Parfums d’Orient

Parfums d’Orient

by | Museums & Exhibitions

Institut du Monde Arabe

Parfums d’Orient

Fragrance has always been important in North Africa and the Middle East. It plays a crucial role on many levels, a theme I explored in my book Silver & Frankincense. So you can imagine my excitement when the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris presented their exhibition Parfums d’Orient: I had to go and see it!

Ancient stone incense burner from the Arab Peninsula

Fragrance: a long history

The exhibition starts out with the history of perfume and perfume-making. As it was a well-visited exhibition, I had to wait a little before I could see the showcases, and while I looked around, I caught a whiff of something….roses? Was I imagining things? There were large photographs of the rose harvest in Morocco on the wall, so perhaps I got carried away before my visit had well and truly started?

The mystery was quickly solved when I approached the first showcases. These showed early incense burners, explained how the trade in frankincense brought prosperity to the Arab Peninsula and how fragrances like musk, oudh, ambergris and frankincense became prized goods in the ancient world. And with the showcases were beautifully designed dispensers that allowed visitors to smell each of these fragrances. Not too much and certainly not too heavy, but just enough to leave a hint of perfume lingering in the air.

Large cylinders with rose petals and saffron added a visual element to fragrance: with a click of a button, the petals whizzed around in their glass cylinders while a puff of scent was released. The video below shows what that looked like. To me, it was a beautiful visual companion to the photographs of the rose harvest I mentioned earlier, and a perfect start of the visit to get in the mood for perfumes.

Perfume and economics

From these first scents, the exhibition continues to the smells of everyday life. A small corner with tanned leather allows you to explore the foul smell of that process (and if you have visited the tanneries of Fez or Marrakech for example, you’ll know what I mean…!).

Large photographs of incense and perfume merchants in Oman tell the story of trade and commerce. Here, one of the explanations read that the souqs in Oman were the last place where fragrances were created in the traditional style, but I do seem to recall seeing that in Marrakech for example, too: there is hope yet for the traditional way of creating perfumes.

Perfume: science and creating

From the souq, we move on to the scientific processes behind distillation and evaporation. This was invented in the Middle Ages, and I absolutely loved seeing a replica of a distilling device next to a medieval manuscript depicting just such a thing. Medieval glass vessels show the craftmanship behind this scientific approach.

This part continues with the art of blending fragrances. Here again, the visitor experience is central: a ‘smelling station’ allows you to follow the buildup of three different fragrances, from the base notes, through the heart, to the top notes. It was a wonderfully layered experience to smell the ingredients coming together!

Necklace of scented beads from Tunisia, with gold beads.
Moroccan silver fibula with perfume box

Perfume: home and guests

From the fields of roses and the streets of the souqs, the exhibition then continues into the home. Here, we learn of the importance of cleanliness and appearing well-groomed. Perfuming guests and hospitality are beautifully and evocatively illustrated, again with fragrance gently surrounding the visitor.

Home fragrances are also extended into the domain of cooking and spices: many ingredients in perfume are also used in medicine and the kitchen.

Fragrance: intimacy and beauty

In the last space, we enter the most private sphere: that of individual care and intimacy. Fragrance is an important agent in the intimacy of marriage for example. Jewellery designed to hold perfume or made of fragrant substances itself is also shown, like the necklace of scented beads from Tunisia, or the fibula with a small box for scented material, both in the gallery above (click on the image to enlarge the photo).

And finally, at the end of the exhibition, we take our leave as honoured guests: a small dispenser at the end of the exhibition drips perfume into the palm of our hand. A scent that stayed with me for hours, and illustrated how perfume connects. On the metro ride home, I caught a faint whiff of that same perfume…

…and sure enough, a fellow passenger carried a bag with the Institut du Monde Arabe-logo on it. We looked at each other and smiled. For a brief and fleeting moment, we were no longer strangers on the subway, but connected by our shared experience of a museum visit, and recognizing each other by our perfume.

Parfums d’Orient: a multi-layered exhibition

This exhibition was absolutely stunning. I loved how it combined seeing and smelling into one experience. The whizzing rose petals next to a large photo, the size of the photographs of the Omani souqs that transport the visitor, the combination of medieval manuscripts with replicas and layered scents…there is so much to see, learn and experience.

As a visitor, you do not need to worry this is too much of a ‘smell-fest’: should you wish to smell a particular scent, you’ll need to push a button that releases a small puff. It creates a moment of intimacy rather than abundance.

Besides smell, images and objects, throughout the exhibition you will encounter modern art woven into the storylines in a very natural way. Modern glass containers stand next to Fatimid crystal, an artwork evokes incense smoke whirling upwards, a colourful tapestry is actually entirely made of spices.

The exhibition shows how fragrance carries meaning, and continues to do so. From the ancient world to our day and age, this journey through the world of perfume is a journey through being human: the things we fear, the joy we feel, the discoveries we make, the natural world around us. Highly recommended: enjoy this sensory journey!

Parfums d’Orient: Sept 26, 2023 – March 17, 2024.

Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris. See more info on their website here.

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Explore the world of fragrance in the course Scents of the Middle East!

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Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

Palestine jewels: Bethlehem

Palestine jewels: Bethlehem

by | Cultures & People

jewellery of Palestine

Traditional Palestinian jewellery: Bethlehem

Updated August 25, 2024

Bethlehem and its surrounding region are home to a recognizable tradition in dress and adornment. In this blog, I’ll show you the most common elements of Bethlehem adornment – with photographs that rarely have been published elsewhere.

Two Palestinian women in Lifta, carrying water.

Bethlehem and surrounding villages

The town of Bethlehem is located on the West Bank, to the south of Jerusalem. In the immediate vicinity are many smaller villages, which share a similar personal attire. These similarities are visible in a wider area. The photograph shown above (click on the image to enlarge it) is in the collection of the Netherlands Institute for the Near East, Leiden. It shows women in the village of Lifta, which is to the north of Jerusalem, dressed in the same dress and jewellery as women in Bethlehem. [1]

Girls and a woman in Artas, Palestine. The girl on the left holds a chicken and is wearing a headdress with silver coins.
Bethlehem shatweh with coral beads, gold and silver coins.
Back view of a Bethlehem shatweh, showing additional Ottoman coins.

Bethlehem headdress: shatweh and taqiyeh

Married women in Bethlehem and the surrounding villages of Beit Jala, Lifta and Beit Sahur wore a headdress called shatweh. [2] This is a conical shaped headdress, densely embroidered on the outside and decorated with coins and coral beads.

Two examples of the shatweh are included in the gallery above: click on the images to enlarge them.

The coins could be either gold or silver, and wealthier people were reported to own two of these: one with gold for festive days, and one with silver for every day wear. However, in most cases wear of this headdress was limited to festive occasions such as weddings. [3] The Frank Scholten archive, containing photographs made between 1921 and 1923, shows many women in Bethlehem of which only few wear the shatweh.

Unmarried girls wore a smaller headdress, known as qurs or taqiyeh.[4] This was a type of bonnet, tied under the chin or under the hair with strings, and embellished with embroidery and coins. An example of this can be seen in the gallery above: click on the photo to enlarge. Both headdresses were covered with a cream-coloured veil of flowing silk. [5]

A forehead ornament of small hand amulets, called khamassiyat after these hands, was worn in the wider area of Bethlehem, Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley. [6] A photo of such an ornament is in the galley below: click on the image to enlarge.

Three solid silver haydari bracelets from Bethlehem.
Khamassiyat forehead ornament, worn in the Jordan Valley and Bethlehem area.
Group of Palestinian women in Bethlehem, wearing silver jewellery glinting in the sun.

Traditional jewellery of Bethlehem: bracelets

The most used jewellery in the Bethlehem area were bracelets called haydari. Their use is not limited to the Bethlehem region: they are also found in Jaffa and el-Khalil. Bracelets like these were worn in pairs, and it is not uncommon to find women wearing several bracelets stacks on each wrist.

An example can be seen in the photograph by Frank Scholten above (click on the image to enlarge – also it’s not your Internet connection, this photo of a century old is a bit unfocused). The haydari bracelets are solid silver, and were produced in both Bethlehem itself and Jerusalem.

Other bracelets also worn in this area are the bracelets of a twisted band, called mabroum, and bangles with little dots called ‘lentil’-bracelets because of their resemblance to lentils. [7]

Finnish scholar Hilma Granqvist wearing bridal jewellery of Bethlehem.
Two solid silver chin-chains called iznaq from Palestine.

The Star of Bethlehem: shining in silver

A remarkable and very typical piece of adornment for this region is the silver chin-chain. This was called ‘iznaq saba’ arwah, or ‘seven spirits’. The chin-chain was made of solid silver links, most often adding up to six or seven strands, which were connected in the centre by a star-shaped ornament.

The star was also referred to as the Star of Bethlehem. [8] From the set of chains, a central coin was suspended. Depending on the wealth of the wearer, the set of chains could be embellished further with multiple coins. The chin-chain was hooked into the shatweh headdress, and floated across the chest of the wearer.

Finnish researcher Hilma Granqvist was dressed up by her hosts in traditional bridal attire when visiting Bethlehem [9]. On the photo, which you see above, she wears a low shatweh headdress and the chin-chain ornament.

The chin-chain ornament was worn widely in the region of Bethlehem, too, as the image of the two women from Lifta at the top of this post shows. But as these were expensive pieces, they were not worn every day, and may even have been borrowed on festive occasions from wealthier family members. [10]

The photographs in the Hilma Granqvist archive show many women in everyday activities dressed in the Bethlehem thobe and wearing their bracelets, but without the festive shatweh headdress and accompanying chin-chain.

A rich heritage

The traditional jewellery of Bethlehem shows the splendour of the heritage of this town and its surrounding villages. The shatweh has become iconic for Palestinian dress and adornment. It is a heritage to be celebrated!

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References

[1] NINO Leiden, Böhl-collection.

[2] Weir, S. 1989. Palestinian Costume. The Trustees of the British Museum, London, p. 181.

[3] Völger, G. (ed) 1987. Pracht und Geheimnis. Kleidung und Schmuck aus Pälästina und Jordanien, p. 284.

[4] Weir, S. 1989. Palestinian Costume. The Trustees of the British Museum, London, p. 182-183.

[5] Völger, G. (ed) 1987. Pracht und Geheimnis. Kleidung und Schmuck aus Pälästina und Jordanien, p. 284.

[6] Rajab, J. 1989. Palestinian Costume, p. 115.

[7] Weir, S. 1989. Palestinian Costume. The Trustees of the British Museum, London, p. 199.

[8] Völger, G. (ed) 1987. Pracht und Geheimnis. Kleidung und Schmuck aus Pälästina und Jordanien, p. 302.

[x9 Hägmann, S. 2023. Dedicated to Palestine. The life and work of ethnologist Hilma Granqvist, p. 96.

[10] For Artas, this practice is mentioned in Völger, G. (ed) 1987. Pracht und Geheimnis. Kleidung und Schmuck aus Pälästina und Jordanien, p. 284. Weir, S. 1989. Palestinian Costume. The Trustees of the British Museum, London, p. 194 mentions that in most villages, chin-chains were only one or two strands instead of six or seven: this was reserved for wealthy persons in Bethlehem.

See the digital archive of Hilma Granqvist here.

See the digital archive of Frank Scholten here.

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The Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog: Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on jewellery, informal ritual and collections. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only. Sigrid strongly believes in accessibility of knowledge, and aims to provide reliable and trustworthy content: that’s why the Bedouin Silver blog provides references and citations.