Traditional Wood engraving… the craft of forty chisels

The traditional craft of engraving on wood has preserved its originality as a very ancient craft, and it has witnessed changes over centuries of time, but the essence of the craft remained constant and preserved its originality.

To shed light on the craft of wood engraving , the craftsman “Adnan Al-Fayoumi” told the E-Syria blog: “I have started the craft, which requires a lot of patience to learn, since 1990 when I was twenty-five years old. I do geometric and botanical decoration, Arabic calligraphy, Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid and Mamluk carvings using local hard wood such as  walnut, rosewood, olive and eucalyptus”. 

The stages of wood engraving, according to Al-Fayoumi , begins with bringing the appropriate wood, then drawing the required shape, whether the shape is geometric or vegetal then engraving during which 40 chisels are used, each with a number for precision engraving and bending accuracy. 

Regarding local and overseas participations, the craftsman said “I have participated in several exhibitions in cultural centers.  I took part in engraved the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo, the Salah Eddin Mosque, the Bludan Mosque, and the Sheikh Muhi Eddin Mosque, and I have several works abroad including in America the Vatican and Qatar”. 

In turn, Khaled Al-Fayyad, a researcher in folklore and the Secretary-General of the Artisan Magazine said: “The craft is ancient and developed by Jerji Bitar, but it is not possible to talk about any development in a particular craft without addressing the ancient civilizations around it” . 

He pointed out that the Umayyad era was the interaction between the Byzantine and Islamic civilizations, and the craft of wood engraving in this era was characterized by the beginning of the sunken drilling down the wood (clusters of grapes and leaves), stressing that wood pieces turned into unique artifacts with simple capabilities and high artistic skills.

In the Abbasid era, the excavations differed and the plant veins began to be materialized and animal drawings were inserted, and this was as a result of being affected by the surrounding areas, as they were affected by the Sassanidand Hellenistic civilizations.

The craftsman added “In the Fatimid era, wood engraving appeared at the highest levels. It used the dry Kufic script and made it sacred through Qur’anic paintings. It appeared in Egypt, influenced by Coptic art, such as animal drawings, dance boards, amusement and hunting”. 

As for the Mamluk era, it is the richest and most artistically luxurious, and during the era of Sultan “Qaytbay” wood engraving appeared in the most beautiful during the era of the Islamic civilization. 

At the beginning of the Ottoman Empire, crafts declined due to the involvement of craftsmen in war, and when the state stabilized, craftsmen flourished again, according to Al-Fayyad.

“The Syrian craftsman produced three-dimensional pieces before the creation of the machines, and the wooden artifacts are few, most of them were damaged, and there are several pieces in the Museum of Islamic Art in Egypt and a museum in Spain .

Rawaa  Ghanam