LIFE ON THE EDGE OF THE MARSHES
By Edward Ochsenschlager
Source: Expedition,
1998, Vol. 40 Issue 2, p29, 11p
In
1968, archaeologists digging at the mound of al-Hiba in Iraq were struck by the
fact that the people living in the surrounding area depended on many of the
same resources, and seemed to use them in the same way, as the people who had
lived there in the 3rd millennium BC. So while archaeological excavations
continued, they initiated an ethnographic study of the modern villages around
the mound (Fig. 1). The ethnoarchaeology project was carried out under my
direction and lasted twenty years. Its goal was to cast light on the use of
locally available raw materials, and on the function and manufacturing
technology of the same or similar artifacts in antiquity.
The
materials we focused on were mud or clay, reeds, wood, cattle, and sheep. We
eventually added bitumen--a natural tarlike hydrocarbon--to the list because it
appeared so often in conjunction with wood, reeds, and mud in the villages, as
well as in the archaeological record. There was abundant evidence that many of
the details of village life had parallels in the archaeological record. We
hoped that knowing how people in the present day made and used the objects they
needed for survival could help us make sense of the isolated bits of
archaeological evidence and weave them into a coherent tapestry of ancient life.
The
2-mile-long mound of al-Hiba was in antiquity the ancient city-state of Lagash
(see map on p. 3). It stood on the edge of a permanent marsh
bordering a tributary of the Tigris, in southern Iraq, and lay about 75
kilometers north of Ur. Like Ur, Lagash was a major Sumerian city. It reached
its greatest size in the Early Dynastic III period (2600-2350 BC), at the same
time as the Royal Cemetery of Ur was in use. At that time Lagash was the
capital of the Sumerian empire and probably the largest early Sumerian city.
The
early years of the project were marked by the on-going removal of the sheikhs
(local hereditary leaders) by the central government of Iraq. As
a result of the inevitable disruption in the management of the farmlands, these
were times of unbelievable poverty for the people of al-Hiba. With the draining
of the marshlands initiated in 1992, many thousands of marshland residents
moved deeper into the swamps or fled to Iran. The way of life that we
documented, and that I describe briefly here, no longer exists in the area
around al-Hiba.
THE MI'DAN AND THE BENI HASSAN
When
the project began, a number of small villages existed alongside the marshes
near the site of al-Hiba (Fig. 2). Each contained the homes of either the
Mi'dan (also called the Marsh Arabs) or the Beni Hassan. The Mi'dan villages
were sometimes built directly in the marshes on platforms or
islands they constructed of alternate layers of reed mats or reeds and silt.
The
Mi'dan made a living by fishing with spears. They also kept water buffalo,
technically undomesticated, which foraged for reeds and sedge in the marshes during the day and returned to the family shelter in late
afternoon to give up their milk and spend the night under protection. The
Mi'dan kept water buffalo primarily for milk, dung, and hides. Of the three,
dung was the most important for it provided fuel for warmth and cooking, and
was a waterproofing agent, a plaster for wounds, and a cure for headaches.
The
Beni Hassan kept sheep and cattle and grazed them on the banks of the marsh. They raised crops of vegetables and animal fodder on plots
of land which were sometimes irrigated. They also fished, but with set or throw
nets.
Both
tribes kept chickens, caught wild birds in nets or shot them with guns, and grew
rice in small beds on the edges of the marshes. They moved
between settlements by donkey or camel, or in bitumen-covered wooden boats
(tarada) propelled through the water with long poles (Figs. 3a, b, 4).
MUDHIF AND RABA
The
Mi'dan and Beni Hassan built their houses and attendant structures from the
same easily obtainable materials used to make similar buildings in ancient
times--mud and reeds (Figs. 5a, b, 6). In 1968 reeds grew everywhere in the marshes and were considered the cheapest building material. Because
of its size and architectural splendor, the mudhif, a grand arched structure
built entirely of reeds by sheikhs, would dominate the horizon as one
approached a village lucky enough to preserve one. Justice was no longer
dispensed here as it had been in the historical past, but issues were debated
and consensus reached on local issues by the heads of families with or without
the sheikh being present. The mudhif also still served as a guest house for the
occasional traveler. (For details of reed construction, see Ochsenschlager
1992:47-58.)
Except
in the fortified compounds of major sheikhs (who built with baked bricks as
well), mud-brick structures were very rare, for they required the services of
professional builders and were quite expensive. Family members could build pise
(compressed or packed mud) houses without any assistance, however, and a small
number of these existed in every village, where they were a status symbol
indicating above-average material resources. The raba (Fig. 1) was an arched
reed structure smaller than the mudhif, while a one-room dwelling called a bayt
was made of reeds, mud brick, or pise. Most of the village houses were made of
reeds. The typical house was usually a little more than 2 meters wide, about 6
meters long, and a little less than 3 meters high. Houses built of reeds had
the additional advantage of being portable. In the spring, if the marsh
waters rose too high, a five-arched raba could be taken down, moved to higher
ground, and re-erected in less than a day. With proper care and repair, reed
dwellings could last for well over 25 years, and mud dwellings for two or more
generations.
The
raba had an entrance at both ends with a partition (bench or screen) in the
middle. One end was used as a dwelling, the other end could be used to house
animals in inclement weather, as a part of the dwelling, or as a workshop if
either the wife or husband were craftspeople.
In
villages where no mudhif existed, the second room of the largest raba often
served the same purposes: as a meeting place and guest house. None of these
uses were mutually exclusive; a thorough cleaning followed by laying reed mats
over the dirt floor and placing colorful carpets for people to sit on quickly
converted a workshop or barn into a reception room.
FENCES, WALLS, AND BARNS
To
protect the family's water buffalo during the inclement weather of late winter
and early spring, a Mi'dan household built an adjoining sitra, another type of
reed structure. Rows of tall reeds were buried in the ground with their tops
tied together to form a sort of roof. Holes or trenches were dug around the
interior of the wall to keep the buffalo at bay and protect the comparatively
fragile structure. These structures had a particularly shaggy appearance since
neither the reed leaves nor plumed tops were removed. At the end of winter the
sitra was often dismantled and used as fuel.
Livestock
pens were built of tall reed fences and used by the Mi'dan for their water
buffalo and sometimes by the Beni Hassan for their cattle and sheep. As such a
fence was called a sitra, it is not surprising to find that its method of
construction was the same as for the building of that name. The sole difference
is that the reed walls were left upright, perpendicular to the ground, rather
than bent inward and joined to form a roof (Fig. 6).
Most
Beni Hassan made their walls of mud lumps or of pise. When the structure was
situated alongside a canal or irrigation channel, it was made of lumps of mud
set on edge in herring-bone pattern. Each lump consisted of a shovelful of mud,
and its plano-convex shape, which resulted from the form of the shovel paddle,
was almost identical to the shape of mud bricks used in ancient Sumerian times.
Whenever possible, this was the kind of wall a villager preferred to build and
maintain for it was much simpler and less time-consuming than erecting a wall
of pise or reed.
INSIDE THE RABA
Houses
were divided in two different ways. A reed mat tied to a reed frame could be
fastened to the sides and top of one of the arches. If both rooms were intended
for living, the partition had a doorway or opening. Such partitions, however,
were most often used without doors for separating living space from animal
quarters. Living spaces were usually subdivided by a wide bench made of a tied
reed framework and reed bundle top which jutted into the room from one of the
long walls.
A
chest made of wood, usually studded with iron or brass and with a domed lid,
was placed on the women's or kitchen side of the bench. Towards the center of
the women's side was a permanent place for the cooking fire. Mud bricks or
narrow walls of pise supported the vessels used for cooking or heating. The
coffee pot (aluminum or brass) and tea kettle (aluminum) stood in close
proximity, as did a variety of aluminum containers including a large, deep tray
used for washing up and mixing, and one or two large bowls used for mixing,
cooking, and sometimes serving. Conical bowls of various sizes made of
aluminum, porcelain, or even plastic were also stored nearby. These were used
for drinking water and for serving food. Those with bright, multicolored
decorations, bought in market towns, were much sought after. To one side were
the useful sundried mud objects made in every household. An aluminum or brass
water jar or perhaps an old tea kettle stood near the door filled with water.
This was carried by members of the family answering the call of nature and
provided the water necessary for a thorough washing. If water was not available,
one scrubbed oneself with sand.
Also
near the door were the baskets used for collecting fresh animal dung, a job
allotted to the youngest girls in the family. Women mixed the fresh dung with
straw and molded it into disks to serve as the primary fuel for cooking and
keeping warm. Along one side of the kitchen space was a shallow well dug in the
floor and lined with bitumen in which sat two jars of similar shape and size: a
water jar with drinking water and a jar for salt. These were made from coils of
local clays by the village potter, and fired in a trench.
Near
the bench, or perhaps even under it, were homemade baskets (either plaited or
coiled) with staples such as wheat, rice, or dried fish, and perhaps a
narrow-necked basket (sabat) with a variety of small packages of tea, coffee,
and spices (Fig. 7). The latter three items might also be kept in the chest
along with clothes, raw wool or wool spun into thread or yarn by family
members, special amulets, jewelry, and money.
Some
of these things were simply piled on the bench when not in use, as were woven
bedclothes and pillows, carpets, paddles and poles for the boats used in the marshes, handmade fish and bird nets, agricultural or craft tools,
and other family possessions.
The
bench was seldom used as a sleeping platform at night except for the sick. Beds
for small children were often made of piles of rushes with soft bedclothes on
top. Swinging cradles for babies were made out of rushes and hung from an arch.
A simple well was made in a bundle of rushes tied at both ends, and was lined
with clothes, a sheepskin, or raw wool. Rattles made from sun-dried mud by
fathers to amuse their babies were often inscribed with a simple smiling face,
representing the child.
The
other end of the raba was more sparsely furnished. When used exclusively as a
part of the dwelling it contained a permanent hearth, otherwise a portable
cooking dish (manqala) was used as needed. Reed mats made by the women of the
household covered the mud floor for living or guests. When guests were present
the mats were covered with carpets made by the village weaver and pillows made
by one of the women of the household. Even in Mi'dan houses without provision
for livestock, water buffalo shared the quarters at special times, such as in the
case of a birthing cow or a young calf whose mother had gone into the marshes to graze. When water buffalo or other livestock were
quartered in the living space, the mats were removed. Oftentimes the owner
booby-trapped both entrances to the raba at night to keep out intruders.
THE COURTYARD
Most
of the year, the courtyard outside the raba was a hive of activity. Women
prepared most of the food here. They cooked wheat bread disks on the insides of
tanurs (mud beehive ovens; see Fig. 1) where the raw dough was pasted on with a
bit of water or spit. Rice bread and small cakes were cooked on a flat disk of
mud whose surface was heated in a fire. Meat and fish were baked or smoked in
the tanur or boiled over a hearth and, on special occasions, roasted on spits
over an open fire.
The
courtyard is where women made dung patties and where young children made and
played with their toys of mud and reed (Fig. 8a, b), and older boys made balls
of sun-dried mud to use for ammunition in their slings (Fig. 9). The courtyard
is where older girls embroidered the blankets which would be part of their
wedding trousseaux and where men and women alike spun cord (Fig. 10). It is
where the oldest woman in the family made containers of sun-dried mud when
needed. All families had storage jars or chests made of reeds and mud and
waterproofed with dung. People slept outside in the courtyard in the extreme
heat of summer. The outside beds consisted of reeds placed on top of parallel
walls of mud from 40 cm to 1 meter in height (Fig. 11a, b).
CONCLUSION
Arched
reed houses and buildings of mud brick and pise are well attested in the
archaeological record. We can conclude that in antiquity they were built in a
very similar fashion to the way they have been built in modern times, in part because
of the nature of the raw materials and in part because of direct evidence of
manufacture from ancient strata (Ochsenschlager 1992: 54-61). Some of the forms
of sun-dried mud pottery are attested in Sumerian times by finds from al-Hiba.
Preserved details of construction show that they were made in the same way as
modern examples. Mud storage containers, jars, tanurs, ammunition for slings,
and children's toys are widely known in antiquity from many sites. Ancient
models of beds, perhaps made as toys, show the same raw materials used in the
same fashion as the beds in modern courtyards (see Fig. 11b). (See
Ochsenschlager 1974a for a discussion of all these parallels.) Impressions of
ancient reed baskets and mats exhibit the same techniques of construction as do
modern ones (Ochsenschlager 1992:64-66). Models of ancient boats (see Fig. 3b)
show that they were very similar to modern ones and built of the same materials
(Ochsenschlager 1992:49-53).
Even
without corroborating evidence, some ancient parallels with modern functions
can be assumed. Although the materials did not exist in antiquity, some modern
aluminum, tin, plastic, and porcelain containers probably have generally the
same functions as the pottery of antiquity. The physical requirements of animals
would lead us to believe that ancient animal husbandry had much in common with
the modern (Ochsenschlager 1993a:33-42). In some cases, for instance in
weaving, we can restore parts of the process and artifacts missing in the
archaeological record (Ochsenschlager 1993b:54-55). Through knowledge of the
process involved in the manufacture of an artifact we can estimate the actual
value of that artifact to the people who made and used it by measuring the
skill and time required for its production (Ochsenschlager 1998:129).
Other
details of life in Sumerian times can be inferred from ethnographic
information. We can understand and better appreciate, for example, the degree
of coordination and skill required for everyday activities in ancient times
because both ancient and modem peoples used similar artifacts for similar
purposes. Indeed, the physical and mental energy expended by young men in
mastering the throw-net, spear, and sling is akin to effort put forth by
first-class athletes today. Like modern Iraqi villagers who, at the age of
eight or younger, have jobs which are important to the survival of their
families, Sumerian children were probably productive members of their society.
In modern Western society where we appear to think that work deprives children
of their "childhood," and there is little work that children can
profitably do, children tend to live, by contrast, an undemanding parasitic
existence, often to rather advanced ages.
More
speculative, perhaps, are such things as the role of individuals or groups of
people. For instance, Iraqi villagers and ancient Sumerian craftsmen dealt in
raw materials and artifacts which were crucial to the survival of the entire
community (unlike many modern craftsmen who make decorative accessories and
think of themselves as artists). It is possible therefore that the two Middle
Eastern groups may have enjoyed similar respect and played similar roles in
preserving traditional morality and work ethics (Ochsenschlager 1998:130-33).
The
findings of the ethnoarchaeological project were extremely helpful in
interpreting the context of material remains and giving us some insight into
everyday life at the site of ancient al-Hiba. But the acute and careful
observation of the way of life of the Mi'dan and Beni Hassan also served to
muddy the waters of archaeological interpretation. It brought home the
complexity of behavioral and cultural choices and their impacts in ways that
would be almost impossible to decipher from the archaeological record alone.
Indeed, it soon became clear in the ethnographic study that one could not even
easily understand the reasons for modern change unless one were present and
privy to the conversations concerning it immediately before and during the
process of the change itself. Shortly after change occurred the reasons for it
often disappeared as part of a new mythology. Sometimes highly visible change
is of little cultural significance, while major cultural change is accompanied
by little or no change in the material record. Thus, these studies also serve
to remind us that our knowledge of the past sometimes relies on shaky
interpretations and cavalier assumptions, and show us that it is altogether too
easy to misunderstand the significance of physical evidence (Ochsenschlager
1998).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The
excavations at al-Hiba were conducted under the auspices of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art and the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University, and
directed by Vaughn E. Crawford and Donald P. Hansen. Preliminary reports on the
excavations can be found in the bibliography under their names and in the
article authored by Robert Biggs.
FIG. 1. THE COURTYARD
OUTSIDE A RABA, a dwelling constructed of reeds, in the Mi'dan village of Said
Tahir. The two women, each garbed in an abaya (a long cloak which covers a
person from head to foot), stand behind beehive mud ovens and an oil drum used
as a table.
FIG. 2. THE BENI HAS SAN
VILLAGE of Hagi Rachid was home to about 60 people. Beyond the village stretch
their small farm plots.
FIG. 3A. MI'DAN FISHING
FROM A TARADA. Wood is too costly, scarce, and poor in quality to make
waterproof joins on ordinary boats. Applying bitumen to the outer surface
waterproofs the boat and allows the boat builder to utilize whatever scraps of
material are available for shipbuilding. Each year itinerant craftsmen visit
the villages to strip the bitumen from boats, heat it to liquid consistency,
and reapply the coating.; FIG. 3B. MODEL OF A SIMILAR BOAT FROM UR. Boats were
as important for the transportation of people and goods in antiquity as they
are now. The boat model from Ur is entirely made of bitumen. The shape of its
upswung prow mirrors that of the tarada. UPM B 17706. Neg. S8-96719
FIG. 4. THE MI'DAN HAD
ALWAYS FISHED WITH SPEARS, "THE MANLY WAY." During the 1970s,
however, the Beni Hassan began to catch larger quantities of fish in nets. The
solution for the Mi'dan is shown in this photo: they trapped fish in nets but
harvested them with their spears.
FIG. 5A. MUDHIF UNDER
CONSTRUCTION. Reeds had the same physical properties in the past as they do
today, requiring similar innovations for structural soundness. For instance, if
arches were made from bundles of fresh reeds, the structure would collapse in
short order. For maximum soundness the core of a new arch bundle was made up of
reeds taken from an older structure. From studying the physical properties of
reeds used today, we have learned a great deal about the details of their use
in the past.
FIG. 5B. CARVED GYPSUM
TROUGH FROM URUK. Two lambs exit a reed structure identical to the present-day
mudhif on this ceremonial trough from the site of Uruk in southern Iraq.
Neither the leaves or plumes have been removed from the reeds which are tied
together to form the arch. As a result, the crossed-over, leathered reeds
create a decorative pattern along the length of the roof, a style most often
seen in modern animal shelters built by the Mi'dan. Dating to ca. 3000 BC, the
trough documents the extraordinary length of time such arched reed buildings
have been in use. (C) The British Museum. WA 120000, neg. 252077
FIG. 6. A SHAGGY REED
ENCLOSURE CALLED A SITRA serves as a pen for water buffalo. The small reed hut
within the fence is seen end-on and looks similar to the structure on the Uruk
trough but without the plumed top (Fig. 5b).
FIG. 7. MANUFACTURING A
REED BASKET. Reed baskets such as that being made here were probably woven in
antiquity in exactly the same way.
FIG. 8A, B. (A) CHILD
PLAYING WITH CLAY ANIMAL FIGURINES. Children make toys of all kinds out of
sun-dried mud; men and boys also make rattles, whistles, drums, and watering
troughs for livestock from the same material.
(B) PROCESSION OF ANIMAL
FIGURINES FROM UR. In the past most of the figurines like those in (b) were
thought to be votive objects. Today we think some of them are toys made by
children long ago. (b) UPM B 17236, B 17239, 31-43-351. Neg. S8-8611
FIG. 9. A MI'DAN BOY MAKES
SHOT FOR HIS SLING. Ammunition made of balls of mud dried in the sun was used
in antiquity and in modern times. Huge quantifies of ancient examples outside a
wall at al-Hiba record an ancient battle. Modern mud sling shots are used
mostly by boys for hunting small animals and birds. Using a sling accurately is
no small accomplishment. It requires a physical stamina and coordination of
muscle and eye similar to that of American high school athletes. The difference
is that in America in the 1970s failure resulted in embarrassment. In the marshes it could result in starvation.
FIG. 10. A BENI HASSAN MAN
SPINS THREAD USING A SPINDLE AND RAW WOOL. Men use the "drop and
spin" method to create Z-spun thread, women rub the spindle on their
thighs to create S-spun thread. Men create yarn by rubbing the threads together
between the palms of their hands, while women use larger spindles which they
rub on their thighs. The spinning of animal fibers into thread and yarn is
attested in ancient times at al-Hiba (and Ur) by spindle whorls, impressions of
cloth, and two- and four-ply yarn found on jar sealings. Although spindles for
making thread and yarn have not survived, one can infer their existence from
the clay whorls that served to provide the weight.
FIG. 11A. BED IN AN OUTSIDE
COURTYARD AT AL-HIBA. Bundles of reeds laid on low walls of mud and covered
with reed mats provide safe places to sleep during the hottest weather. The
raised beds share the courtyard with domestic animals and protect the sleepers
against cattle, sheep, chickens, creepy-crawlers, and other things which go
bump in the night.
FIG. 11B. TERRACOTTA BED
MODELS FROM UR. Hundreds of these bed models have been found in ancient strata
and some of them may well have been children's toys. Note that the top surfaces
of the models have been sculpted to represent woven reed mats. UPM 31-43-361
(left and center), 31-16-701. Negs. S4-74059, S8-8637
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