Nawl (an old horizontal-warp loom/weaving machine)
Weaving on the nawl, an old horizontal-warp loom used to produce carpets, tablecloths, small silk bags, jackets, and abayas (traditional ceremonial cloaks woven with wool or silk), a technique dating back to the Phoenicians, who produced unique nawl fabrics dyed with Tyrian purple. Silk nawl was mainly produced in Mount Lebanon and parts of the Bekaa valley; from the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565 CE), rural communities relied on silk production for practical daily clothing needs. Zouk Mikael became particularly famous for this handicraft, known during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries CE as 'the Silk Village' for its distinguished silk nawl weaving; in a genuinely remarkable historical detail, the first three Lebanese national flags were woven in Zouk Mikael's tapestry workshops. In the old Zouk Mikael souk, weavers work at looms where the warp thread, hidden within the finished tapestry, is placed horizontally; their tapestries are directly compared, for the complexity of their drawings and variety of colors used, to those of the renowned French Aubusson tapestry factory. Zouk Mikael craftsmen continue weaving tablecloths, small silk bags, jackets, and abayas embroidered with rich, sparkling motifs. Related regional weaving traditions include the Bchetfine Druze community's use of the same horizontal warp loom to produce thick woolen over-garments ornamented with stripes or floral motifs, worn at home; a separate, more formal ceremonial abaya tradition woven in Baadaran, directly inspired by the dark-colored, gold-embroidered cloaks of Beiteddine Palace; and, using vertical looms rather than the horizontal nawl, goat-hair tent and carpet weaving still practiced in villages including Kousba and Chhim. The art of nawl weaving is directly described as requiring precision, concentration, and tasteful creativity in the design of fine, intricate patterns, including the incorporation of gold threads into what is considered a genuinely precious textile.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not independently inscribed
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