Hammam along with Russian bath, Finnish bath and Japanese bath, is known as the "world's four major baths", which is one of the oldest and most legendary bathing methods in the world.
The Turkish bath is a traditional form of bathing in public baths in the Middle East. Use the high temperature in the bathroom to make people sweat, and then shower the whole body with warm or cold water to achieve the purpose of removing dirt, relaxing muscles and bones, and eliminating fatigue.
"No city is complete without the hammam," says Princess Shehrazad, one of the main characters in Alf laila wa laila, a collection of tales dating back to the 10th century. The words Hammam(Arabic) and Hamam(Turkish) mean a place where the body is cleaned with water and steam (i.e. a public Turkish bath).
Archaeological remains prove that the Turkish baths were popular with the Islamic peoples of the Middle East as early as the caliphate of the Umayyad dynasty, which ruled the prosperous Muslim Empire from 661 to 750 AD. Many extant unearthed documents, especially legal documents, describe the characteristics and functions of the Turkish baths in great detail and list all the Turkish baths built at the time.
A good book on the architecture of the Turkish bath is 《Les bains antiques du Proche-Orient dans les archives de New Haven et Princeton, Ancient Baths in the Middle East》, It is based on a description of a public bath in Jerash, Jordan. The original Turkish bath was very poorly built, with only a few rooms and the most basic decoration. After entering the bathroom, you undress, wrap yourself in a Hammam towel, and enter a very damp room. It has a vaulted ceiling, stone tiles on the walls and floors, and no Windows for air tightness and insulation, but natural light enters the bathroom through glass in the domed ceiling. Over the centuries, the interiors of Turkish baths have undergone a transformation: more rooms have been added, with ornate decorations, marble, fountains and natural light. The Turks enjoyed their best time with the Ottoman Empire in the Turkish baths. A Turkish bath usually starts in a dressing room and then goes into a room with a warm pool, where the temperature is between 30 and 35 degrees. After the body acclimates, then head to the steam room for a real steam bath. The temperature here is 40-45 degrees and the humidity is between 95% and 100%. Natural soaps, clays and lotions can be used during and after a steam bath to cleanse the body.
Hamman is a way of pure pleasure and relaxation for the mind and body, as eloquently described by the protagonist of Moroccan author Tahar Ben Jelloun's novel L'hammam: "You go to a Turkish bath and magically find the answers to all the problems of the world." Why do you think so? When you're in the bathroom steam... We have a better chance of getting closer to the truth of the matter.
Most Turkish people bring a rich food box into the bathroom, containing lamb kebabs, roast lamb kidneys, yogurt, hazelnuts and other gourmet dried fruits. After bathing, old and new friends get together and chat while eating and drinking. These "bathroom dinners" often last nine hours. Then each of them went back to the locker room and had a good sleep until the sun went down. The Turkish baths are also open to women, generally serving men on several days of the week and women on other days. Some bathrooms have two bathrooms for men and women, and receive both male and female guests. Ladies bathe in their own way. They sat on stone benches, bathed from head to toe in copper basins filled with soapy water, and then had the waitress bathe them seven times in clean water, which is also said to follow Islamic rules. The women also prepare food boxes, and after bathing, they invite their friends to taste their own dishes, to show their cooking skills and to discuss with each other.
Most Turkish people bring a rich food box into the bathroom, containing lamb kebabs, roast lamb kidneys, yogurt, hazelnuts and other gourmet dried fruits. After bathing, old and new friends get together and chat while eating and drinking. These "bathroom dinners" often last nine hours. Then each of them went back to the locker room and had a good sleep until the sun went down. The Turkish baths are also open to women, generally serving men on several days of the week and women on other days. Some bathrooms have two bathrooms for men and women, and receive both male and female guests. Ladies bathe in their own way. They sat on stone benches, bathed from head to toe in copper basins filled with soapy water, and then had the waitress bathe them seven times in clean water, which is also said to follow Islamic rules. The women also prepare food boxes, and after bathing, they invite their friends to taste their own dishes, to show their cooking skills and to discuss with each other.
The efficacy of the hamman:
- Beauty and skin care efficacy
Due to the role of moist and hot steam in the process of Turkish sweat steaming, the pores of the skin are all opened, which can not only solve the rough, dry and wrinkles caused by dry skin in winter, but also clear the dirt blocked by pores through sweating, so that the skin is free from burden, make the skin smooth and elastic, and achieve the effect of beauty and skin care.
In the process of enjoying the Turkish sweat steaming, if you put essential oil and other effective fragrance in the evaporation vessel, it will permeate the whole bathroom with the steam. At this time, because the pores of the whole body are opened, the skin can better absorb nutrients, and the steam will give the skin care from the inside out, and the maintenance products are more easily absorbed quickly after fumigation.
- Weight loss efficacy
According to the research of medical experts, the body consumes up to 500 calories per 1CC of sweat, which can completely consume excess fat. This method has a special slimming effect on people with edema type obesity. In China, 60-70% of the people who lack exercise belong to edematous obesity, so the Turkish bath in full bloom is highly popular among edematous obesity people.
- Sleep aid effect
After a Turkish bath, the body is usually drenched in sweat, the pores are open, and the whole body is very relaxed. The tranquil environment and aromatic essential oil smell will make it easy and comfortable for you to fall asleep. You'll wake up energized and full of energy.
- Medical effect
Turkish bath can dispel fatigue and make people glow. From a medical point of view, frequent Turkish bath can promote blood stasis, reduce inflammation and pain, enhance the body's resistance, for the lack of exercise, back pain, fatigue and fatigue of people, as well as weak resistance, easy to catch a cold people are very helpful. In the summer, a Turkish bath can beat the heat, if in the winter, it has the effect of protecting against the cold! In particular, if obese people adhere to the Turkish bath for a long time, there are weight loss and dehydration effects.