Yemeni stone grinders [Archives:2006/924/Culture]

Ali M. Mohsen Zaid
Until recently, stone grinders were a fundamental component of Yemeni life used to grind grains, coffee and vegetables. Now they have become part of the past and bygone days.

The type of stone grinders used on the Tihama plains differs from that used in other areas (e.g. mountainous). A typical highlands grain grinder consists of two circular stone pieces. The lower piece is fixed with a raised area in the center. The upper piece has a hole in the middle so it fits into the protruding piece and rotates around it. The upper piece has another hole near its edge in which a thick short stick (qirah) is planted. When grinding, the user grabs the stick and moves it in a circular motion. Thus, the upper stone wheel rotates over the lower one, grinding grains fed into the center hole.

Women were who used to grind grains. The number of stone grinders in a village was limited and depended on its population size and economic level. Women would gather around a stone grinder and start grinding in turn. Each would take fistfuls from her grain bowl and put them into the hole, then hold the short stick and rotate it in a circular manner. The moving stone crushed the grains between the two wheels. She would continue feeding grain until she finished.

It was customary for women to help each other. Two women together might take hold of and move the short stick to double rotation speed.

The grindstone's rhythmic motion would spark a lyrical atmosphere where women would chant wonderful songs expressing affection, nostalgia, satire, etc. I can still remember some of them like, “Oh beloved, if you are a [real] beloved, stay with me and I will lay down silken mattresses and spray perfume.”

On the Tihama plains, stone grinders also consist of two pieces but with a difference. One piece, representing the main part, is thick and rectangular-shaped. The other is cylindrical with thinner ends than the center. Wet grains were set on the rectangular piece's surface and then a woman would roll the cylindrical piece to and fro over the grains crushing them onto the floor.

While grinding, Tihama women would voice a refrain called “dan”: “anawaydin, wanaydanah, awanaydin.” This was accompanied by singing verses of folk poetry such as: “I don't want you, black. You, brown, I am your slave. Take me wherever you like.”

Hence, we perceive that some folklore grew amidst misery to alleviate it. Villages and towns are full of such folklore that should be cared for, documented and saved.

Grinding lodge

When the grinding machine was first introduced to a village, its women and children and surrounding villagers were very happy. They would bring grain to the lodge of the grinding machine whose sound echoed through the valleys. Set in a calm village, the machine disturbed the rural environment's tranquility. Whenever villagers heard it begin and saw smoke coming from its exhaust pipe, women and children would shoulder grain sacks and head for the machine. There, they would be received by the grinding machine's flour-dusted operator, who most often was the owner himself and received money or grain in return for the service he provided. Customers waited patiently for their turns. Proud of the gadget he brought, from time to time the owner would ask children their names, about their families, etc. Due to the deafening sound, communication was difficult, with interlocutors repeating a sentence many times before it was understood.

Coffee and vegetable grinders

Another type of grinding device is the coffee mortar (mohas), resembling a mortar and pestle. It is a hollow in the bottom of a room on the ground floor of a house, usually made in the houses of sheikhs or chiefs. All fellow villagers had the right to come and thrash their coffee. Such houses usually smelled of coffee.

Another very common device is the so-called “mashaqah,” a flat stone on which tomatoes, peppers, garlic, etc., are ground using a fist-sized stone. Many households, even in cities, prefer this traditional grinder to an electric mixer because it has its own flavor.

Ali M. Mohsen Zaid is a Yemeni writer and a General Manager in the Parliament

– Currently, Minister of Higher Education.
——
[archive-e:924-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-02-27-p:culture]