Artisanship
Syria is completely devoid of American corporations and this has allowed the many family owned businesses here to continue thriving. Given the tradition of a father passing his knowledge and business down to his son, some of these shops have been around for five generations.
Picking up from the cemetery last week, here is one of the men who chips away at those tombstones.
One of the items we decided to buy before leaving is an ‘Ud. We befriended this shop owner and asked him to custom make us one. We could not pass up the chance to have a beautifully hand made instrument for only $50.
A big reason why there are so many expertly made handicrafts is that the locals still use them in everyday life. Shops are not mass-producing these items solely for tourists. This man is making the final changes to his pounded-brass teapots. It seems every house in Damascus has a set of these.
Some of the most beautiful pieces have been the brass work. Here is a shop owner’s son adding silver inlay to a cabinet door. When this piece is finished, it will also have accents of copper inlay.
Here is an artisans’ table for etching brass plates, which is another item commonly found in people’s homes. I want to buy one of his hammers but Rasa will not let me. She says we already have enough tchotchkes.
In Damascus, there is a whole district for buying gold. You buy gold jewelry here by weight and do not pay for the workmanship. We are having him custom make our wedding rings in a traditional oriental design. This goldsmith’s family came here after fleeing the 1914 Armenian massacre and have been in business ever since.
Not only handicrafts profit from this passing of knowledge, the food does also. This baker and son are making little pizza-like breads. Probably the most popular family owned restaurants though are the dessert shops. You just have to taste it to know the recipe has been refined over a 100-year time span.
Next week I will show you some of their products and tell you how you can buy them if you are interested.
