Nice daughter Naomi watching me pretend to puff on the nargila..
For ABC Wednesday's N-Day.
.
We got the family (scattered over three different continents) together for lunch at the Lebanese Restaurant in Ein Kerem village.We sat for hours eating good food, talking and laughing, welcomed hospitably by host Issa.
.
After the hookah/nargila came to the table, we continued sitting even more.
Pretty, isn't it?
.
But these water bowls of 17th and 18th century nargilas are more than pretty!Please enlarge and see the exquisite detail.
.
The Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem describes one hubble bubble or hookah as glass with gilded decoration and another as gilded silver with enamel.
The larger hanging one has gold, enamel, and precious stones.
.
The small one is a coconut with metal inlay, crafted in Persia or India in the 18th century.
Nargila derives from the Persian word nārghile, meaning coconut, suggesting that early hookahs were hewn from coconut shells.
.
The tobacco smoked is referred to as shisha.
Tobacco was introduced by Portuguese traders in the late 16th century.
"And the rest is history."
.
