Page 49 - مجلة الشرطي الصغير

Traditional AL SABLAH
Craft

Translation by: Rajaa Al-Lawatia
Text and pictures by: Zamzam Al Hashemi

Dibs (palm honey) industry :

Hi little friends, in this issue we will introduce you to an old, beautiful industry, which is the
Dibs industry (palm honey). Our beloved country, Oman, is rich in its many various,
high-quality palm trees in various Sultanate governorates. Omanis make optimal use of these
trees, as they benefit from everything in it, even its fruits, are not only for eating, but they ex-
tract some substances from it such as dibs which we will talk about now.In the summer, large
quantities of dates are stored in bags made of palm fronds called (Jerban) and they are placed
on top of each other in a special room called the (Nadhad). It is distinguished that it is dark
with no openings that allow air to enter, so dates interact with the high temperature that melts
them. The honey comes out through the Jerban in the form of a sticky liquid in channels locat-
ed in the Nadhad area. When this stage is finished, the dibs is collected and stored in different

containers, especially the kharus (a pottery pot) with a narrow neck to help in pre-
serving its contents such as dibs, water, or dates from exposure to
sunlight, dust, insects, etc. These pots are also character-
ized by their various beautiful inscriptions that
make it easy to hold and carry from one place
to another.

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