A midwakh (, also spelled medwakh) is a small

smoking pipe A smoking pipe, often simply referred to as a pipe, is used to inhale (or taste) the smoke of a burning substance, typically (though not exclusively) used to consume a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substance; this most commonly refers to a to ...

Arabian The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

origin, in which dokha (), a sifted

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

product mixed with

aromatic In organic chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property describing the way in which a conjugated system, conjugated ring of unsaturated bonds, lone pairs, or empty orbitals exhibits a stabilization stronger than would be expected from conjugati ...

leaf and

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

herbs, is smoked. The bowl of a midwakh pipe is typically smaller than that of a traditional western

tobacco pipe A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl (smoking), bowl) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range ...

. It is usually loaded by dipping the bowl into a container of dokha flakes. Midwakh are primarily produced in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, and are especially popular in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

and

Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...

Construction

The pipes may be custom made, by allowing the smoker to specify the dimensions and design, and even letters and symbols. Many in the UAE have chicken symbols on the pipe. Midwakh are crafted from a variety of materials including wood, bone, base metal, marble, steel, gold, silver, plastic (with a metal bowl), or glass. They may incorporate precious items such as diamonds, gemstones and rings of precious metal inscribed with symbols, such as a falcon similar to the one shown in the emblem of the UAE. The pipe may be crafted to resemble a dromedary camel, a highly revered animal in the UAE; the opening of the bowl shaped as the camel's mouth, with a small hole connected to a metal shaft inside the body of the pipe to conduct the smoke to the user. Among many modern variations of the midwakh, some are covertly disguised as pens, some can be split apart for cleaning, and some can have double bowls or double stems. Most midwakhs crafted today have a mouthpiece sized to fit a plastic filter.

References

{{reflist Pipe smoking Tobacciana Tobacco in the United Arab Emirates

Construction

See also

References