Have you ever wondered how people kept cool before the AC existed? It is a daunting question, especially with this being the hottest summer ever. What makes it even more confusing is when we think of Arab countries like the UAE, where temperatures can reach up to 50 degrees Celsius.
A go-to answer is to step back in time and see how Arabs throughout history have devised unique and smart ways of staying cool during the summer heat.
Cool Off Like An Egyptian
Ancient Egyptians were a modern and ahead-of-their-time kind of society. From inventing the papyrus to constructing the most impressive architectural feat to date, the pyramids, they never cease to impress. They also knew how to bring their A-game when it came to the summer heat:
Water Evaporation: Nature’s Air Conditioner
Throughout history, many ancient civilizations relied on simple yet super-effective ways of staying cool, one of which was water evaporation.
In ancient Egypt, they dampened reeds, mats, or curtains with water and then hung them in doorways or windows. When air came and passed through the reeds, mats, or curtains, it cooled down and relieved the heat.
Homes Made Of Mud
Back in ancient Egypt, many of the homes were made from mud. They built their houses from silt mixed with sand and some sort of chaff, such as straw.
They then mixed the mud with their feet and formed bricks using wooden frames. Seeing how mud is a poor conductor of heat, as long as the house was kept closed during the hotter part of the day, it was less affected by the heat.
Bringing The Breeze During Islamic Times
Spanning from the 6th to the 19th century is one of the most prominent periods of history of the Arab world: the Islamic times.
The Beloved Mashrabiya
You know those beautiful, intricate lattice patterns that you may stumble upon at Old Cairo and other traditional spots across the Middle East? Well, it turns out that they played a role in keeping cool. They were oriented to face prevailing winds and covered entire walls, which brought cool air into the houses.
Catching Air With Wind Catchers
Tall, chimney-like towers rose from old houses, but they weren’t just any towers; they were known as wind catchers.
Iran was one of the first to create this invention, which was then used in Arab countries like Egypt. In an ancient city in central Iran called Yazd, wind catchers called badgers loomed above houses.
The way these towers work is by having cool air coming from higher levels directed downwards through vertical openings with oblique sides. When looking at Egypt, one of the wind catchers was found on the top of the Palace of Alfi Bay back in the 1800s.
Beating The Heat Bedouin Style
In the scorching desert climate, where no buildings existed, and there were endless stretches of sand in all directions, nomadic Bedouin tribes had to think on their feet and devise ways to stay cool.
Tents Made From Woven Animal Hair
The sun beating down on one’s head is never easy, especially in the afternoon when the sun sits right above our heads.
That is why countering this obstacle was at the top of every bedouin’s to-do list. What was their solution, you may ask? Well, using woven animal hair, they were able to build makeshift tents to help them take shelter from the sun during the day.
When you take a closer look at these tents, you’ll notice that they have even more cooling features. They were known to have three openings, which allowed air to enter and circulate within the tent, cooling down the temperature.
Finding That Cool Breeze
Believe it or not, bedouins had a way of knowing where the cool air was coming from. By tracking the stars and the directions of the wind, bedouins knew when there was an upcoming change in the season, so they knew when summer was coming.
Knowing that also helped them understand which areas in the desert had cool breezes coming from the sea instead of the hot air coming from the desert.
Picking When To Travel
Picking the right time to travel was a must for nomadic bedouins, as traversing the desert during the scorching hot days was impossible.
They would stick to traveling at night and during the day, refraining from getting exposed to the sun. Beyond finding shelter in tents, bedouins also had other means of evading the sun, including hiding behind tall dunes, trees, and even in the shadow of their camels.
Over the years, new ways of keeping cool have helped Arabs cope with the crazy heat experienced in the Middle East. Do you know of any other ways they kept cool?