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Egypt, 19th century man smoking a hookah, 1843

Egypt

A 19th-century man smoking a shebak (with a dhamma on the sheen) while sitting on a rock in 1843 AD.

The smoking device shown in the picture is called a shebak (with a dhamma on the sheen). It has been mentioned in many historians' writings.

The person who makes or sells it is called a shabakshi (a seller).

Shebak is a word borrowed from the Turkish language with the same meaning. It is the name of an ancient, portable smoking device. It was widespread until the 19th century due to its ease of movement, unlike the hookah and narghile (shisha).

It resembles a pipe or hookah, but has a long stem to cool the smoke.

The reed was made of wood, while the popular one was made of reed sticks and stone. The tobacco holder was made of baked clay.

The design of the reed was proportional to the owner's social status. The reed was made of the finest wood, and the mouthpiece was made of amber. The reed was often adorned with silver wires or had a silk sheath.

Wealthy Egyptians would travel with a private servant who would carry more than one reed and a bag for tobacco if they wanted to invite a friend over for a smoke.

"Shobkshi" is the title of the reed merchant. According to Turkish, it should be "shabk + ji", and "ji" is the Turkish addition tool. In its original language, it was pronounced with a "g", but in Egyptian colloquial dialect, it was distorted to "shobkshi."

The "maslakati" is the worker or craftsman who specializes in cleaning the nets. He used iron wires, tied hemp fibers to them, and passed them through the reed to clean and unravel them. This was considered a lowly profession and considered a source of insult in some social circles.

Source of information: Farag Dictionary of Egyptian Colloquial