12. Dwellings and Domestic Habits
Dwellings and Domestic Habits
Chapter II Towns and Villages The general aspect of the towns and villages in Persia is very somber and uninviting, and contrast disadvantageously with those of Turkey, or indeed with almost every other Asiatic region, except, perhaps, the subterraneous villages of Armenia. The streets are crooked, narrow, irregular, and but partially if at all paved. They are inconvenient from dust in summer, and in winter are almost impassable on foot from mud. There is nothing in them to interest the eye or to engage the attention, as they rarely present anything to the street but dreary mud walls, from eight to fifteen feet high, with here and there low doors, at irregular intervals, and sometimes over them one small latticed window, being the only indication of human habitation, The doors or gates have a significance with respect to the standing or the prudence of the inhabitants; the high, large gate is a token of wealth, which provokes the envy of equals, who will not be slow to find accusations; or excites the cupidity of superiors, who can readily discover pretexts sufficient to relieve the ostentatious owner of his surplus revenue, if not to strip him of something more. This was also anciently true in Israel; for among the sayings of Solomon is this—“He that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction,” Proverbs 17:19. The doors by which the mud walls are thus pierced, lead by a narrow, blind passage, to open courts or squares, on the further side of which, and sometimes on all sides, is the dwelling. If the buildings occupy but part of the square, the remaining portions are enclosed by high mud walls, forming a kind of fort, for Security against robbers and the intrusion of curiosity. In many towns, the entrance passage slopes downward, and the court to which it leads is several feet below the level of the street, the earth on the spot having been used to construct the edifices and the walls which enclose them; for, as the Persians have no wheeled vehicles, the transport of building-materials, on the backs of horses or mules, would be expensive and inconvenient.
Houses The houses in Persia are of three general orders, corresponding in appearance and expense to the higher, middle, and lower classes of the people. The two former are built of sun-dried bricks. The palaces of princes and of rich nobles are sometimes built of burned brick and lime; but these are of rare occurrence. The houses are low, making up for the lack of height by the extent of the ground they cover. “We scarcely know whether to describe them as of two stories or of one. They are both, or neither; or rather, partly one, and partly the other. A house consists of a range of rooms, with alternately high and low ceilings; and over the lower ones, which are usually the halls through which the others are entered, low upper rooms are built, whose roofs rise but little, if at all, above those of the high ones of the lower story. The windows completely fill the whole front of the rooms, except the spaces occupied by two pillars in large rooms; and they open from a few inches above the floor, to a height of five or six feet. A room thus thrown open is delightfully cool in summer, especially when shaded by the extensive canvass awnings used in Persia. The windows are constructed of polygonal spaces, in appearance like the compartments of a honeycomb, one, two, or three inches in diameter. Those in which the interstices are of the smallest pattern are left open—that is, without the spaces being filled up—so that the air is admitted freely, while a person can look through without being observed from without. The window toward the street is usually of this kind; and such was doubtless the kind of “lattice” through which the mother of Sisera, with her ladies (Judges 5:28) looked forth for her expected son. These sashes, when of wider texture, are usually filled with small diamond-shaped pieces of glass, which are translucent, but not transparent, corresponding in size to the interstices, and of various bright glaring colors, which give to the whole, as viewed from within, a brilliant and somewhat imposing appearance. A single window of a Persian parlor, thus glazed, will cost twenty or thirty pounds,[1] or even much more, according to the delicacy of the wood-work, for in all kinds of joining the Persians are great amateurs, and are really very skilful. It is related by Mr. Fraser, that the Persian princes, who were some years ago in London, seemed to bestow more genuine admiration on nothing than on the various curious specimens of joinery and wood-carving which came incidentally under their notice. The middle classes cover their sashes with oiled paper; and another circumstance in which their houses differ from those of the higher class is, that the latter are mounted in front with a projection, from two to five feet wide, which consist of jutting rafters, inclining a little upward, on which jointed planks are fitted, and the whole is often tastefully painted and curiously carved. This projection adds much to the beauty of the edifice, as well as protects its walls and windows from the weather.
[1] In U.S. dollars this would equate to being between $3,100 to $4,600
If the houses in Palestine, as is not unlikely, were of similar arrangements, our Lord probably stood in the gallery formed by this projection, when the friends of the paralytic man vainly sought access to him through the crowd which filled the court, and therefore went up to the roof, and, removing some of the boards which covered this part, were enabled to let their helpless friend down to the place where Jesus stood. Our acquaintance with various oriental houses, has presented difficulties to every other explanation, and has shown this to be the most natural and intelligible of any. To remove any part of the substantial flat roof for such a purpose, would be very difficult, and would overwhelm the interior with the dust and rubbish of which such roofs are composed. The outsides of the houses in Persia are plastered with a mixture of mud and cut straw, of which also, as in ancient Egypt (Exodus 5:7), the sun-dried bricks are composed. This is not unpleasant to the European eye (probably from its having some rough resemblance to what we call Roman cement), especially when, as is often the case, the margins of the doors and windows are dressed with white plaster, which, alternating with the spaces of brown mud, impart a kind of liveliness to the front. But when we enter the interior of a good Persian house, we forget the narrow approach, and that the walls and exterior surface are of mud. The rooms are beautifully plastered with an admirable white gypsum, much firmer, harder, and more dazzlingly white, than anything of the same kind we possess, and the floors are covered with the richest carpets the east can furnish. The floors are first plastered with a mixture of lime and earth, and are thus rendered hard and level; they are then covered with the reed mats, over which the carpets are laid. It is probably known to most of our readers that these carpets, which are so much prized by us, under the name of “Turkey carpets,” are really the manufacture of Persia. The walls in the interior of the rooms are not dead surfaces, but are relieved by a row of recesses, about a yard square, the same height from the floor, and a few inches deep, at intervals of a foot or more from each other. High rooms have two rows of such recesses, with a ledge projecting two or three inches, to separate them. These recesses are intended for effect rather than use, but some of them are occasionally used to contain curious ornamental articles. Plastering is also often wrought into various diamonds, and curious geometrical figures, and into arabesques, flowers, and cornices of considerable elegance. The walls are not unusually painted, sometimes painted and gilded; and, at others—but rarely, unless in royal palaces—they are almost wholly lined with mirrors. Results which are tawdry, rather than splendid, when supplying the substantial magnificence which we expect to find in royal palaces, are agreeable and elegant in private houses; and, upon the whole, the Persians may be praised for the interior decorations of their rooms by the arts of the joiner and the plasterer. The ceilings are often wholly of un-painted wood, forming a large and admirable piece of joinery, like an immense sash, with innumerable blind panes or compartments, of the same wood as the framework. These ceilings are made on the floor, and raised whole to their place, by very simple though ingenious mechanical contrivances. They are seen only in good houses, and are highly and justly prized by the Persians. The courts which form the areas of their dwellings are, in the higher class of houses, neatly paved, in the borders and through the centers, with smooth stones or tiles, and the intervening spaces are decorated with flowerbeds, rose-bushes, and other shrubs, and often bubbling fountains. “As I have beheld princes and nobles,” says the Rev. Judkin Perkins,[2] “in their mansions, reclining and lolling on their soft carpets, under the shade of the broad canvass awning stretched above the windows, on a hot summer’s day, supported by soft cushions and pillows under their arm-pits, gurgling the kaleon,[3] or sipping the acid sherbet,[4] regaled by the fragrance of the flower-garden, and the chirping and cooing of birds in their cages, suspended from the shrubbery, or skipping free in its branches, my early conceptions of an eastern paradise have seemed to be realized. When, however, we remember the corroding apprehensions that incessantly prey upon their minds, in the uncertain tenure of their wealth, and the peril of their lives in that land of despotism,[5] the burning passions that war in their bosoms, and the poignant stings of a buffeting conscience for their ill-gotten gains, if for no worse crime, which embitter the sweetest, cups of their luxury, and implant thorns on their pillows of down, there is little in such a paradise to covet or envy.”
[3] A pipe, by which the smoking tobacco is drawn through an attached vase containing water, by which it is cooled before reaching the mouth [4] Drinks, made like lemonade, of the juices of fruits, mixed with water and sugar.
Middle Class Housing
What may be called the middle class of houses in Persia, are often plastered with a simple mixture of mud and chopped straw, the same as is used on the outside; and the floors are, of course, spread with carpets of an inferior quality. The pavements of the courts are also rude, or of the naked earth, and a small open rill, taken from the larger canals, supplies the place of fountains. The roofs of the houses in Persia are flat, and terraced over with earth. Stout timbers are first laid across the walls, about two feet apart. These are covered over with split sticks of wood, at intervals of perhaps three inches, on which are spread rush mats; then succeeds a thick layer of a rank, thorny weed, which grows abundantly on the mountains, in a bushy globular form, about a foot or two in diameter. This weed is so resinous as not soon to decay, is an excellent article of light fuel, and is much used for burning brick, heating ovens, etc. It may be “the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven,” as mentioned by our Savior, Matthew 6:30 and Luke 12:28. Upon the thick layer of this mud is spread a coat of clay-mortar, which is trodden down; and next, a stratum of dry earth, six or eight inches deep, over which is plastered a layer of the same mixed straw and mud which is so much used in facing the walls. An occasional depression on the back edge of the roof, furnished with a spout, a few feet long, conducts off the water. The soil is so tenacious in all parts of Persia, that there is little danger that a roof thus constructed will be pervious to the rain, if kept in a state of good repair. It is annually plastered over with the straw and mud, except in the driest parts of the country; and, in the northern parts, the roofs are rolled over after heavy rains, and snow is thrown off with a shovel as soon as it falls. These flat roofs are pleasant resorts to the inhabitants of the houses during the cool of the evening. The people sleep on them during the heat of summer, on account of the cool air and the freedom from vermin. The excessive dryness of the atmosphere prevents any danger from this practice, and it is said to be harmless even where the dews are heavy, as upon the shores of the Persian Gulf. The roofs are secured by “a battlement,” not only to prevent accidents, as enjoined by the law of Moses, but that one family may not gaze upon another’s premises; for which reason the “battlement,” or top wall, is generally higher than a man on the side towards neighboring houses. This is important, because Persian custom sanctions the shooting or stoning, without trial or mercy, of any indiscreet gazer into the neighboring premises; and we may say that we have lived for years in oriental houses, repairing daily to the housetop, without once daring to raise our head above the parapet, lest a bullet should be sent through it. The reader will recollect the conformity of these facts with usages of the roof mentioned in Scripture; and he will call to mind the sad sin and calamities into which David fell, in consequence of indulging in an idle curiosity, while walking upon the housetop, 2 Samuel 11:2-5.
It remains to notice the third or lowest class of dwellings, inhabited by the peasantry. The wall of these are built not even of unburned bricks, but of layers of mud, like the “cob-walls” of Devonshire cottages. They are of but one story, and that is commonly low. The soil is so strong in most parts of Persia, that water has only to be conducted upon almost any spot to form tenacious mortar, which is dug up by the spade, and slightly worked by the feet of men, and then laid into a wall, piece being laid upon piece by hand, four feet thick, and three feet high. This is allowed to harden and dry a few days, when another layer, of similar dimensions, but a little thinner, is laid upon it, and the same process is repeated till the wall is carried up to the desired elevation. These walls, when thoroughly dried, are very hard, and, if kept perfectly dry, by being plastered over with the universal plaster of mud and chopped straw, may last for generations. Such, without doubt, are “the houses of clay” of which Job makes mention. The walls that enclose the courts of the houses, and the walls of the towns in Persia, are of the same construction, the thickness of those at the bottom being commenced in proportion to the intended height. The roofs of the peasants’ houses have no projections; nor have they any windows; a hole in the roof is an outlet for the smoke, and admits a few rays of light.
Each house of the peasants in Persia has its open courts enclosed by walls; and the stables, barns, and out-houses, are entered by different doors from those which conduct to the apartments of the family. The premises in the villages are contiguous to each other for the sake of security; and it is possible to walk over the roofs through the whole length of a village without descending into the streets. As this implies, the roofs are not usually, as in towns, guarded by top-walls, though the inmates sleep on these in summer, the manners of the villagers being more simple, if not their morals more pure than those of the towns’ people. The courts of these dwellings are usually, in some sort, farm-yards; but such is the fondness of all kinds of Persians for flowers, that a small patch, even in the humblest court, is usually kept as a flower-garden. Another circumstance which agreeably distinguishes the villages of Persia from those of Turkey, is the presence of clumps of trees, in or near them; so that a traveler is enabled to distinguish his destined resting-place in the distance long before he reaches it.
Ovens The oven used in the villages is primitive and curious, and deserves description. It consists of a circular hole in the earth, in the middle of the chief room, about three feet deep, and perhaps two in width at the top and three at the bottom, with a flue entering it there, to convey air to the fire. This hole is internally coated with clay, which soon hardens into tile. The bread is drawn out in thin cakes, from two to three feet long, eight or ten inches wide, and scarcely the thickness of a common dinner-plate. It assumes this shape almost in a moment by the wonderful tact of the maker, who simply tosses a piece of dough rapidly from hand to hand. Thus drawn out like a membrane, it is laid upon a sort of cushion, and stuck on to the side of the oven, where it attaches and crisps in a few seconds, and another, as quickly made ready, succeeds to the same place. Bread in the cities differs from this only in being made of flour more finely sifted, and in thicker cakes, which are baked at the bottom of large ovens paved with pebbles. The thin bread soon dries, and may long be preserved. Except on a journey, however, it is usually baked every day, and eaten fresh: and as every family bakes its own bread daily, there is none to sell any that may be accidentally required; whence the arrival of strangers soon occasions the master to give the same order “to bake cakes upon the hearth,” which the arrival of the three seeming wayfarers induced Abraham to give to Sarah, Genesis 18:6. We were always much interested with this and other Biblical recollections, in observing the regularity with which our arrival at any village habitation was followed by this operation of baking bread, which there were thus frequent opportunities of observing. But the baking of bread is not the only use of the tanoor, or oven of the peasants. It serves also the important purpose of warming the room in winter most effectually, at a wonderfully small expenditure of fuel; which, indeed, in most parts of Persia, is very scarce. That it may serve this purpose the more completely, it is converted into a tandoor, by laying a flat stone, or a large earthen covering, made for the purpose, over the top, and placing over this a frame resembling a low table, four or six feet square, and perhaps a foot high, and covering the whole with a large thick quilt, which extends to the ground on all sides. The oven is heated only once a day for baking and cooking. But the hole in the roof over it, being closed after the smoke has passed out, and the warmth retained in the oven in the manner described, a single fire is made to suffice for the whole twenty-four hours. The whole family encompass the tandoor, sitting on the ground, with their feet under the quilt, to keep themselves warm, which by this process is perfectly accomplished even in the coldest weather. At night, they spread their couches around it, and form a circle by placing their feet near the fire, while their heads radiate from it, and thus they socially sleep. Barbarous as this invention may seem, and unwholesome as it certainly is, it is by no means confined to the peasantry, but is found in the noblest mansions of the cities, only burning more agreeable fuel than the villagers can command.
Lighting The Persians have no candles for lighting their houses. They have brass cups, fixed upon rods or stands of the same metal, which they fill with pure white tallow, having a cotton wick in the middle. Sometimes, however, they burn scented tapers, the wax of which has been mixed up with oil of cinnamon, or cloves, or some other scented substances, and which therefore emit a fragrance in burning.
Furniture The furniture of a Persian house is exceedingly simple when compared with ours, as indeed is the case in all eastern countries, except in China, where the movables are in number and variety scarcely inferior to our own. “We find in the best Persian dwellings, neither beds sumptuously decorated, nor tables and chairs of costly wood, nor chandeliers and lusters, nor those numberless articles of various forms and materials with which Europeans decorate their apartments. The furniture consists of a thick coarse felt, which covers the floor, over which is spread a rich Persian carpet; people in middling circumstances content themselves with the felt alone. Instead of chairs, small mattresses, about a yard wide, are placed on the floor around the room, and covered with chintz, silk, or cloth of gold. Cushions set on end against the wall serve for leaning against. When the time of rest arrives, a mattress is spread upon the carpet, with a kind of counterpane, and two pillows of down. This is all the bed used by the Persians, among whom the employment of sheets and blankets is not known, and who rest without undressing. The mattress is of velvet, and the counterpane of silk brocade, or cloth of gold or silver. Articles of this kind are valuable, and are not changed perhaps for a century; for the velvets and brocades are of the most lasting texture, and seem indeed scarcely ever to wear out, owing, perhaps, in part to the extreme dryness of the atmosphere. In Persia, a native never enters a room in boots or slippers; and a transgression of this usage by foreigners is looked upon as the height of ill-breeding, if not a premeditated insult. As the people use their carpets not only for domestic purposes, but to kneel down on when they say their prayers, they are considered in some measure sacred, and hence arises the custom of a visitor leaving his slippers at a room door. The term “door” here means whatever denotes the way of ingress to the apartment; for although in general there is a double door of carved or painted wood, which may be closed at pleasure, yet it is so seldom shut in the day that, in summer, we usually find a silk or chintz curtain filling the vacant space of the entrance, its light drapery being not only a cooler, but a more elegant appendage; besides that a person can slip in and out without that distraction and noise caused by the frequent opening and shutting of a wooden door; for which reason, probably, the practice has been adopted in our courts of law at Westminster Hall. An attending servant raises the curtain at the approach of a visitor, and drops it when he has entered.