Al-Aghabani, a Damascene craft that adorns cloths and homes with the most beautiful embroideries

Damascus, ST– The Damascene craftsmen from the time of the Phoenicians till our days,  have created the most beautiful embroideries, as the white and wool  cloth embroidered with gold and silver threads was very famous in the city of Damascus more than 500 years ago. This kind of craft is  called al-Aghabani.

Hisham al-Noqtah, one of the ancient professionals in the craft of Al-Aghabani, and one of the few who still have a workshop to manufacture it and display it in the shops of Medhat Pasha Market, said that Al-Aghbani is a pure  handcraft  made of natural silk, gold and reed threads and embroidered by needle with embossed embroideries. This  distinguishes Al-Aghbani from other Damascene fabrics, such as brocade and silk.

Al-Aghbani is also distinguished by its  seven colors and the names of its  drawings, where each embroidered  stitch has a special name such as ” Saqf al- Qa’a”, ” Daqqat al-Lira”, “Al-Sultan”, and “Lam Alef'” drawing that was embroidered on the turbans which were  worn by the dignitaries and scholars of Damascus. Al-Noqta  also pointed  out that the every piece of Aghabani needs about a month to be completed, so the Damascene families had to wait a long time to complete the bedspreads and clothes.

AL-Noqta told  SANA that he inherited this  craft from his grandparents. He designs drawings and engravings  on cloth that is either silk or cotton, then begins the stage of printing the drawings on wood briquettes. This  is carried out by specialized workers, then the washing and ironing stage are carried out by a manual machine, thus  the piece becomes ready for use.

Al-Noqta  pointed out that most of Al-Aghabani products are  exported to European countries where the Europeans  boast in offering them as presents as a distinguished handmade Damascene industry.

M.Wassouf