Other Raw Materials
Apart from the listed by-products of palm trees, wood of other trees and the leather of the animals are used by the Manasir to manufacture tools and household items.
The finest but rarely found handicraft of the region are big bowls (Tabaq, طبق), skillfully crafted out of the soft wood of Faidherbia albida (Haraz, حراز). Haraz wood is also used for the lower parts of donkey saddles. Nowadays the practise of fine wood carving has declined rapidly, one reason being the shortage of the particularly suitable Haraz tree.
The most common agricultural tools in Dar al-Manasir are the Turiah (طورية), a hoe with an angular blade that proves very functional in opening and closing irrigation channels, and a small sawed sickle. Whereas the blade of the Turiah is bought from outside and often even imported from China, all wooden handles are locally produced. A different local impediment entirely manufactured from wood is the rake-like Arbil (اربيل) used for levelling the ground.
Very popular among the Bedouin Manasir is the Qirbah (قربة), a hose made from the entire skin of a goat. Filled with a liquid it becomes moist and flexible. The Qirbah is hung in a shady windy place, either from the ceiling, a beam or on a wooden tripod. Due to constant evaporation its content is cooled down considerably. The riverain Manasir employ the Qirbah primarily for cooling fermented milk since their water is cooled in huge permeable earthen jars called Sir (زير). These jars are placed in the shadow of a tree or lined up in a row in isolated covered mud structures called Masirah (مزيرة).
Read more about this topic: Material Culture Of The Manasir
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