Syrian glassblowing dates back over 2000 years to Phoenician times, holding rich cultural significance.

The craft has been passed down through generations, using traditional methods and materials like recycled glass.

Traditional glassblowing is a significant part of Syria's cultural heritage, with skilled craftsmen found in Aleppo and other areas.

War in Syria has negatively impacted traditional glassblowing, now listed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.

The Syrian government supports traditional crafts like glassblowing through exhibitions, training, and financial grants.

The craft faces challenges, including high costs and threats from modern technology, leading to a decline in practicing artisans.

UNESCO listed traditional glassblowing as an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding due to its importance in Syrian culture and the threats it faces from war and potential extinction.

The Syrian Secretariat and Trust for Development are working to preserve Syrian intangible heritage, including traditional glassblowing.

Glassblowing is an important part of Damascus' 4,000-year-old cultural heritage.

Artisans still use high-temperature ovens and manual shaping to create delicate items like vases, plates, and decorated cups.

Preserving traditional glassblowing is crucial to Syria's national identity and cultural heritage, with efforts including exhibitions and training programs for artisans.

The future of traditional glassblowing remains uncertain due to a lack of legal provision for contract renewal and the decline of practicing artisans.

Syrian glassblowing dates back over 2000 years to Phoenician times, holding rich cultural significance.

Title:

Content: Art of glassblowing returns again in Aleppo countryside liberated from terrorism

The town of Urem Al-Kubra in Aleppo province in northern Syria has historically been famous for its skilled glassblowing craftsmen. The war considerably affected this traditional craft inherited from our ancestors, but after the liberation of the city from terrorism, some artisans have brought it back to life. The artisan, Yassin Arab learned the glassblowing craft from his father when he was a child, and after the town was liberated from terrorism, he returned to his small facility, where he worked to restore it and start working again. Arab does not hide his enormous passion for the craft of glassblowing and his belief in the need to preserve this ancient Syrian heritage. Regarding the working mechanism, the artisan explained to SANA that he uses recycled glass, melts it again in the oven at high temperature, and then chooses a specific shape for its manufacture, whether hookah bottles, vases, plates, small jugs, fish houses for decoration, decorated cups and antiques of different sizes. After that, t he piece is blown, rotated and processed by the artisan until it takes its final shape using white and brown colors, and once the manufacturing of the product is finished, it is decorated and colored to give it the required aesthetics. For his part, Hussein Najjar noted that he learned the craft of blowing glass manually since he was young and has been working in this field for 40 years. He added that he is able to make any shape or glass container, using his imagination, and considered that the art of glassblowing is one of the types of plastic arts. Traditional glassblowing is a profession that dates back more than two thousand years (since the time of the Phoenicians) and was included in December 2023 by UNESCO on the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity that needs urgent preservation. Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

The craft has been passed down through generations, using traditional methods and materials like recycled glass.

Traditional glassblowing is a significant part of Syria's cultural heritage, with skilled craftsmen found in Aleppo and other areas.

War in Syria has negatively impacted traditional glassblowing, now listed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.

The Syrian government supports traditional crafts like glassblowing through exhibitions, training, and financial grants.

Title:

Content: Exhibition of craft products by Syrian and Russian artists in the public park in Aleppo
Halab-Sana
On the grounds of the public park in the city of Aleppo, the activities of the exhibition of craft products were launched today, with the participation of 20 craftsmen and artists from Syria and the Russian Federation.
The exhibition, organized by the Ministry of Industry in cooperation with the Russian Cultural Center in Damascus, the Federation of Artisans in Aleppo and the Syrian Professional Center Association, includes a collection of heritage and artistic works, paintings of Ajami thread, ornaments and handicrafts of wool, orphans, leather, rugs, carpets, bamboo and silver industry.
According to the President of the Union of Artisans in Aleppo, Mohammed Hossam Hallak, in a statement to SANA correspondent, the exhibition aims to highlight the traditional handicrafts and crafts and folklore professions to revive them by training the younger generations and mastering their industry to preserve them.
Mustafa al-Nu, President of the Syrian Professional Center Association, pointed out that the association worked to attract professionals and handicrafts, and provided them with financial grants to encourage them to continue their work, to preserve these crafts from extinction, in addition to training young people wishing to learn these crafts and develop them to suit the times.
The Russian artist Yuri Lishin, famous for the manufacture of blowing on glass, talked about his professionalism for more than 54 years, and his participation in many exhibitions in the world, indicating that his visit to Syria to learn about the glass industry, and participate in workshops on the manufacture of hand glass in Syria.
A number of participants noted the importance of the exhibition, which allows for the marketing of their products, where Zakaria Sultan, who works in the craft of silver and peat breaking, explained that he participates with silver and copper products and accessories made by hand in various forms for swimming pools, steadfastness, image cadres and chandeliers, in addition to grafting copper on wood, calling for providing the necessary support to maintain this profession.
The craftsman Ayman Saeed presented the results of the drawing on wood, which is called Ajami art, and stated that he learned to make this art and plant motifs and painting in Arabic calligraphy in the association, and became a trainer contributing to the revival of heritage, and that the exhibition is an important opportunity to market his products.
Artist Tala Naravyan participated in watercolor, oil and other paintings painted with pencils and charcoal, talking about the Armenian and Arab heritage and the neighborhoods of Aleppo and its citadel, pointing out that she participates to introduce people to the components of the rich Syrian heritage through painting because it constitutes the language of the world.
Samira Misto, who works in the craft of making the ancient traditional macrame, using colored threads and ropes to decorate the Koran, mirrors, clothes and jewelry, pointed out that she is working to develop this profession by adding beads and tree trunks to revive and preserve it.
Qusay Razzouk
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Aleppo Public Park

The craft faces challenges, including high costs and threats from modern technology, leading to a decline in practicing artisans.

Title:

Content: 00: 00
Expo 2020 Dubai Today
Ancient Crafts Blown by Technology
T + T - normal size
Thuriyeh is the Syrian capital, Damascus, with its aesthetics, ancient walks and attractive colors.
It is filled with the cultural and societal vocabulary of distinct traditional industries, manifested in one of its prominent images by ancient professions, which have been associated with and named, since ancient times, by specific families who have practiced them.
However, these names, which are full of cultural and historical content, have become threatened by the threat of modern technology, which, with its various fields, has been “stolen ” by the descendants of the“ industrialists ” of the ancient Damascene professions.
The names of the majority of Damascene families are attributed to many of the names of traditional professions, where we find the names of families who worked in the textile professions and derivatives, including Bait al-Hayek, ropes, kattan, nouilati, maslati, Sabbagh, wool, and many more.
We also find that there are families that practiced the manufacture of shoes called Bait al-Jazmati, al-Sakafi, al-Kandarji, al-Bawabiji, Kabaqibi, while the families that practiced the profession of al-Samana, for example, Bait al-Khodari, al-Fakhani, al-Kuzbari, al-Khallati, al-Arqsoussi, al-Jabban, al-Labban, al-Zayat, and Sharabati.
The families working in the field of clothing and fabrics were named Bait al-Khayat, al-Kawa, and al-Hariri.
It is clear that these names have an important historical and social value, as they are linked to a cultural and historical component that tells the stories of the place and reflects its heritage and features of attractiveness, but it is remarkable that these nicknames, which were associated with important unique professions and were a strong indication of an influential presence. As they melt and disappear, the grandchildren abandon the origins of the craft or abandon it altogether, and they see it as useless and profitable.
This will lead in the future to the loss of a rich heritage, as Mohammed Samer al-Mahayri confirms to Al-Bayan, whose family is famous for the craft of making hodges and then boxes, hence the name, where he shows that hundreds of families in Damascus were associated with the names of professions as the city was an important commercial and economic center, pointing out that “there are many families with the same surname, but they are not related. It is not a city or a province, and one of these families is the Mahayri family, for example. ”
He pointed out that modern technology has become a real threat to an important traditional heritage component, namely the traditional crafts group, which has been abandoned by grandchildren.
Reflection
Al-Mahayri points out that the naming of families by the names of professions that were prevalent in Damascus reflected the values, culture and socio-economic level of those families.
He also explains that these crafts, together with the families, have left a great impact on the life of the Damascene community, a beautiful impact that should not be absent, and there must be specialized projects that protect and care for it by preserving the component of these traditional professions.
He continues: You find that it has developed professions and ended some professions turned owners to other professions, the barber family some of them moved to work in the soap industry and trade in the market of Bzouria, and the Arqsousi turned to carpentry also, and they originally were selling liquor, and many others.
Continuation.
In turn, Mahmoud Hamami, who insisted on challenging the waves of technological temptation and preserving the profession of his grandparents, where his family works in the profession of Damascene baths as a law graduate, but he continues to manage family-owned baths for decades, pointing out that « his brothers went to work in other professions, and this is the case of most families whose name was associated with the names of professions ».
Diversification
It is worth mentioning that the names of the Damascene families referred to are related to the variety of professions. At the level of confectionery industry, we find many family names associated with these professions, such as: Bait Ka ’ ikati, Halwani, Sukari, Knivati, Baggati.
While we find the house of Kahwaji, Hakawati, Rawi, Tetunji Tanbokji, and Arkeli.
As for the professions related to education, we find: the families of the house of the professor, the teacher, the teacher, the haja, and the osta, while the families famous for science, culture and medicine are called the house of the poet, the writer, the writer, the writer, the Arab writer, the wise, the surgeon and the case.
There are also many families that bore the name of the profession of blacksmithing, such as: Sankari, Bawabiri, Mujlakh, and Sheikh blacksmiths, while the families that made musical instruments were called the house of string, and Awad, while the families were named after the house of castles, stones and flint for those who practiced the profession of stone quarries.
There are family names associated with military professions such as: the house of the soldier, the lieutenant colonel, the soldier, and the brigadier.
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UNESCO listed traditional glassblowing as an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding due to its importance in Syrian culture and the threats it faces from war and potential extinction.

Title:

Content: Culture of Al-Baath Newspaper
Intangible heritage contributions to the protection of national identity
Amina Abbas
Heritage researchers and scholars agree that the Levant region is the most important heritage repository for humanity, as it has the oldest and richest heritage, and this heritage, both material and intangible, was coveted by the colonists since ancient times to destroy culture and identity, there is no identity without heritage based on it, and no heritage without identity, so Syria is keen through its institutions and bodies to emphasize the importance of preserving it.
Hence, the Quneitra branch of the Arab Writers Union, in celebration of World Heritage Day, decided to hold a seminar in the Levant Hall of the National Museum entitled “Contributions of Intangible Heritage to the Protection of National Identity ” with the participation of Dr. Amal Daccak, Professor Ruba Al-Diab, Qas Ghassan Houranieh and Dr. Rima Diab, Head of the Quneitra branch of the Arab Writers Union. It represents not only traditions and the past, but society in all its layers, and links the past to the present and the future, and it is a means for each people to prove its existence in the world and its authenticity, while stressing that the intangible heritage contributes to the preservation of identity and personality. Our identity and our heritage in the era of globalization, which is trying to eliminate our heritage and culture to be part of this lost world.
This was also confirmed by Dr. Dakak in her participation: “The Syrian tangible and intangible heritage is rich in its authenticity and civilization that dates back thousands of years, so it was and still is coveted by the colonists who stole many treasures to be in their world museums, and their war on Syria recently was aimed at destroying culture and identity and stealing antiquities. ” It is an integrated cultural unit formed by man throughout his long history with his creative thinking, observations, reflections and experiences accumulated generation after generation, and it is the social environment occupied by man and the components and pillars produced by previous generations until it reached subsequent generations and has the function of supervising the behavior of the individual and his sociocultural upbringing because it is a reflection of the social, intellectual and cultural life of peoples. As Daccak pointed out, the identity is the set of psychological, social and civilizational features of our nation throughout its long history, and the folklore constitutes the identity of a homeland rich in culture and civilization, calling in the era of globalization to seek to preserve our cultural identity and heritage, which represents this identity to face the challenges of globalization that invade us and want to eliminate our identity and culture. And our originality by drawing different borders in which national identity is absent and killing people in their country.
Because the Levantine rose and its associated practices and traditional crafts are important Syrian heritage elements inherited from generation after generation, and was included by UNESCO in 2019 in the list of intangible human heritage was talked about by Professor Al-Diab, who was crowned queen of roses and became Syrian ambassador to the world: “The Levantine rose was found painted on the wall of a palace on the island of Crete and was introduced to France during wars. As the poet Nizar Qabbani wrote about her,“ I am your Damascene rose, O people of the Levant, and whoever finds me should put me in the first vase, ” referring to the areas of its cultivation in Damascus countryside and Ghubartha. The project was launched by the Syrian Secretariat for Development in 2020 with the support of First Lady Asma al-Assad, affirming that Syrians consider the Levantine Rose an important part of their culture. The Ministry of Tourism has taken it as its slogan, in addition to many medical and cosmetic companies and building a path that is architecturally designed in the form of a Levantine Rose, explaining that the elements of the Syrian intangible cultural heritage include: Traditions and expressions “qaṣīda, mawwāl, ataba, dalaouna, zaghārīd, folk proverbs ” and the arts:“ Aleppo qadūd, coastal dabka, Circassian dance, Syriac church music ” Social practices “preparing and serving bitter coffee ” Knowledge and practices related to nature and the universe:“ cupping, traditional architecture ” Skills related to traditional crafts “wooden mosaic, brocade ” The crafts associated with the Levantine Rose ”, and that the elements of the intangible Syrian heritage included in the lists of human heritage are: falcon hunting, shadow fiction theater, Levantine Rose, Aleppo cod, glass blowing and making sticks and playing on them.
It is noteworthy that the seminar included the presentation of a film prepared by dr.
Amal Daccak spoke about heritage in our contemporary lives and its role in preserving our national identity, and the participation of the storyteller Ghassan Houranieh through a short story titled “The Levantine Rose ”.

The Syrian Secretariat and Trust for Development are working to preserve Syrian intangible heritage, including traditional glassblowing.

Glassblowing is an important part of Damascus' 4,000-year-old cultural heritage.

Title:

Content: People 's Network > > International
I am in Syria: Old City and Youth
October 21, 2021 21: 08 | Source: People's Daily Online - International Channel
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Damascus, Syria, with a history of more than 4,000 years, is one of the oldest ancient cities in the world.
Following in the footsteps of reporters, we will take a walk in the old city of Damascus to understand the different "scenery" here.
(Edited by: Gao Ge, Liu Hui)
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Artisans still use high-temperature ovens and manual shaping to create delicate items like vases, plates, and decorated cups.

Preserving traditional glassblowing is crucial to Syria's national identity and cultural heritage, with efforts including exhibitions and training programs for artisans.

The future of traditional glassblowing remains uncertain due to a lack of legal provision for contract renewal and the decline of practicing artisans.

Title:

Content: Sulaymaniyah in Damascus.
Do you want to throw out your guards?
While the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent saw in his dream that he was in a grove in the center of the capital Damascus, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) appeared to him and instructed him to build a mosque in that land. The Ottoman Sultan awoke from his sleep pleased with what he saw and heard. He immediately ordered to cut off a side of that grove and build a large kiosk in the middle of it. He was in a dream and pointed out.
This is the story conveyed by a number of writers and historians, the latest of which was Sheikh Najmuddin al-Ghazi in his book "The Walking Planets in the Eyes of the Tenth Hundred", about the decision of the legal sultan to build the Tekke Sulaymaniyah (west of Damascus) in the 16th century, one of the most prominent Ottoman tekaya and the most modern style and the most beautiful architecture, according to specialists.
Historically, the Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah was a place to perform religious duties and a resting place for pilgrims and a refuge for the maqtada and poor people of Damascus, Muslims and others, and remained so until the French colonizer entered the country in 1920; where General Guru and his forces took from the Tkiyet as a residence.
With the departure of colonialism and the advent of 1948, the Shari ’ ah school in Tkiyet returned to hold educational seminars and memorization of the Quran, and since the mid-seventies of the last century began to embrace dozens of shops of ancient Damascene handicrafts, and expanded this part to be known later as the market of handicrafts.
Recently, this complex cultural and religious identity of the heritage teacher has become threatened, after the Ministry of Tourism (in the government of the Syrian regime) notified professionals to vacate their shops before the end of the year under the pretext of restoration.
From Al-Ablaq Palace to Al-Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah
The site of Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah, west of Damascus, was known for the construction of a number of royal residences, the last of which was the palace of the owner of the Mamluk Sultan Baqiris (1228-1277 AD), which was named after the colors of the stones of its construction black and yellow brought from Aleppo and Daraa.
However, large parts of the palace were burned during the conquest of Damascus by the Mongol commander Tamerlane in 803 A.D. (1402 A.D.), and it was not until the Ottoman Sultan Selim I entered Damascus in 923 A.D. (1517 A.D.) that the Ablaq palace was restored and rehabilitated.
By 959 A.D. (1502 A.D.), Sultan Selim the Magnificent commissioned the famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan to develop a modern architectural plan for a hospice on the site of the Al-Ablaq Palace. In 960 A.D. (1553 A.D.), a large number of workers began building the hospice under the supervision of the Damascene engineer Shahabuddin ibn Al-Attar.
Then rest on the banks of the Barada River "a luxurious architectural group that captivates the hearts of the hearts with its regular domes like knots around a large main dome, surrounded by two minarets, and interspersed with gardens and trees whose beauty blends with the beauty of architecture makes this spot in Damascus one of the most beautiful and beautiful spots", the Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah, as described by Abdul Qader Rihawi in his book "Architecture in Arabic".
Ottoman architecture and Damascene motifs
The building of the Sulaymaniyah Tekke consists of two similar architectural blocks, one large and includes the mosque and the other small and includes the school, and linked between these two blocks was a market dedicated to the caravans of pilgrims, and the Ottoman engineering effects on the planning and construction, while the Damascene artistic touch overshadows the designs of doors and windows and decorations that decorate the walls and rooms of the place.
The two architectural blocks are surrounded by relatively low walls, while the middle of them are two rectangular pools fed by water vertical fountains used for ablution, and the mosque with its narrow minarets tops the southern block, while the school mosque with its smooth dome tops the eastern block, and on the sides of the blocks spread buildings are shops and narrow rooms covered with low domes interspersed with low The chimneys are shaped like minarets and are led by shady arcades with ornate arches.
The Sulaymaniyah Tikkiye market extends from its easternmost to its westernmost, and is lined with dozens of shops that were previously commercial shops, and have since the 1970s turned into handicrafts shops.
In addition to its traditional role as a place for the betters, the poor and the needy, the Sulaymaniyah Tekke was designed to be a stop for pilgrims on the pilgrimage route to Mecca, where the place was equipped with spacious kitchens, bakeries, rest rooms, several prayer rooms, a sea for ablution and other necessary services for pilgrims.
When it became a teachers ’ house in 1923, it stopped hosting guests and sheltering arrivals for the first time since its establishment four centuries ago, but soon regained its identity as a hospitable place when it hosted a number of Palestinian families displaced to Damascus following the 1948 Nakba.
While the Sulaymaniyah school was famous for receiving students of Sharia sciences from all parts of the world, before turning, with the opening of the Syrian University in Damascus in 1934, into a place to teach dentistry, and then into an archaeological landmark that includes a war museum with the continuation of religious activities in the chapels and mosque to this day.
From an incubator to a bounty hunter.
In mid-October, the Ministry of Tourism in the government of the regime warned the Karar sheikhs of craftsmen in the handicrafts market to evacuate their shops before the new year 2023 for the purpose of restoration.
Despite the appeals of the craftsmen to the concerned authorities through the local newspapers and media, and the intervention of the Damascus Chamber of Tourism to promise the craftsmen their return after the completion of the restoration operations, Nidal Mashfej, Assistant Minister of Tourism, stressed that there is no legal provision obliging the ministry to renew the contracts of craftsmen after the end of each year. Shopkeepers have the right to claim any malfunction, damage, injustice or the like, the official told the official Tishreen newspaper.
A member of the Damascus Chamber of Tourism, Arafat Oza Bashi, points out that all the shopkeepers in the Sulaymaniyah Tkiyet hope to return to their shops after the completion of the restoration, to continue their work and preserve the intangible heritage threatened with extinction.
Haj Abu Mohammed, 57 years old, owner of a shop in Tkiyet, told Al Jazeera Net, "Years ago they evacuated the glass market of Tkiyet under the pretext of restoring it, and it is still a wreck and it is not clear if it will return to a glass market, and I do not exclude that our shop has a similar fate."
"As if they were not satisfied with the stagnation of the market in the last 10 years and the absence of tourists and visitors from our shops, which the simple citizen can not buy goods from them because of their high cost, and all the losses we suffered to continue to revive these crafts during the war."
The Sulaymaniyah Tikkiye has been undergoing restoration since 2019, and the first phase aimed to restore part of the Tikkiye and what is known as the glass market, while the second phase is dedicated to the handicrafts market and some parts of the interior of the Tikkiye “to preserve the archaeological site from landings and structural cracks, ” according to Nidal Mashfaj.
Source: The Island