286 tehmina goskarreliance on the chair was “almost biological” (1981: 289–292). Invoking the
sixteenth-century observation of Pérez de Chinchón that Muslims sat on the ground
like women—which in Spain they did into the seventeenth century—we are reminded
that the material culture of seating could be divided along gender lines too.
The couches of the Roman triclinium afforded such a specific way of elite eating
and socializing that once that layer of society had become deconstituted, this material
arrangement vanished as well. During the eighteenth century western-European
Mediterranean elites changed the manner, place and implements they used for eating.
They took to dining at a table with forks and knives on metal or ceramic crockery.
Previously even the most noble generally ate with their hands, with the aid of a spoon
and a knife. By contrast, in 1760 Greeks in the service of the Ottoman administration
in Istanbul were reported to have adopted the local eating customs while retaining the
accoutrements of French-style dining—circular table, chairs, spoons and forks—
which they did not use (Braudel, 1981: 206).
Few chairs have equipped Mediterranean places of worship, alien equally to the
Doric temple and the mosque. Only the advent of Protestant Christianity, which hardly
made its way into the Mediterranean, rendered the seat or pew a desirable addition to
worship and spiritual edification. By contrast, the oriental carpet has occupied a pre-
mium status as an object of desire and, indeed, investment, crossing freely into places
of worship and the home. Its sensory attraction is matched by its embodiment of the
skill and sheer tenacity of the spinners and weavers. In the North African, Middle
Eastern and Asian Mediterranean, carpet and cushions replace table and chairs.
The mid-nineteenth century Abruzzi shepherd would have felt at home in the tra-
ditional dining rooms of Libya today where the living area of a house or tent comprises
a broad cloth or carpet surrounded by sheepskins or cushions and the meal is partaken
from a central dish and eaten with the hands.^1 The traditional Tétouanese living room
set up in the city’s Ethnographic Museum demonstrates the centrality of the carpet in
the dining areas of Moroccan households, past and present. Its stunning carpet com-
prises intricate geometric motifs on a crimson ground. Low couches and cushions line
the side of the room and a Moroccan tea service is presented on metal trays on low
tripods to be enjoyed sitting or lounging on the carpet (Benaboud, 2002: 178–179).
Tétouan itself is known as the “Andalusian patio of Morocco”—set up to welcome
those fleeing the Spanish Reconquista (Benaboud, 2002: 163–165). This Mediterranean
port-city became the “daughter of Granada” and was largely rebuilt and controlled by
Andalusian migrants in the fifteenth century. The continuity of Andalusian heritage in
Tétouan manifests itself most strongly in its material culture, particularly in the embroi-
dery and textiles that can also be seen in the Ethnographic Museum. The city remains
one of craftspeople, makers of the kind of material culture that survives in many
Mediterranean urban centers, and characterizes our perceptions of those places. You can
still visit the tanneries, just outside the medina (city precinct), past stalls of jewelers and
clog makers. Leather working was established here in the sixteenth century and provided
a vital commodity for farmers, craft workers and merchants (Benaboud, 2002: 174).Ottoman rugs in Transylvania
From Seville to Cyprus, almost every area of the Mediterranean has laid claim to
being a bridge between east and west. These assertions of cultural contact and cross-
pollination are often oversimplified and lack a sense of historical reality. However the0002063960.INDD 286 2/17/2014 11:38:26 AM