The Ottoman Empire is one of the most powerful civilizations in the world between early medieval times and the 20th century. But in its earlier times the Ottoman Turks have used much of several different influences to shape their own unique culture. Such can be seen in their arts, architecture, music, literature and sciences.
The most significant influence of their civilization came from the Arabs- the religion of Islam. Islam and its legacy honed and perfected what secular influences touched the land of the Ottoman Turks. The Islamic mathematics and their universal monotheistic ethos touched everything from their knowledge of poetry to their applications of engineering.
Such evidence of Islam and secular conglomeration can be seen in their baths. Turkish baths are unique because they seem to be the best of all the late antiquities era can offer. Turkish baths incorporate the best of the Roman West and the several different aspects of eastern influences taken from India, the Baltic, and Slavic worlds.
The universality of Islam can even be seen in the architectural system of the Turkish bath. A medieval Muslim genius named Mimar Sinan replaced Roman extravagance and paganism with Islamic practicality and religious devotion. In his standard blueprint, all secular buildings, especially the bath house; merely becomes annex structures around the holy mosque, therefore assuring the dependence of secular functions to the core of the Middle Eastern way of life.
The traditional Turkish spa is almost similar to the Roman spa for its duplicate rooms. However, the Ottoman version eliminates the maze-like complexity of the internal design and simplified it into three rooms. These rooms follow a temperature chronology, from hot to cool; and thus the hot room, warm room and cool room were created.
Customers first enter the hot room, where everyone prepares for a bath with a scrub massage and a brief steam session. In the center of the hot room, customers recline on a wide marble slab, with fountains surrounding them strewn along the four walls. The steam technology, however, is varied from the western hypocaust because they resemble the Russian-Finnish tradition of sauna.
The second room is where customers wash themselves with soap and water. Another remarkable aspect of cultural harmony in Ottoman Empire can be seen from the creation of traditional Jewish bath tubs for women in the warm room. Finally, the third room is where customers dress up, take refreshments and sometimes, even take a nap in private cubicles.
In the middle ages, such a wonderful spa system already exists and it has shaped how public luxurious bathing and pampering operates today. It is no wonder that Great Britain during the 20th Century, the precursor of modern global integration, treated Turkish bath as an addictive craze like the opium of India and China. Commercial spas all over the world sprouted like mushrooms and they become convenient hubs for public bathing, yet until these ages, the traditional Turkish bath remain as magnificent as it was when it was first created in the 15th Century. Almost anyone today can afford their own hot tub due to our advances in hottub engineering. Visit us at HotTubsHomeSpa.com.
The most significant influence of their civilization came from the Arabs- the religion of Islam. Islam and its legacy honed and perfected what secular influences touched the land of the Ottoman Turks. The Islamic mathematics and their universal monotheistic ethos touched everything from their knowledge of poetry to their applications of engineering.
Such evidence of Islam and secular conglomeration can be seen in their baths. Turkish baths are unique because they seem to be the best of all the late antiquities era can offer. Turkish baths incorporate the best of the Roman West and the several different aspects of eastern influences taken from India, the Baltic, and Slavic worlds.
The universality of Islam can even be seen in the architectural system of the Turkish bath. A medieval Muslim genius named Mimar Sinan replaced Roman extravagance and paganism with Islamic practicality and religious devotion. In his standard blueprint, all secular buildings, especially the bath house; merely becomes annex structures around the holy mosque, therefore assuring the dependence of secular functions to the core of the Middle Eastern way of life.
The traditional Turkish spa is almost similar to the Roman spa for its duplicate rooms. However, the Ottoman version eliminates the maze-like complexity of the internal design and simplified it into three rooms. These rooms follow a temperature chronology, from hot to cool; and thus the hot room, warm room and cool room were created.
Customers first enter the hot room, where everyone prepares for a bath with a scrub massage and a brief steam session. In the center of the hot room, customers recline on a wide marble slab, with fountains surrounding them strewn along the four walls. The steam technology, however, is varied from the western hypocaust because they resemble the Russian-Finnish tradition of sauna.
The second room is where customers wash themselves with soap and water. Another remarkable aspect of cultural harmony in Ottoman Empire can be seen from the creation of traditional Jewish bath tubs for women in the warm room. Finally, the third room is where customers dress up, take refreshments and sometimes, even take a nap in private cubicles.
In the middle ages, such a wonderful spa system already exists and it has shaped how public luxurious bathing and pampering operates today. It is no wonder that Great Britain during the 20th Century, the precursor of modern global integration, treated Turkish bath as an addictive craze like the opium of India and China. Commercial spas all over the world sprouted like mushrooms and they become convenient hubs for public bathing, yet until these ages, the traditional Turkish bath remain as magnificent as it was when it was first created in the 15th Century. Almost anyone today can afford their own hot tub due to our advances in hottub engineering. Visit us at HotTubsHomeSpa.com.
About the Author:
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