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Qarqush, who does really know about it? How many publications did write about

it? Its clear that its been neglected even though its an essential tradition for many

Yemenis..

By Afrah Nasser

Qarqush is a cultural traditional aspect

of Yemen that little has been said about.

Its untold story of how Yemeni families

used it as a sign of their sense of care and

fondness to their infants. In addition, its an

indication of Yemenis sense of art.

Simply, Yemen is a rich country, with

diverse traditional heritage and one of its

traditions is Qarqush that has an importance

among its people.

Qarqush

Qarqush is an old traditional hat worn

by infants and brides. Its a long time

traditional costume for many Yemeni

children and brides. Its a colorful piece

made of fabric or wool, along with glittery,

colorful and golden strings. Infants wear it

in their heads once they are born till they

reach certain age. It aims to protect the child

once he is born from feeling cold or from

evil approaches.

Normally, its hand made by mothers

or other women. Mothers usually buy

them during their Qat chewing sessions

when other women sell them. In addition,

Qarqush could be bought in local markets

in villages and is given as gifts between

women to newly mothers. Though,

nowadays it is hard to find it in the regular

markets. If found now, it definitely would

have been transformed into a modern one

that has lost the old traditional look.

Essentially, Qarqush is no longer worn in

Yemen today but it could be found in several

villages and rarely in wedding parties for

women. In actual fact, this hat has been

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very important for most of Yemeni parents,

making sure that their children wear it.

Its Origin

It is hard to trace back to its original

source; when exactly it was initiated and

who exactly wore it first. Some historians

believe it originated from the Ottomans

era. In 1516, the Mamluks of Egypt

occupied Yemen; but in the following

year, the Mamluk governor surrendered

to the Ottomans, and Turkish armies

consequently overran the country. From

then until the 19th century, the Ottomans

retained control only of isolated coastal

areas, while the highlands generally were

ruled by the Zaidi Imams.

Yemen got very much tainted with a

number of cultural and traditional aspects

by the Ottomans. Ottoman suzerainty was

reestablished in northern Yemen in the late

19th century but its control was largely

confined to cities, and the Zaidi Imams rule

over Upper Yemen was formally recognized.

Turkish forces withdrew in 1918, and

Imam Yahya Muhammad strengthened

his control over northern Yemen creating

the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen.

During all these years, Yemen, especially

the northern part, is believed to have

inherited a great amount of traditional flavor

from the Ottomans.

Types of Qarqush

Usually, there are two main different types

of Qarqush. One is for boys and the other

is for girls. Fascinatingly, boys type has

a more sparkling look than the girls type.

Hence, anyone could easily differentiate

between young infants whether they are

boys or girls.

Some types of infants Qarqush have black

beans inside them as a tool of protection

from envy. Occasionally, Quranic verses or

divine words are written on Qarqushes. It

has been believed that same would protect

the infants from devil and envy.

Additionally, there is one type for brides.

Its an important type that has gold or silver

accessories thats intended as a symbol

of adornment. Today, girls have brought

Qarqush into a modern world where they

mixed tradition with modernity. Thats

to mean, they put modern jewelry in the

traditional Qarqush. Brides can chose

to wear Qarqush or not in their wedding

parties. However, its been part of many

girls wedding and parties costumes,

embellished with gold jewelry. Till today,

some girls wear this type.

Qarqushs traditional impact

Its been always a very common tradition

in most of Yemeni villages. However,

its becoming rare to find, nowadays, in

Yemens big cities.

Traditionally, boys and girls wear it until

Many Yemenis associate their childhoodwith their Qarqushes, since its rare

to find today. Nowadays, brides put it

gracefully with pride, assuring their

affiliation with traditions.

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they are one year old, but in a number of

villages girls wear it until they get married.

Its greatly believed that its shameful that

a girl shows her hair before she is married.

Hence, she must not show her hair to her

father, brothers, male members of her family

and, interestingly, women. The reason for

not showing it to women is not because

its shameful, but because the girl wants to

surprise all the women with her hair in her

wedding party when she gets married.

Nevertheless, newly born girls might wear

it temporarily until they are one year old

and then take it off. Later on, they might

wear it again when they are 10 as they are

approaching marriage age to make it a sign

of being single.

On the other hand, for infants, it could be an

indicator of how much caring they family

is. The more distinguished the Qarqush

is, the more caring the family is towards

their infants. Moreover, for many families,

its a way to assure tradition and exclusive

Yemeni cultural feature.

Whether infants or brides wear it, Qarqush

forms a significant cultural face of Yemen.

Many Yemenis associate their childhood

with their Qarqushes, since its rare to find

today. Nowadays, brides put it gracefully

with pride, assuring their affiliation with

traditions. Its agreed among Yemenis how

important it is, making it one of the main old

cultural traditions.

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