of tent that constitutes crucial part of the tent, for the reason that latter is composed, along with the cover, of poles, pegs, ropes, and different components that might be discussed.
The cover is composed of 8 to 9 falaj or falaj (singular falaj), which can be oblong items of thick cloth produced from a mix of goat hair and camel hair. The amount of each and every element varies in step with areas. If the nomads personal a big herd of goats enough to offer them with the hair they want, they rely on it greater than camel hair, as is the case with the camel vacationers within the Tiris area south of the Sahara, the place camel hair constitutes a big share of the wool from which the tent is woven. Notice that goat hair is extra proof against fluctuating climate prerequisites, and extra tolerant to the indications of continuing motion of nomads, so the perfect tent is a tent woven from natural goat hair, and is predominantly black, whilst the only woven from camel hair has a tendency to be brown in colour.
The scale of the tent varies in step with two elements: the social standing of the tent proprietor, and the choice of individuals of his circle of relatives. The bigger the period of the falaj, the bigger the scale of the tent.
Dr. Bobrick continues that, along with the falajah, the tent is composed of wood gear that constitute the construction of its building. The tent is erected the use of two primary helps known as “arkees” (singular: pillar), which can be two lengthy columns (3 to 4 meters relying at the dimension of the tent), made from acacia tree wooden, and are erected within the form of a pyramid. Because the identify signifies, the “archays” shape the construction on which the construction of the tent rests.
Along with the “archays”, there are 3 poles (about 1.5 metres), elevating the entrance of the tent (the door or mouth). Two of them are situated at the left and proper aspects (the 2 doorways) to stabilize the door, and the 3rd is within the heart and is named the “stick”. Those 3 columns are mounted in steel rings known as “halak” (plural: al-halakat), mounted to the “lamtanba” the use of a small strip known as “tariqa.”
At the entrance finish of the tent, on the degree of the 2 pillars, a curved piece of wooden (between 20 and 30 cm) is positioned with two grooves known as “donkeys” (plural: pigeons), to which the higher ends of the pillars are connected.
Putting in the tent and folding it whilst touring
Dr. Bobrick issues out that the tent is a cellular residing this is easy and simple to construct, set up, and delivery. When stitching the falajah is completed, the girl chooses the suitable position to pitch the tent (“the home”), and with the assistance of different girls or males, she carries the massive woven piece over the poles, then extends the ends, drives within the pegs, and tightens the ropes that safe the “khawalif” and “dhahra.” The sides of the 4 corners are longer than the center ones. At this level, don’t pull the ropes too laborious.
Males who didn’t take part in making the tent – except for “Zazz” – give a contribution to the method of erecting it. Elevating the tent to the highest calls for everybody’s cooperation and participation.
Dr. Bobrik confirms that the lifetime of the Bedouins is in keeping with consistent commute searching for pasture and water. They’re known as “sons of the clouds” or “sons of the clouds.” They transfer in step with a decent gadget of motion around the box, the place commute is arranged and now not random.
The pinnacle of the circle of relatives or the sheikh of the extended family or tribe – relying at the unit of commute – is the person who comes to a decision the days of motion to seek for pastures or wells in keeping with the seasons and safety prerequisites.
Because of consistent commute, the tent is continuously being constructed, dismantled and rebuilt. The method of dismantling the tent (“tearing down the tent”) starts with the boys amassing the flock, whilst the ladies dismantle the tent. They start accumulating the inner furnishings, taking away the “kaff,” then decreasing the pillars and pulling the pegs. After that, the tent, together with the wood poles, is folded and carried at the again of a camel designated for this goal (“dabash camel”).
“Space” from the interior
Bobrick highlights that the tent’s internal area is split into two spaces: a masculine area designated for males and hospitality. The female area is situated at the proper facet of the tent (for the individual sitting throughout the tent, going through the door), and the masculine area is at the left facet. The pillars of the tent marked a boundary between two areas of the similar dimension, and a fabric curtain may well be drawn (screened) and dropped when important, in order that the ladies may raise on their actions clear of the eyes of ordinary males. From time to time a construction is ready up throughout the tent in particular for girls, so they may be able to deal with their privateness, particularly if the girl has simply given start or there are visitors within the tent.
After development the tent, the furnishings and assets (dabash) are organized in step with a gadget matter to this department. The tent is unfold with a mat of fronds braided with a plant that grows close to puts the place water collects, known as “samaar.” Within the spouse’s tent area, kitchen utensils (“ma’an”) and furnishings are organized, crucial of which is the “rhal”, which is a wood piece on which coverings similar to fur, velvet, and carpets are positioned.
If we exclude the utensils which can be used for cooking over a fireplace (marjan, barad, and mughraj), maximum utensils are made from wooden or fronds and fibers of vegetation that develop within the barren region (pots, kadha, and hamara). As for the vessels made from leather-based, they come with: Tasufrah, Asrama, Tazaya, Al-Dhabiyeh, Al-Shakwa, and Al-Mudud.
The “mill” (stone mill) is likely one of the maximum essential items of kit that should be to be had within the tent, as it’s used to grind barley and wheat grains, which can be the 2 primary foodstuffs along with milk. After grinding the grains, the girl of the tent sifts the flour to extract “dashisha” for porridge and couscous, whilst the flour is used for bread. Cereals also are ready which can be fried and eaten (“kidney”) or used to make meals similar to “bulgman” and “zamit.”
Social and symbolic illustration
On this segment, the ethnographic researcher Bobrik confirms that the tent is the gap during which the sector of nomadism is lived and practiced, and it’s the person who constitutes the unit of commute (the crowd of tents “Al-Farik”), and breathes lifestyles and spirit into the huge and empty barren region. The tent is an embodiment of the human presence that contrasts with the savagery and risk of the herbal void.
In Hassaniyya, it’s mentioned “lāmāra”, this means that human presence in trade for vacancy, a idea that refers back to the agreement of the earth and filling it with lifestyles. The idea that of urbanism is derived from “land structure,” the place “structure” linguistically method presence in position. Subsequently, the reconstruction of where takes position in the course of the human presence, and now not via creative expressions in building.
Within the context of the barren region, human presence takes on a that means parallel to town development and architectural creations in different cultures. Desolate tract dwellers face the issue of sizzling warmth, which is the most important problem, so the Arab tent was a easy and efficient answer: a tent roof at the poles of barren region shrubs.
A social and cultural image
Bobrick provides that the tent is not only a refuge, however moderately the human structure of the barren region. “Khala” is related to an area empty of people, an area believed to be full of evil spirits or “jinn” (in Hassaniya they’re known as “other people of Khalla”). The tent is going past this straightforward bodily measurement as a refuge, because it carries symbolic, social and cultural dimensions.
The tent is a social, cultural and symbolic illustration, reflecting human representations of the sector. This illustration begins from the projections of the human frame onto the elements of the tent: the mouth of the tent (the door), the again of the tent, and others.
The researcher believes that this projection additionally extends to the encircling herbal box, the place names impressed by way of the human frame are given to the terrain: Kalb (a heart-shaped elevation), Foum el-Wad (the mouth of the valley), Al-Dari (flat), and Al-Dahr.
Traditionalists consider that those labels create intermediaries between guy and his exterior international. Each conversation dating passes in the course of the frame, as Muhammad Bougali defined in his find out about at the illustration of the sphere amongst illiterate Moroccans. The standard individual assigns the names of his individuals to his rapid sphere, similar to: Ras al-Darb, Foum al-Dar, Sadr al-Bayt. This dating between frame and box allows people to have interaction with their atmosphere in ways in which replicate their tradition and gadget of concept.
#ethnographic #find out about #finds #symbolism #tent