Humanity is accustomed to assessing the level of development of the civilization of the peoples inhabiting our planet by the grandeur of their palaces and buildings. However, no less skillful architects with a highly developed culture are the peoples leading a nomadic lifestyle.
Their dwellings: yurts, yarangs, wigwams, tents, igloos, plague - even modern people spoiled by the conveniences, fascinate with their beauty, simplicity, functionality and harmony. Maybe that's why recently the art of erecting nomadic housing - yurts - has begun to revive.
What is a yurt made of?
The building material for her was mainly leather, felt and wood.
The walls of the ancient dwellings of the nomads were wooden poles assembled in the form of trellised sections. From the poles connected to the smoke hole, a roof was also made. Outside, the "walls" and the "roof" of the yurt were covered with a layer of felt.
In the center of each yurt was a stone hearth. Stones wandered for him along with people, and when assembling a yurt in a new place, the focus was first laid out. For the winter, the house was insulated, wrapped with an additional layer of felt and a moisture-resistant fabric.
Even knowing what the yurt is made of, one cannot stop wondering at the ingenuity and skill of people who were able, without a single nail or screw, from improvised materials, to build a dwelling that can withstand strong winds and many days of snowfall.
Yurts of the Mongols
Mongolian yurts are mobile, lightweight, collapsible, they are an ideal home for nomads. At the heart of the yurt is a wooden skeleton, on top of which a felt koshma is applied in one or several layers. To protect from snow or rain, the koshma is additionally wrapped in cloth.
The doors of the Mongolian yurt are always facing south - this feature of the installation allowed the nomad Mongols to navigate in the time of day.
Inside the yurt it is divided into several parts:
- female - to the right of the door;
- male - from the door to the left;
- guest room - on the north side, opposite the entrance, an altar was necessarily located in the guest section.
All parts of the yurt were joined together by a hearth, which serves for heating and cooking.
The Mongols themselves do not call their housing a yurt, but the word "ger".
Unwritten rules when visiting a Mongolian yurt
From the time of Genghis Khan to the present, the Mongols adhere to a number of traditions and generally accepted rules when visiting yurts. It will not hurt Europeans to know them:
- Entering the yurt, you can not step on, and even more so sit on the threshold. A man who deliberately stepped on the threshold, thereby informing the owner of his evil intentions, and his right hand touching the door lintel brought peace and grace into the house.
- Weapons or luggage must not be brought into the yurt. They are left at the entrance from the outside - this serves as a confirmation of the pure intentions of the guest.
- Entering the northern guest half of the yurt, it is customary to wait for the invitation from the owner to sit down. To sit down without permission is considered impolite.
- It is not customary to whistle in a yurt. It is believed that in this way evil spirits are called into the dwelling. Also, the limits of the yurt should not leave the fire from the hearth, for with it happiness leaves the owner.
Yurts of Kazakhs
Kazakh yurts are structurally not much different from Mongolian ones. Compared with the Mongolian, they are lower, due to strong winds in this area. And their dome is crowned with a shanyrak (a wooden circle crowning the top of the yurt) of black talnik or birch. The Mongols preferred to make shanyrak from pine.
Shanyrak for Kazakhs is not only a crosspiece that holds the dome and is designed to pass sunlight into the yurt and remove smoke from the source. This is a relic passed from generation to generation, a symbol of procreation and why the house. Many rites and beliefs in the life of the Kazakh people are associated with it. The significance of the shanyrak is evidenced by the fact that its image is used in the heraldry of Kazakhstan.
The difference between the dwellings of both peoples is also what the yurt is made of: the Kazakhs covered it with a felt cover consisting of 4 rectangular parts, in accordance with the parts of the frame. The upper part of the yurt, except for the shanyrak, was covered with 2 pieces of trapezoidal felt. A folding rectangular piece of felt was attached to the shanyrak, which, with the help of a pole and a rope sewn to one of the edges, could be folded down or closed in case of rain. The doors of the Kazakh yurt were also sewn from a luggage fixed on a mat.
More prosperous Kazakhs had richer yurts as well. The rich dwellings were decorated with patterned mats and fastened with woven wool with ornamented ribbons. The yurt of wealthy people turned into white felt and was popularly called the "white house".
Yurt interior
Yurt is a symbol of the sun and space, the unity of man and the environment. Almost all of its interior items are located along the walls, in a circle. It is clear that in such a limited volume, each item should have its purpose and occupy a strictly defined place in order to clutter up the already tight space as little as possible. Nevertheless, the decoration of the yurt is striking precisely because it causes a feeling of harmony and spaciousness, comfort and coziness.
In the interior, in addition to wooden shelves, there are also pieces of wooden furniture inlaid with animal bones: chests, shelves, chests for products.
But carpets give a special flavor to the dwelling of nomads . They bring zest to the interior and amaze with a variety of colors and ornamental patterns. One could immediately judge the wealth of the owner by the carpets.
Modern yurt
What is the yurt of this century made of? Of course, from modern materials. The felt has been replaced with holofiber, the wooden skeleton is made of glued beams, the fabric of the external canopy is impregnated with silicone, and the gas generator is the focus .
The yurt has become much more comfortable, although it is somewhat unfortunate that you will no longer meet the one nomad soaked in smoke and antiquity.