Taiz agate maker talksAgate: stone of indifferent country [Archives:2005/837/Last Page]

By Shaker Mohammed
Yemen Times Staff
In a small workshop at the end of a lane off the main street of al-Bab al-Kabir in the city of Taiz, he sits hitting at pieces of stone with a small hammer, dipping them from time to time into a bowl of water to better discern images inside them and shape them accordingly.

” I have been practicing this profession for more than ten years,” said Abdussalam Ahmed, a young craftsman who carves wonderfully smooth and colorful pieces of agate out of rough stones.

“I learned it in Sana'a at the National Center for Handicrafts. There, I acquainted myself with the types of agate and the professional ways of making them.”

Now he resides in Taiz and has established the first agate workshop. Around him are piles of sacks full of raw stones and walls covered with whitish dust coming from processes of stone cutting and polishing.

He skillfully makes agate into small and medium sized pieces which are used mostly to ornament rings, necklaces, and silverware. He then sells them to traders in the nearby shops.

“Taiz agate dealers used to come to Sana'a to purchase agates. I thought it would be profitable to move to Taiz where I might find a new market and promote the profession. Now they do not need to go outside the city. Sana'a was the only source for agate and people depended on it mainly. Anis was thought to be the sole source of raw agate. However, now we are producing agate and have discovered new ores in new districts in the provinces of Ibb, Taiz, and Lahj. In Anis, there are top-quality mines but the newly discovered ones are sufficiently good.”

A few centuries ago, agate was of the main local commodities exported by Yemen. Today, it has been affected by negligence and non-Yemeni types which flood markets.

Many people buy agate because of their own beliefs. Some buy it because they think it contains magical properties such as bringing wealth or making one lucky. Others buy it from a religious perspective quoting a Prophet's saying that urges people to wear agate-set rings. People, however, have different tastes when it comes to the color of the stone. Some prefer it to be red whereas others want specific images in it.

“Many people, especially from the Gulf States ask for stones images but such stones are naturally rare and their price varies according to clarity.”

Abdussalam complains about the indifference on the part of the concerned authorities who do not pay attention to “the sacred stone of our land. Its reputation is damaged by cheap and manufactured sorts of agate which comes into the country while the layman cannot tell which is which.”

Abdussalam says that craftsmen are not supported to improve their profession and help boost the status of Yemeni traditional crafts, especially with the fact that the price of their goods is controlled by traders who monopolize the market.

“Our resources are limited,” he says as he points to the small grindstone which is not designed for stone cutting and the locally improvised electric polishing machine consisting of assembled kitchen tools: a cooker body, bowl and plate. The setbacks to tourism over the previous years have affected their position to a great extent.
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