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DILMN

٨‫ﺭ‬.(", T٦١ey were complctcly covercd with datcs and their typc could not be dctermincd, but
were doubtless the usual simple ‫ﺍ‬ype although the sunken jar is placcd in the iddle of the
frce side of the platform, implying the existcnce of a pcrpendicular channel where the
opposing slopes mcct. Parpcn houses and ccmcnt platforms were built rccently.

2.b 'I'eehnology and uses of date-loney

The way the incubator is used is vcry simple: the platform is first of all covcred with a ١at or

tray rcsting on top ٥f the dams and the surrounding wall٠ Baskcts (Bahrain) or bags woven

from palms holding 33 kilos of dates known as khasfa ( ) in Oman' are pilcd in a٨

orderly faslion onto the tray, The bags are uscd once only, Fifteen layers of two rows of nine

bags, i.e. about 8910 kilos of dates, can be piled up on a platform 2 ١٠ by 3 n. Due to the

suffocating heat in the roonms the dates decompose quickly giving off a juice which passes

through the bags and tray and runs along the channcls to the rcceptacle at the end of which is

cmpticd periodically. The jars at Nobar have a fabric cover to protect the honey thus

obtaincd from impurities. For the quantity of dates quoted above the processing period last

four months from August to November (harvesting takes place in ٨ugust), and

approximately 400 kilos of honey is obtaincd. At Nobar the honey is conserved in mctal

drums or carthenware jars with a gross weight of 30 ilos, and stored, somctimes along with

other agricultural products, dried lemons and tobacco, in the empty space. In Bahrain honey

not retaincd for honme consumption was sold in Manama souk; in Nobar it is not sold in the

town but rctained for village consumption and its price is high, ten Omani riyals for four

kilos in 1981. The dired dates are given to cattle as fodder.

In Bahrain' several types of date were used in the production of honey, particularly the
2ahidi and hodrawi types. Besides dibs the juice gathered is also called 'asal el-tamr (date
honey) or 'asal aswad (black honey). It can be used as it is with rice, 'aside (a thick paste
made of lour and clairifed butter), khabis (a kind of preserve served as dessert) or other
local dishes and is paritcularly favoured for its high food-value during the month of
Ramadan. (It keeps very easily, often iwth the addition of sesame or cloves). Or it can be
boiled in a little water and cooled for twenty-four hours. The syrup obtained in this way is

8 Compare the description of a similar installation made at the time of an ethnographical
investigation at Sohar in 1980 by C, Lecour-Grandmaison (Merchant's house in Sohar,
unpublished): "a room, known as bukhar, for the treatment of dates. Depending on the
quality, they were dried on a tray, the "date honey' ('asl aswad') being collected in
eatrhenware jars, or if of inferior quality, they were boiled and packed for expotr to lndia as
cattle-feed. This room was ventilated by small openings at roof level so that the heat and
fumes given off during treatment of the fuit could be expelled." (bukhar means the fumes
given off by the dates and has probably given its name to the room unused since 1970١ (fig.
4).
No opening or installation whatsoever, apatr from the platform, whether or not intended
for treatment of dates, exist in the incubators we visited in Oman and Bahrain. These rooms,
as well as those dug out in excavation, give only a reduced free space where it exists, and are
intended solely for production and, possibly, storage of the honey. It appears therefore that
here we have a special instance of treatment on a larger scale.

9 A‫ﺇ‬١ information about the Nohar incubators was provided by their owners.
10 lnformation collected by Myriam al-Hirmi, archaeologist at the Bahrain Depatrment of

Antiauities.

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