Page 219 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Five

they made little else hut the large trays covered with zinc on which
food is placed. The copper cooking-pots, up to a metre in diameter,
which were also covered with zinc, were usually imported from Iran.
Other items of daily use were made of brass, such as the mortar and
pestle used to grind coffee and spices. Blacksmiths, who were found
in the suqs of the ports and also in the Buraimi oasis, made chiefly
locks, nails and tools which were needed for building and repairing
boats.
Jewellery, most of which was made of silver, played a very
important role in the life of women, as part of the marriage price. In
the 191 h century, Maria Theresa Dollars became the only accepted
currency among both the settled people of Inner Oman and the
nomadic population of Eastern Arabia, because they could rely on
the high silver content being consistent. The dollars (Thaler) were
also melted down to make large arm-bangles, anklets, necklaces, hair
ornaments and rings. In some of the traditional necklaces the dollars
themselves were attached to chains in the same way as was common
with other coins throughout the Middle East. Much of this traditional
silver jewellery was imported into the Trucial Stales from the age-old
craft centres in Nizwa, Bahlah and elsewhere in Oman.55 There were
also some silversmiths in the ports of the Trucial Stales, whose
number, particularly in Dubai, increased when the pearling industry
was prosperous. Khanajr were made in Ra’s al Khaimah; the blades
for these curved daggers, which were carried by most men, were
imported from India and Iran.

Woodwork
A.part from the boat builders there were few carpenters in the towns
of the Trucial States. The locally-obtainable wood from the date palm
or acacia is unsuitable for carving and shaping. Most items of
furniture such as four poster beds, cooking stands, kitchen cup­
boards, large chests for dresses and small chests used by pearl
merchants were all imported. These items were almost exclusively
used by the section of the population which came into close contact
with India through trade and had adopted certain fashions which
were otherwise uncommon in the majority of households in the
Trucial States.
Wood for making doors also had to be imported. These doors,
which were decoratively carved, frequently have sentimental value,
and if people construct a new house they may well take with them a

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