© Lebanese Heritage Museum


Name of Object:

Three

Other name of the Object (second name):

Water pipe

Name in original language:

Argyle; Shisha; Nargile

Location:

`Ayn Najm, Lebanon

Holding Institution:

Lebanese Heritage Museum

 About The Lebanese University, `Ayn Najm

Date of Object:

19th century

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Glass; painted

Description:

These water pipes, or araghil (sing. arghile), is made of translucent glass painted with floral patterns in pale colours. The araghil have three main parts: first, you have a bowl for the coals sitting on top of a metal plate. Under this is the body of the arghile, which can come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and consists of a gasket and water jar. Connected to the main body is a pipe for smoking. The arghile originated in Persia and later became popular in 17th century Turkey, used by the Ottoman elite as a status symbol. The water pipe became hugely popular, and in 1841 even sparked a diplomatic crisis between France and the Ottoman Empire. However, although it remains popular in the modern Middle East, it was largely replaced by cigarettes in the 20th century. The arghile woks by vaporizing a flavoured tobacco called shisha, which is passed through water and then inhaled. Depending on their placement, the coals can either be used to boil the water and thus create water vapour, or to produce smoke by burning the tobacco. These araghil were used by Ottoman officials in 19th century Lebanon.

Citation of this web page:

Marie Therese Moujabber "Three " in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;lb;43;en

Prepared by: Marie Therese Moujabber
Copyedited by: Flaminia Baldwin

MWNF Working Number: LB 054

Related Content

 Timeline for this item


On display in

Sharing History Exhibition(s)

Economy And Trade | Commodities | Raw Materials

MWNF Galleries

Glass Metalwork

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