When Cultures Colide (inshallah): A visit to the textile museum at the Citadel

Spring Time in the Middle East

This photo was taken on Friday as we were traveling home from Duhok.

Iraq is so brilliantly green in the spring.

Today I was invited to visit the Textile Museum downtown Erbil at the Citadel. We had the opportunity to tour parts of the Citadel that are closed to the public at this time and see the projects that are planned for this area. We were treated to a personal tour and saw amazing rugs and other Kurdish artifacts.

These rugs are traditionally Kurdish. Most of them are around 100 years old.

Kurdish agricultural tools

I took a lot of picture of the beautiful rugs.

Below are caps that are worn traditionally by Kurdish males.

I wish I knew how to turn these pictures around, but I don't. Sorry.

This chest was amazing. The panels are painted glass. I have seen one other chest like this in the home of one of my "oil lady" friends villa. She bought it at the bazar.

Tea is a big part of the Kurdish life. They drink it like they have a hole in their leg.

A black tent.

"Reshmal" literally means black home. It is a traditional Kurdish tent made from black woven goat hair. The goat hair is woven such that it expands when wet creating an extremely tight surface which is resistant to melting snow and rain. The outer wall of the tent is made from reads. the reed is woven or wrapped following a pattern which varies from tribe to tribe. Depending upon the size of the tent additional columns, usually from three to twelve, are used to provide additional structural support. The interior of the tent is partitioned using a screen functioning as a wall. This wall or middle screen is used to separated the sleeping, kitchen and dining areas from each other and provides limited privacy.