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| History of the Islamic Hammam |
As the lslamic faith spread, so did the culture of hammam. Hammams appeared in lran, Asia Minor, and across North Africa from Egypt to Morocco. Before the Arabs were repelled by rebellious subjects, there were hammams in Moorish Spain and high up the Danube River. Very often the temples, churches and baths, conquered by the Arabs, were converted into hammams. As the Islamic religion itself accomodated Jews and Christians, the hammam was flexible.
Like its Roman prototype, the hammam became a place to socialize. Entrance fees were low enough so that everyone could enjoy them. The baths were one of the few places in Islam open to everyone from early morning to late night. There always was a barber, who shaved faces, cut hair, let blood, and like the tellak, massaged and washed bodies. Barber also had to scrub the soles of bathers' feet to remove callouses. And it was believed that de-calloused feet not only allowed bad vapors to escape but also drove away migraine headaches. Barbers have always been the hub of news and gossip.
There was a religious custom to cleanse before donning new clothes, after a long journey, a convalescence, or release from prison. The hammam was so popular as very important part of town social 1ife that even the wealthy, who usually owned private baths, frequented the common bath. They chose public bathing to show the town they were clean.
Building a hammam was considered as a venture that pleased Allah as well as the people. The owner of a bath would occasionally turn the proceeds over to schools, mosques or to other hammam ventures. When a new bath was opened, a herald proclaimed the news that the bath would be free to everyone for the first three days.
Order and cleanliness has always been compulsory to the hammams, so certain customs, enforced by law, were established. The police inspector was given the task to watch that the baths were washed frequently, which entailed scrubbing the stone surfaces with a hard instrument to remove dirt and slippery traces of soap. The inspector also checked the quality of the water. Aside from cleaning the place, the attendants burned incense twice a day for purification. The hammam was required to be fully prepared before dawn so people could bathe before morning prayer.
Massage attendants rubbed their hands with pomegranate peel to harden them and give them a pleasant scent. Attendants were not allowed to eat garlic, made sure no beans or peas were eaten in the hammam, no lepers were allowed inside, and anyone revealing a peek at his private parts was ejected. Hammam was considered not only pleasurable, but it also brought luck as this old adage claims: "Whoever goes to the bath on forty consecutive Wednesdays will succeed at anything they do."
Christians and Jews in the Hammam
When Christians and Jews were first allowed to enter the baths, they were required by Islamic decree to wear either a wooden cross (for the Christians) or a calf-head emblem (for the Jews), thereby setting them apart from the Moslems. In some areas, Jews and Christians wore bells to distinguish themselves. The notion of constructing separate baths was considered, designating them appropriately with crosses and flower petals painted on the doors. However, very few separate Christian or Jewish bath houses were ever built.
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