On some places it is spelled Al Jasra and on others it is spelled Al Jasrah. It is in the village of Jasra.
On some places it is spelled Al Jasra and on others it is spelled Al
Jasrah. It is in the village of Jasra.
Tuesday June 19th 2001
This takes a while to download due to photos ~ don't give up.
Berlin and I went touring ~This was a really neat place and all the people there
were so friendly ~ Most spoke English fairly well, and a whole lot better than I
speak Arabic. The older ladies doing the basketry were so funny ~
They had hello, thank you , and bye bye down pat! This one lady kept
waving and saying bye bye, bye bye ~ she was a doll and did not mind her photo
being taken. I always ask!
These are some of the things the women were making
The next building we went in was a cute little ole man. He said he has been weaving for 40 years ~ started when he was 10. He has 2 sons that work here also. Altogether he has 6 sons and 6 daughters ~ and he was quick to tell me ONLY 1 WIFE ~ haha
Here he is seperating out the threads. He said there were 2,030
threads here. He is making a coat wrap for men.
Now he is doing the weaving.
If you look closely, you will see a hole in the floor. That is where
his feet are. He has 2 pedals down there and when he presses on them it
opens up the threads and he throws the bobbin thru ~ very fascinating to watch.
This sign explains about the weaving.
The next place we went into was the pottery making. The
man in there was so friendly and said he would make something from scratch for
us.
And
the finished product!
It took less than 5 minutes for him to do this. This is another pot he
is working on. This will be a large one and he does it in steps. He
makes it so high, lets it dry some and keeps adding on to it. You can see the
top he is adding and then he evens it out and it ended up looking like it was
all done at one time and very straight and even. He said you had to put it
on the wheel to see if it were even and straight.
The next place we went were to the Traditional Chest Making building. The chests were beautiful and the man was explaining them to me. He had won a special award for his craftsmanship. He told me to look at this one chest and if I could find the hidden drawer he would give the chest to me. I looked the dang thing over from top to bottom and opened all the drawers and could not find it ~ so I did not get a free chest. But he showed me where it was ~ ah ha! and I am not telling cause I would love to get one made for me with a secret drawer!
Here is a little information about the chests ~
| These have widely been used in most parts of the Arabian Gulf. |
| They used to be imported from India and Zanzibar and are very costly for their quality. |
| The wooden chest were mainly used to store expensive clothing, gold jewelry and other valuables including important documents and papers. |
| Secured locks are used since these chests were considered to be the safe for most valuable items. |
| These chests are very heavy and are not easy to move from one place to another. |
| To keep away from ground humidity and moisture, the chests are placed on cylinder-shaped legs. |
| These are made from high quality teak or oak wood which are highly resistant to damage and wear. |
| The wood chests are crafted by very experienced skilled men and generally the making of wood chests is restricted to a few number of craftsmen who pass such skills and talent to their sons. |
| Beautifully shaped and designed, these wood chests are ornamented with fine linings and brass flakes of golden glazing. The chest is polished with sesame oil or varnish polish to maintain quality and durability. |
| Types of crafted wood chests: |
| 1- AlMobayet: |
| most famous chest, with small drawers at the bottom, where valuables are kept. |
| Traditionally, this type of wood chest used to be presented to the bride on the wedding night in order that she keeps in her dresses and make-up items. |
| 2- Al Ghatam: |
| similar to al Mobayet, and this is made from teak or Oak wood but has less ornamentals and artistic lines. |
| This type of wood chest was used for storing kitchen utensils, food stuff and some clothing. |
| 3- Buhbal (Mesheg): |
| here the chest is tied around at the bottom side with ropes since it has to be stronger and more durable for the travelers and traders who depend on these chests when traveling. |
| 4- Al Beshtakhta: |
| smaller wood chest which were widely used by pearl merchants for keeping different high quality pearls. |
| These chests are also used for keeping important documents and papers. |
The women were not there today making the dolls and the men were not there making the boats ~ so I must return to check that out ~ The garden area around the place was beautiful with many trees ~ some were mango trees ~ the mangos were still very green. I don't know when they get ripe. There were also many date palms and several others that I have no idea what they were, but it was nice and shady!!!!
