Persian Houses: The Mode of Living, Eating, and Dressing
“Persian Houses. The Mode of Living, Eating, and Dressing” from When I was a Boy in Persia by Youel Benjamin Mirza, 1920.
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
“Persian Houses. The Mode of Living, Eating, and Dressing” from When I was a Boy in Persia by Youel Benjamin Mirza, 1920.
The Persians are divided into various classes and castes. The wealthy people have elegant houses, containing different apartments for women and for servants. Their homes are built of stone and marble, and decorated with various pleasing colors.
The masses, however, have but one big room from thirty-five to fifty feet square. The ceiling is supported by two or four stout pillars with several beams running from one wall to the other. It is covered with timber, reeds, and weeds. All this is then covered with mud. The roof is plastered with the best kind of clay, mixed with straw to keep it from cracking and to keep the rain from soaking through. In slushy weather the water is conducted by means of a spout into the yard or into big tanks, to be used for washing.
There are no chimneys in the Persian houses. When the fire is kindled, smoke naturally fills the room, but finally, when the fire begins to burn well, this escapes through the skylights. From the effects of smoke, the ceilings in the Persian homes are quite dark. There are no windows, but by means of numerous skylights the Persian houses are well lighted and thoroughly ventilated. There is only one door. Khayyam says, "I came out of the same door where in I went." So must every one who enters a house in Iran do.
In the one room, besides human beings, I have seen cats, dogs, chickens, horses, buffaloes, cows, heifers, goats, swallows, and sparrows. This is a home for everything and everybody. A large part of the floor is used by the family and the incoming guests for their shoes. Upon entering the house one must always remove these and walk with bare or stockinged feet on the rags. The room is divided into various sections, one section being used for sitting and sleeping. In another section is a wooden box full of flour. The top of this box is used for the bedclothes. At night they are taken down, and in the morning hung on the frame again.
In many of the Christian homes there is a tiny room which is used only for prayers. The head of the house, upon rising in the morning, washes his face, combs his hair and beard, and enters into this little sanctuary for meditation.
In addition to this, some well-to-do families also have a special apartment for receiving guests. This is richly furnished with Persian rugs and tapestry, and is heated with a stove. Upon entering this room, the guests leave their shoes in a vestibule. In sitting down, like true Orientals, they sit with their feet under them. Every now and then one may see a chair in one of these apartments for the use of European visitors. Persians themselves prefer sitting on rugs or lying on cushions to using uncomfortable chairs. I confess that there was nothing so tiresome to me as sitting on a chair. In a few minutes I would drop from it to a cushion with a breath of satisfaction.
The most important spot in the Persian home is the oven. It is built in the center of the room, the top of it being on a level with the floor. The oven is made of clay, in cylindrical form, from three and a half to four feet deep, and about two and a half feet in diameter. Wood being scarce, the principal fuel used is dried manure. The poor people go in the pasture during the summer and gather wood and manure to be used for heating and cooking.
The Kurse
In the cold winter days the people place a kurse (square table) over the oven and cover this with heavy blankets which hang down to the floor, keeping the heat within.
Then they put their feet under the edges of the blankets, or even into the oven to keep them warm. Also, when the nights are cold they sleep here with a great deal of comfort. The head man of the house takes the most desirable and comfortable place. This is the spot farthest from the door and the draught.
The top of the kurse is used for various purposes. The boys play marbles on it while the girls knit. The head of the family enjoys his water-pipe, which is smoked in turn by the whole family except the children.
The Housetops
The housetops being flat and the houses built close together, one can walk from one end to the other end of the village just as though on the ground. The housetops are very popular with the boys.
They sing and dance on them. In the summer, aided by the bright Oriental moonlight, all the villagers eat supper, pay their friendly calls, and sleep there on account of the great heat.
The boys frequently do a little eavesdropping from the housetops. Stealing softly upon the roof, they go close to the skylight and listen to the conversation of the family beneath.
Cooking and Eating
The Persians give more time to cooking and eating than to anything else. The need of servants is far greater in Persia than in many countries, as they refuse to do more than one thing. For instance a cook will do only cooking and nothing else. A servant that waits on the table will refuse to answer the call at the door or do any dish-washing. A jelouder (groom) will not attend to his master's horses and stables. Happily, however, the servants' wages are not high. Most of the servants we had came from Kurdestan. For two suits of clothes, a place to sleep, and about two dollars a month for board they were perfectly satisfied to remain indefinitely in our family.
Bread-Baking
In Persia the bread is made differently from what it is in this country. First the dough is mixed and made into small balls.
Each ball is put on a flat board and rolled until it is about two feet long, about a foot wide, and almost as thin as paper. It is then lifted with a utensil made for the purpose and slapped against the side of the oven, which is quite hot. Within a few minutes the dough is baked. The baking is done according to the size of the family.
In summer on account of the great heat, baking is done only occasionally. Some families on a cool day bake enough bread to last them several weeks. To keep the loaves from getting moldy the bread is dried and stored away. Before the meal-time they take out a few loaves and sprinkle them with water to make them soft.
The cooking is done either in the house or in a place specially prepared for such purposes. Persian kitchens are often several yards from the main living-room. The food is brought in on trays. High government officials, for fear of being poisoned, frequently compel their servants to bring the trays, breaking the seal in front of them, and taste a portion of the food before it is given to the master.
Not being afraid of being poisoned, I used to enjoy my meals wherever I went, and like all boys, I thought more of eating than I did of studying. In the early morning I would have bread and some fine buffalo butter or cream with honey or syrup. As soon as I finished I would run to my grandmother Monna, where I would eat bread or cheese and drink some hot milk or tea. If not going to school, I always made a trip to our near-by vineyard or orchard to eat grapes or fruit that I found ripe.
After playing, or picking toita (berries) for a few hours I returned home to lunch. This noon meal usually consisted of meat, potatoes, rice, and plenty of sherbet, a Persian sweet drink. Later I would stroll in the orchard, getting peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, grapes, or anything that appeared good to eat. About four o 'clock, we, or some of my relatives, always had tea. Sometimes it was served in the orchard in the shade of a big plum-tree, or in a tall tower which we had in our vineyard. I usually went wherever I found it convenient, never taking into consideration whether I was wanted or not. At these afternoon teas I frequently drank five or six cups. We drank tea all the year round, and in the winter usually ate raisins and nuts with it.
On account of the late setting of the sun, dinner was served very late in the evening. Ordinarily we had meat, potatoes, rice, cabbage, and sometimes kidney beans. We rarely had coffee, and many never used any butter with their meals.
There were no pies, ice-cream, cake or any other dessert to be eaten after the meal. The place of these good things was taken by the water-pipe, in the smoking of which I was not permitted to participate. After dining, I usually fell asleep and had to be awakened and sent to bed. The Persians use no knives and forks. For this reason when they have soups, they put bread in it to make it thick like hash, then by dipping a portion of thin bread, held by the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand, they lift small quantities and eat it without soiling their fingers.
In a Persian family meal there are very few dishes used. One dish sometimes answers the purpose. When the food is thus served, each one eats from his own side of the dish, and it would be a sign of ill-breeding to try to eat from some one else's share.
Sometimes the following superstition is not neglected after a meal by one of the young members of the family. They say that if you lick the dish your sweetheart will be beautiful. As soon as I heard and understood the meaning of this, I began putting it into practice. But very quickly I was discouraged by my mother, who gave me one of her usual sane lectures on the subject of "misleading ideas.”
The Mode of Dressing
The fashions in Persia do not change as they do in Europe, or in the countries of the western hemisphere. The girls and boys of to-day, as well as all the men and women, wear the same style of dress as was worn by their grandparents.
On the street or in the mosque there is no way of distinguishing the wife or daughter of a banker or prince from that of a shoemaker. When they go out, the women wear thick veils of almost any color and material. This hides the whole form and face, but the two black, almond-shaped eyes. It is a picturesque sight to see these tall figures promenading the street, seeing everything, and showing nothing but their sparkling Persian eyes, which seem to enjoy the curiosity they excite.
The following is supposed to be the origin of the custom of wearing a veil. The Prophet Mohammed, while traveling with his beautiful young wife in Arabia, came to a large, shady, fig-tree, with its branches and green leaves hanging over a waterfall. The air being cool and restful there, he and his wife sat down to refresh themselves. Suddenly there came two priests, who, seeing such a beautiful woman, turned to look at her. As she was extremely handsome, the wicked priests continued their rudeness by turning from time to time and gazing as they went along at the moon-faced beauty sitting beside Mohammed.
This affair grieved and irritated the Prophet beyond his apostolic endurance. In order to protect womankind from the eyes of men, and to improve the moral conditions existing at that time, he advised that all female believers, when out of doors or worshiping in mosques, should cover themselves with veils.
As soon as the women enter their homes, they remove their veils, and show their beautiful and costly clothes.
They wear trousers of beautiful velvet, which cover the lower part of the body down to the heels. The blouse is a garment made of silk and fastened in front by means of a number of loops and small buttons of silk, gold or silver. Around the waist is an embroidered girdle of silk, decorated in front with a plate of gold or silver and precious stones. They wear leather slippers, with soles of ivory or some hard wood. Frequently the women paint their toe-nails and the bottoms of their feet with henna, and, as they seldom wear stockings, this is quite noticeable as they walk.
The winter costume is similar to that of the summer with the addition of a short upper garment and silk shawls.
The women wear no hats. They have beautiful long black hair, which they arrange in tresses adorned with pearls and clusters of precious stones, or ornaments of gold and silver. While out of doors they, cover the head with silk shawls, bandeaux, diadems, and caps usually made by themselves. These are very costly, and vary in form and taste according to the wealth and circumstances of the wearer.
How the Men Dress
The costumes for men consist of a pair of wide trousers, a shirt, a kemir, or girdle, erkhalig or vest, kurde or jacket, and gaima, caba, and abioo are different shapes of overcoats. The hat is called by the natives, bork or koloi. They wear several different varieties of shoes. The long trousers, which almost reach to the ankles, are made of cloth, silk or cotton, they have no pockets, and are tied with a cord at the waist.
The shirt worn by the Persians is short, and without a collar. It comes over the trousers just below the hips, and is fastened by means of two buttons on the left shoulder.
The erkhalig, or vest, fits tightly over the shirt. The choice of color and material is according to the fancy of the wearer. I have worn, red, white, black-and-white, brown, and yellow erkhaligs. This garment has two pockets on each side, and a small watch-pocket. The caba is a long robe reaching to the ankles, and fitting closely about the hips.
The gaima, which is worn by the wealthy people, looks somewhat like a clergyman's coat in this country. It is the most stylish of all men's wearing apparel. The Persian overcoat is called abioo. It is made of heavy cloth or wool for winter. It folds over the breast and buttons on the side. This garment is worn over the caba, and on account of its clumsiness is very rarely used by the young men.
A kurde is a short jacket made by the Kurds of wool, attractively ornamented with threads of gold and silver. Practically every boy of my acquaintance wore one of these jackets, which is stiff like a board and fits tightly to the body.
The hats are made of short, curly black lamb's wool. They are about four inches high and are stiff. The boys frequently wear a tall Turkish fez, with a long silk tassel. Turbans of all colors except white and green are worn by the Persian men. To the Mohammedans the white signifies purity, and the green immortality. On account of the religious importance attached to these colors, they are exclusively used by various religious heads, the clergy, and by the theological students. In fact, it is not safe for any one to be seen with such turbans, who is not a member of one of the above classes.
The most prominent and important article of apparel is the kemir or girdle, which is twisted in a peculiar fashion over the coba or the erkhalig. Some of the girdles are several yards long, and the young man that has the longest kemir is looked upon by everybody as a dude. The girdle is used by them to show their figures, and also to hold the khanjar or dagger. This is about a foot and a half long, with a sharp point at the end. The guard is securely fastened with a cord to the girdle on the left side.
The khanjars are worn as an ornament, and some of them are highly polished and enriched with ivory and with precious stones.
For shoes the Persians have three kinds of slippers. The poor wear sandals. A very good grade of slippers comes from Mecca. They are white, made of cloth, and are soft and comfortable to wear. Being quite expensive, they are worn only by the rich and the Hadji, who usually brings a few pairs with him when coming back from his pilgrimage. The socks used are worsted or cotton. In the summer very few boys wear either shoes or socks, as they prefer going barefooted. The footwear comes in all colors. I have worn shoes of black, green, red, and yellow leather in Persia, but when I saw the American shoes I lost my taste for my own country slippers and was never satisfied until I had a pair of American boots.
Mirza, Youel Benjamin. When I Was a Boy in Persia. Lothrop, Lee, Shepard Co., 1920.
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