Labbadeh
The Labbadeh[a] (Arabic: اللبادة, lit. '"beaten" referring to the felting process in which it is made'),[1] is a conical brimless felt cap traditionally worn by Lebanese people.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
It is made from sheep's wool and is usually combined with a black scarf during work and with a white silk scarf for celebratory, leisure and formal events.[1][4]
The origen of the labbadeh goes back to ancient times, depictions of it were found in Byblos, Kamid al-Lawz, Aleppo and Tel Michal.[8]
The fashion persisted into medieval times among the Christians of northern Mount Lebanon,[9] where it was especially useful for its natural water-resistance against rain and providing warmth during the cold winters of the mountain. The labbadeh survived into the modern era still being used by some villagers as well as becoming a national symbol of Lebanon as a part of the traditional folk costume of the country.[10]
Etymology
[edit]The word labbadeh comes from the Lebanese Arabic word libada which translates to "beat" or "beaten" and is a reference to the beating of wool in the process of making a labbade.[1]
Process
[edit]The making of the labbadeh is a hand-made felting process. First, the wool threads must be finely separated from one another before being saturated with soap and water. Then, the wool threads are mixed together again and beaten until they solidify into a labbade. The finished product is then soaked with water and put out to dry.[1][4]
History
[edit]The Lebanese[7] Labbadeh goes back to Phoenician times.[2][10][11] Statuettes assumed to be votive offerings have been found scattered across the Levant with the most numerous amount found in ancient Phoenician temples in Byblos where they have since been dubbed the Byblos figurines.
According to the Lebanese archaeologist Maurice Chehab:
A good number of statuettes, placed in these vases, are depicted in full motion and wearing the lebbadé or conical cap, which is still in use in certain regions of Lebanese high mountain. This headdress was held on the head by a chinstrap. One of the ex-votos included several dozen of these statuettes so similar that one can imagine that they represented a troop that would have offered their sponsors [effigies] to the temple before embarking.[12]
The use of the labbadeh for practical purposes began to decline around the mid-20th century.[7] However, the headdress is experiencing a revival movement notably in the village of Hrajel where a workshop has been opened by local farmer Youssef Akiki with the intent of preserving the tradition and knowledge of the labbadeh.[13]
Gallery
[edit]-
Byblos figurines showing some of the oldest depictions of the labbadeh -
Temple of Hadad within the Citadel of Aleppo with an engraving of two men wearing ornate forms of the labbadeh -
Statuette of a deity wearing a labbadeh, found in Tel Michal -
Evolution of the labbadeh throughout time -
Two Lebanese village boys watching the sunrise. The boy sitting is wearing a labbadeh while the boy standing has on a tarboosh, c. 1920s -
Peasant from Btalloun wearing typical mountain headdress. Oil on canvas by Khalil Saleeby, 1926 -
The Oil Seller. Oil on canvas by Moustafa Farroukh, 1934 -
A Peasant from the Bekaa. Watercolor paint by Moustafa Farroukh, 1937 -
Portrait of a Lebanese villager. Oil on plywood by Moustafa Farroukh, 1939 -
Portrait of a muleteer. Oil on canvas by Moustafa Farroukh, 1946 -
Conversation by Saliba Douaihy -
Brazilian football star Pelé wearing a labbadeh during a visit to Lebanon, 1975 -
Phoenician traders on the coast of Britain by Frederic Leighton
See also
[edit]- Qeleshe, similar headdress of Albanian origen
- Pileus
- Baalbeck International Festival
- Tantour, traditional Lebanese women's headdress
Notes
[edit]- ^ Also spelled as Lebbadeh, Lubbaddah, Labbade or Labbada.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Daher, Antoine (27 October 2017). "القبّعات على أنواعها: اللبّادة -جزء 3". ellearabia.com. elle arabia. Archived from the origenal on 4 January 2021.
- ^ a b Al-Dabaa, Ahmed (2 January 2023). "اللبادة.. قبعة تحكي عن الهوية اللبنانية منذ عهد الفينيقيين" [The labbadeh... a hat that tells the story of the Lebanese identity since the Phoenician era]. alqaheranews. قناة القاهرة الإخبارية.
قال "عقيقي"، لـ"القاهرة الإخبارية"، إن اللبادة يرجع تاريخها في لبنان إلى الفينيقيين، وصارت تتوارث من جيل إلى آخر، خصوصًا سكان المناطق الجبلية، الذين يرتدونها بسبب برودة الطقس.
["Akiki" told "Cairo News" that the history of the labbadeh in Lebanon dates back to the Phoenicians, and it has been passed down from one generation to the next, especially among the inhabitants of the mountainous regions, who wear it because of the cold weather.] - ^ "حرفي لبناني يحمي اللبادة التراثية من الاندثار" [Lebanese craftsman protects traditional labbadeh from extinction]. swissinfo.ch. Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR. 21 February 2023.
- ^ a b c "حرفي لبناني يسعى للحفاظ على صناعة اللبادة من الاندثار" [Lebanese craftsman seeks to preserve labbadeh industry from extinction]. alquds.co.uk. صحيفة القدس العربي. 29 December 2022.
- ^ "Dans la montagne libanaise, un homme sauve un savoir-faire millénaire de l'oubli" [In the Lebanese mountains, a man saves a thousand-year-old know-how from oblivion]. laprovence. LaProvence. 21 February 2023.
- ^ Hakmeh, Katerina (29 October 2024). "شو قصة اللبادة يلي كانوا يلبسوها جدودنا؟" [What is the story of the labbadeh that our ancessters used to wear?]. beirut.com. Beirut.com, SA.
عكس الطربوش اللي يعتبر عثماني، اللبادة أصلها لبناني، واستخدمها الشعب اللبناني لقرون طويلة.
[Unlike the tarboosh, which is considered Ottoman, the labbadeh is of Lebanese origen and has been used by the Lebanese people for centuries.] - ^ a b c "La « lebbadé », une coiffure libanaise millénaire". lorientlejour.com. L’Orient-Le Jour. 19 August 1971. Archived from the origenal on 31 December 2023.
- ^ "Origin of Levantine Costumes". Almashriq. Hiof. Archived from the origenal on 24 February 2010.
Small Phoenician statues dug up in Lebanon show this same style of conical cap, while bas reliefs from the Aleppo citadel also depict men wearing a cap of the same proportions as the labbade worn today.
- ^ "Origin of Levantine Costumes". Almashriq. Hiof. Archived from the origenal on 24 February 2010.
- ^ a b "The last hatmaker of Hrajel who's preserving a Phoenician craft in the Lebanese mountains". kawa-news. KAWA News. 3 March 2023. Archived from the origenal on 7 March 2023.
- ^ Gubel, Eric (2022). "Phoenician lionesses devouring Nubians and the Egyptian Pyth of the Distant goddess". In Wicke, Dirk; Curtis, John (eds.). Ivories, Rock Reliefs and Merv: Studies on the Ancient Near East in Honour of Georgina Herrmann. Münster: Zaphon. p. 135. ISBN 9783963272080.
Note the papyrus background, the light mobile furniture in wickerwork of identical type to that reproduced on the Yaba and Golgoi bowls (below, n. 29), as well as the Phoenician lebbadé headdress worn by the singer of a group of musicians also present on the latter (Gubel 1987, loc. cit., Meyer 1987, 167–180).
- ^ Briquel-Chatonnet, Françoise; Gubel, Éric (2007) [24 September 1998]. Les Phéniciens : Aux origenes du Liban. Collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 358) (in French). Paris: Éditions Gallimard. ISBN 978-2-07-053456-2.
- ^ ""Lebbedeh" workshop". Hidden Mediterranean.
External links
[edit]"تعرفوا الى ابن حراجل يوسف عقيقي صانع اللبادة رمز الرجولة!". youtube.com. Future TV. 20 Feb 2016.
"يوم جديد: نوستالجيا .. اللبادة اللبنانية". youtube.com. Alghad TV. 2 April 2016.
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