Bread & Dough

At one end of the courtyard was the neighbourhood’s communal bread oven, (tabun). This small conical structure was made from stone rubble, and roofed either by a stone vault or wooden beams. Inside, there was a circular mud case, known as ‘the house of bread’ (beit al-‘aysh), which was placed over a shallow fuel pit. This case was approximately 70–80 cm (28–32 in) in diameter at the base, tapering to an open top of about 40 cm (16 in), and was built by women from a local yellow clay (huwwar) mixed with straw.