Hama: Cloak Makers

Date: early nineteenth century

The merchants in the Market of the Syrians (Sūq al-Shāmiyya) in Mecca sold numerous items manufactured in Syria, including cloaks (sing. ʿabāya) from Hama. No details are given concerning their materials, mode(s) of manufacture, or appearance.

Citation: Burckhardt, John Lewis, Travels in Arabia: Comprehending an Account of those Territories in the Hedjaz which the Mohammedans regard as sacred ((London: Henry Colburn, 1829. Reprinted, London: Frank Cass, 1968), pp. 120-21.

See also: Milwright, Marcus, “Trade and the Syrian Hajj between the 12th and the early 20th Centuries: Historical and archaeological Perspectives”, in Venetia Porter and Liana Saif, eds, The Hajj: Collected Essays, Research Publications 193 (London: British Museum Press, 2013), p. 34.