Armenian News Network / Groong
Winter in Kharpert area: how much detail do we have on the
use of a ‘kourss’ to keep the family warm in winter?
March 7,
2016
Special to
Groong by Abraham D. Krikorian and Eugene L. Taylor
LONG
ISLAND, NY
Some of us
recall growing up as first-generation American Armenians and being chided by
non-Armenians about the very strange habits of ‘the Armenians.’ ‘They’ “wash” their bread [in reality, only dampening
with tap water to render pliable a piece or portion of dry flat bread - referred
to as chorr hahts, pahts hahts, parag hahts [Endnote 1,
at end of paper]; ‘they’ “eat sour
milk” [madzoon or yogurt, pronounced yogh’ourrtt by
Armenians who spoke Turkish, and has become widely used tho’ often
‘camouflaged’ with fruit] and what is ‘really’ weird is that ‘they’ “take
bricks to bed in the winter” to keep warm!
The “bricks”
referred to were, as some of us will know as kiremits [frequently pronounced kihre’mid
by Kharpert villagers [2] that were
usually carefully selected for its composition
̶ that is, the “brick” had
to deemed appropriate for heat-conservation and slow-release. They were flat and rectangular in shape and
after heating made great bed warmers.
Ordinarily,
these “bricks” were light clay-colored, and in America at least, they often derived
from furnace boiler-liner clay tiles or even chimney tiles. In any case, they were NOT ordinary red-color
construction “bricks” that we are generally familiar with nowadays.
Their
shape and thickness gave ample surface area and made the kiremits warm up fairly quickly in an oven. After neatly wrapping the heated kihre’mid, first in a few layers of
newspaper and then placing into a flannel bag or wrapper, they served as an
efficient bed- and great foot-warmer for hours on a wintry night. They gradually cooled and were only really cool
or spent out by morning — no electric blankets in those days!
As an
aside, but an important aside, one of us (ELT) remembers his grandmother in
small-town Kentucky heating a brick on the radiator, wrapping in flannel and
using it the same way as a kiremit.
In the Old
Country, or the Erghir [yergir, erkir
etc.] the usual rural housing arrangement was such that heat from the farm animals
helped considerably to break the cold since the stable or akhor was part of the house and located either next to the living
quarters or beneath the living quarters.
Using thermal energy from oxen, cows and other animals is sometimes touted
as ‘modern’ or at least an innovative concept.
And, a few villages in the Old
Country were apparently comprised of homes that were often fully or partially fashioned
into hillsides, and had full earthen ‘roofs’.
This should ring a bell as well and sound familiar to Americans as “earth-sheltering”
or “dug-out housing.”
Unfortunately,
when compared to other cultures subjected to detailed study by anthropologists
and sociologists, there has not been that much written in great detail about
Armenian domestic culture insofar as housing for the peasantry or for that
matter those better off financially is concerned. So far as we are aware at least, there is not
that much more available for those in financially better positions. [3] In fact, we have read missionary
accounts that draw attention to the fact that homes of the wealthy could not be
differentiated from the outside from those of the relatively poor.
Kiremits were used in the Old Country for keeping warm
under the yorghan. [4] That is for sure, but the ‘kourss’
was used while sitting about before going to ‘bed.’ Interestingly, the word and concept of the ‘kourss’
seems to be less well known and certainly the kourss is far less frequently
encountered in photographs.
Availability
of some relevant ‘kourss’ photographs has prompted us to share them here.
But before
we delve a bit into some details of our special topic of ‘the kourss’ it may be
well to show some photographs that emphasize that the Kharpert region did get snow,
and on occasion the snow amounted to a substantial amount.
The color
view of Veri Tagh [upper precinct or ward] Harpoot [Kharpert Kaghak] presented in
a Post Card below will be fairly familiar to many though this, scanned from an
original, is presented in higher resolution than those we have seen elsewhere.
The
original black and white photograph shown below and from which the colored Post
Card was generated will be generally unfamiliar. We cannot claim to know how many of these ‘black
and whites’ are ‘out there’ but the ‘original’ or contemporary photograph has
to be quite rare. The photograph we show
here is not simply the product of converting a color image to a black and white
through Photoshop or the like.
Photograph of Harpoot
and the Euphrates College area taken by Ernest W.[ilson] Riggs, President of
Euphrates College. Riggs was President
of Yeprad College from 1910 to 1915, so the photo would have been given to Louise
Carroll Masterson, Consul Masterson’s wife some time before 1914 when the
Mastersons left Harput to go to the Consul’s new posting at Durban, South
Africa.
The
photograph from which this copy was made was among the items given us by the
late Mary C. Masterson. Her father, William
W. Masterson, was the penultimate United States Consul to Harput,
Turkey-in-Asia. He served at “Harput”
so-called although the actual Consulate was in the lower ‘twin’-city provincial
capital of the Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Aziz, Mezireh. [5] Masterson, trained as an attorney, was an effective Consul but many
will be much more familiar with the name of his successor. Leslie A. Davis, also a lawyer, was present
as the genocide unleashed against the Armenians by the Young Turk government
unfolded. He communicated through
telegraphic dispatches with the American Embassy in Constantinople, i.e.
Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, and wrote a detailed final report that he
submitted in early 1918 to the Head of the US Consular Service. This report, which was requested by the Head
of the Service, is an exceptionally valuable document on specific events
written by an official of the United States Government, which never did declare
war on the Ottoman Government. [6]
The
photograph shown below shows a winter scene in upper Harpoot city. The photograph was taken near the residential
buildings associated with Euphrates College. This photograph comes from a
private collection to which we were kindly given access and may be dated as from
the winter of 1915 or 1916 or 1917 or 1918.
We cannot
take the trouble to say much here about Mrs. Masterson except to say that she
and her husband came from the small town of Carrollton, Kentucky with which one
of us (ELT) is very familiar and has deep family roots. Carrollton is on the Ohio River, not far from
Cincinnati. The Mastersons are all
buried in Carrollton. [7]
It is
noteworthy that it was a dozen years ago or so that we saw a photograph of what
was designated as a “course.” And as we
shall soon see, it was described rather clearly on the back of the photograph. It was indeed a photograph showing what a ‘kourss’
as described by ADK’s mother looked like.
We hasten
to say that use of the kourss [8] is described but not specifically
named as such in Villa and Matossian’s “Armenian Village Life before 1914”
(Wayne State University Press, 1982). Those
writers describe the mangal, which “could
be used for heating or for cooking. It
was a type of brazier, a deep earthenware or iron pot with a screen over the
opening, handles, and ten- to 12-inch legs.
Finally, a comforter could be thrown over a screened-in fire and still
provide enough room for several family members to sit under it and be protected
against the cold.” (Cf. Villa and Matossian, 1982 pg. 34.)
Louise
Carroll Masterson’s photograph is shown below and is followed by a scan of the
back of the photograph describing the scene.
“A native Armenian
family at home sitting around a “course” which is a table with a heavy comfort
[a now dated word equivalent to comforter]
over it under which is a pan of charcoal.
This is about the only heating most village houses have.” “Please return Louise Carroll Masterson New Castle
[,] Kentucky” [9]
The
Masterson photo description is in keeping with what was described to ADK by his
mother years ago. ADK never heard of a screened-over fire being used. It would be good, of course, to have exact
details on any variants. [10]
Centralized
heating of any sort was not a thing available to the masses, of course, and the
kourss is to us a great example of
how clever a method this was. Couple
this with the body heat of some animals, tucked in on/under a wool-filled yorghan, a kiremit and a prior exposure to the comforting warmth under or
beside the “kourss” what more could one want? Necessity is the mother of invention, and no
doubt the generally resourceful villagers had things worked out ages ago.
We have
only encountered a couple of photographic representation of a “kourss”. The one below was published in Rev. James
Wilson Pierce’s “Story of Turkey and Armenia” (1896 pg. 418). The caption reads “KOOR-SE IN ARMENIA.” There is nothing in the text that tells us
what a ‘koor-se” is or does. If
perchance anyone finds a place in the text that we have missed any mention,
however skimpy, of a “koor-se” we should appreciate learning it. [11].
From “Story of Turkey and Armenia, with a full and accurate
account of the recent massacres written by eye witnesses” edited by Rev. James
Wilson Pierce. D.D. (R.H. Woodward Co., Baltimore, 1896)
Another
image may be seen in a 1906 book entitled “Mariam, a romance of Persia” by
Samuel Graham Wilson (American Tract Society, New York following pg. 30).
This is
captioned “Abgar and family seated at the kurisee.” On pg. vii there is a glossary of foreign
words and there the kurisee is described as “a table over underground oven”.
“Abgar and Family Seated at the Kurisee”
It may be
that this photograph is more in keeping with the description given by Villa and
Matossian (1982)? But the “course” of
Mrs. Masterson and the “kourss” of ADK’s mother seems that it has a bit more
potential for better control of heat and might be a hair safer. Some of the medical missionaries commented
that children got injured and burned by accidentally coming in contact with the
tonir or clay- walled oven in the
floor.
Last but
by no means least, we present below a photo of a “mangal” brought back from
Sivas by Near East Relief worker, Mary Hubbard.
It shows
how elegant mangals could be. A number
of years ago we saw a few huge, elegant mangals on exhibit at a museum in
Alexandria, Egypt. They were really
works of art. When we asked the guide
accompanying us whether what we saw in a corner was in fact a mangal, we were told that indeed it was and
that the word mangal, used by us,
actually derived from the Arabic word manqal.
A Mangal from Sivas polished after being brought to America
by Mary Hubbard.
We thank
Araxi Hubbard Dutton Palmer for access to this photograph. A smaller black and white version of this
photograph may be found on pg. 140 of her book “Triumph from Tragedy” (Privately
printed, 1997) [12]
Closing Commentary
Specifics
on day-to-day life in the Erghir accompanied by great detail are in relatively
short supply. Efforts to locate photos,
or better yet to locate real items used ought to be a priority. Stories of everyday life might then be told
in enough detail so one does not have to allude to generalities that do not
stand up to rigorous scrutiny. All would
hopefully agree that it would be nice to use imagery that makes sense, and
which is based on fact rather than assumptions.
Endnotes
Endnote 1. Literally translated as ‘dry’,
‘open’ or ‘thin’ bread respectively — (all of these have long-since
attained gourmet status as flat breads and wraps) — in Worcester one
never heard the word lavash bandied
about],
Endnote 2.
A few Armenian immigrant families were surnamed Kiremidjian, variant
spelling Kiremitjian and so on. The last
name signified that somewhere along the line a male ancestor made clay
‘somethings or other’ ̶ roofing tiles [in those situations where they
were actually used -- most roofs were flat.
The root of the word is said to be Greek; the Turkish -ji ending found in many Armenian last
names -signifies ‘maker of’ or
‘seller of’, ‘worker of’ – e.g. Tashjian, a stone cutter or worker, or
gravestone maker, a mason etc. The
Turkish ‘tash’ means stone or rock.]
Endnote 3:
We will hopefully be forgiven for referring to a paper in German by an
Armenian. We are sure there are others
but this is a really good presentation.
Parsadan Ter Mowsesjanz (1892) “Das armenische Bauernhaus. Ein Beitrag zur Culturgeschichte der Armenier.”
[The Armenian farmhouse: a contribution to the cultural history of the
Armenians] in Mitteilungen der
Anthropologischen Gesellscahaft in Wien. New Series 12, pages 125-172 with 55
illustrations in the text.
Endnote 4.
The ‘yorghan’ [Turkish for quilt although also referred to by village
Armenians as yorghans as well, and/or
as angorhin [or ungorhin] in Armenian. These
were quilt-like comforters, usually of brightly colored cotton fabric
–sometimes red, filled with wool and sewed with huge stitches of thread
or string to keep the wool from ‘wandering’ within the coverlet and thereby
yielding a heavyish comforter of unequaled cosiness. Unlike an eiderdown goose feather-filled comforter,
which is infinitely lighter, the yorghan is not light in weight. The yorghan
could serve either or both as mattress and coverlet blanket—the latter
being referred to as a dzadzgots [blanket
or covering].
Endnote 5.
See our “Massacres Averted in Mamouret ul Aziz [Kharpert] in April 1909:
A Specific Incident at Itchme and the Role of United States Consul William
Wesley Masterson” on Armenian News Network / Groong, December 16, 2009. http://groong.usc.edu/orig/ak-20091216.html Consul William W. Masterson was succeeded by
the better known Leslie A. Davis whose Final Report to the US Consular Service
was published in edited form as “The Slaughterhouse Province.” Also in this connection, see our “United
States Consul Leslie A. Davis’s photographs of Armenians slaughtered at Lake
Goeljuk, summer of 1915” in Festschrift Wolfgang Gust zum 80. Geburtstag (ed.
by Muriel Mirak-Weissbach, pages 169-197, Dinges & Frick, Wiesbaden.)
Endnote
7:
See our appreciation of Mary in “Mary C. Masterson, Daughter of Harput
Consul William W. Masterson, Dead at Age 92” posted
on the Armenian News Network / Groong, on June
11, 2007. See
http://groong.usc.edu/orig/ak-20070611.html
Endnote 8.
The spelling “kourss” adopted here is arbitrary, of course, since we
have not seen the word printed in a dictionary. Our English spelling is based on well-recollected
pronunciation. We leave it to others to find in a dictionary. In any case, as mentioned, the use of the kourss for warming the family inside the
village home had been described the proverbial ‘hundred years ago’ in fairly
specific terms to one of us (ADK) by his mother.
Endnote 9.
We suspect that Mrs. Masterson sent this photograph to someone who wanted
to use it, possibly in a publication. It
has a number on it and this suggests as well that it was only one of several
photographs sent. Some of the
“Masterson Photos”
appear in J.
[Hagop] Michael Hagopian’s “Voices from the Lake” (Armenian Film Foundation
2000). Mary Masterson told us that her mother had
sent photographs to “some Armenian on the west coast” but could not recall
who. Whether they were copied and
returned or retained is unclear. No
credit is given as to the source of some of the stills used by Hagopian. There is little doubt in our minds after
careful consideration that some of the photos in “Voices from the Lake” derived
from the Masterson’s camera. The
“course” photograph shown here by us does not appear in the film.
Endnote 10. The charcoal was used sparingly. Apparently on occasion some so-called komur [coal in Turkish]/adzough [in Armenian] would be used
instead of charcoal. Some will be
familiar with the expression of Kheljoo
gragh Kharpertsi — a Kharpertsi who was poor to the point of having
to use or build a very meagre fire — or as we have referred to it, as being
“flaming poor”. In any case, one can be
sure that the heating used was by no means exorbitant. After all, the villagers were necessarily very
frugal. One figure we have seen that
shocked even us is that around 1905, a peasant in eastern Turkey would make as
wages the equivalent of about 12 cents a day!
Endnote 11.
The scan presented comes from our personal copy of the volume. The scan available on the Internet copy is, as
is the usual case, quite poor – see https://archive.org/details/storyturkeyanda01piergoog
While we
have been impressed and pleased over the years that many works have been
scanned and made available to readers at no cost, the images are very bad
– perhaps necessarily (?) bad. We
started our work on ‘genocide-related photographs and imagery’ in earnest years
ago. This was before such whole book scans
were being thought of, much less made available in any quality- good or bad. Viewers will hopefully agree that a good
quality scan from a volume in hand is not only considerably more attractive to
look at but more useful for study than as a printout from a digitized relatively
low-resolution version. Those who insist
300 dpi is sufficient do not know what they are talking about so far as we are
concerned.
Endnote 12. See “Triumph from
Tragedy” (1997, privately published). See
also our Araxi Hubbard – amazing story of an Armenian Orphan at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7sL1Wl7qJ0
(February 6, 2014) and our “An Orphan of the Armenian Genocide: A Valentine’s Day
Armenian Poster Child” (February 14, 2014) on Groong Armenian News Network http://www.groong.org/orig/ak-20140214.html
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