Abstract
As stone has historically been plentiful throughout Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and surrounding countries, buildings were traditionally constructed of a very hard, crystallized stone cut from mountain quarries such as mizzi. A small opening, rosalin (or rosana), was typically fashioned in the center of domed roofs. The rosalyn served as a source of natural light, a vent for the interior stoves in the winter and an exit for the heat from the building or house during the warm months. These openings are covered with lids to contain room heat or shut out bad weather when so desired. Upon closer examination, several other popular uses for the rosalin may be found in addition to the primary physical functionalities.
This paper examines the different functions served by the rosalin ranging from 1) physical comfort within the human habitat to 2) the romantic, pastoral aspect depicted in poetry, folklore and song to 3) the practical everyday “windows of opportunity” that such rosalyns present to selected community youth.
For instance, the villagers wrote songs surrounding the rosalin; often blaming their love-sick hearts on the rosalin. Young men were known to spy into Arab homes through open rosalins in an effort to catch a glimpse of the girl of their dreams. Lyrics were sung such as: Oh, rosalin, oh rosalin, what trouble have you brought me. The love of the world originates from the rosalin. Oh, God, please take good care of the rosalin (loosely translated from Arabic). A villager born in 1926 Palestine, admitted to spying on a pre-wedding henna party through one of these rosalins with some of his adolescent male friends during his youth. One of the friends proved to be so zealous as to fall through the opening into the room below. One can imagine the trouble that this young lad found himself in. The other men had run from the scene, so didn’t witness the aftermath.
This paper is based on research that I have conducted in the field and on important social, political and literary publications. I have inspected and photographed such rosalins located in Jordan and the West Bank. Though my research is currently underway, example reference materials include: Aamiry 1978; Farsoun 1979; Hayes 1983; Hourani 1991; Kana’neh 1994; Muhawi & Kana’neh 1989; Nasir 1976; Fleming 1972; plus additional publications by the local Jordanian architectural community.
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