Damascus: Makers of Tobacco Pipes (chibouk)

Date: c. 1890-1906

Arabic: ghalāyīnī

The ghalāyīnī was involved in the production of the traditional tobacco pipe (chibouk). The job of the ghalāyīnī is in the production of the pipe bowl, made from ground and sieved earth/clay, soaked overnight, and kneaded to a stiff consistency. It is then shaped in a mold and later fired in an oven. The pipe can be painted, gilded, and/or ornamented with mother-of-pearl. Sought after mouthpieces were made of expensive amber or crafted in gold and silver. Also sought after were highly ornamented reed pipes which can measure up to two meters in length. See also the maker of pipe stems (qaṣībātī).

Citation: al-Qasimi, Muhammad Saʿid, Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi, and Khalil al-ʿAzm (al-Azem), Dictionnaire des métiers damascains, ed., Zafer al-Qasimi. (Le Monde d’Outre-Mer passé et présent, Deuxième série, Documents III, Paris and Le Haye: Mouton and Co., 1960), p. 330 (chapter 252).