Damascus: Sabot Makers

Date: early twentieth century

The maker of Sabots in Damascus produced these shoes by using hatchets to neatly chop pieces of tree trunks. Traveler Freya Stark (d. 1993) noted that they deftly shaped them with ‘a few clever strokes’. The making of this product was also done at the shop where the sabot maker sold his goods. Also mentioned are: tinsmith, silk weaver, and tarboosh polisher. See also: Clog Maker (qabāqibī); Cobbler; Tanner; Currier.

Citation:  Stark, Freya, Letters from Syria (London: The Travel Book Club, 1944), part of a letter to her mother, dated 17 April 1928, p.117.