Posted by Erol Abit on April 02, 1999 at 18:56:10:
In Reply to: Re: Woven Bags and Mosque Donations posted by Steve Price on March 30, 1999 at 11:43:32:
Dear Steve, all these are possible but 1 is the most possible one. It is logical that the donated pieces are only rugs as floor coverings and usually they are prayer rugs. How would it have been useful to donate a bag to mosque? I can't think of anything except perhaps as a Koran bag.
Besides, the donation of rugs might have begun with the developing vehicles which make the locations closer. I think usually rural area people donated the rugs to the mosques in the big cities when they had a chance to visit there after vehicles were developed. My example is only one but can be generalized (?). Some years ago, when my old parents came together with me to Istanbul. When we were visiting Blue Mosque, they wanted to pray and asked me to buy a rug in the Bazaar around mosque. I thought they would take them with themselves for presents to their relatives or friends in our town after praying on these new rugs in this big mosque. So thinking in this way, I bought two rugs, one for each of them.
I waited for their praying outside of mosque. When they walked out the mosque I walked in the mosque to take the rugs by thinking that they forgat. You understand the rest of story. Fortunately, my economic stiuation at that time was not so bad. When I asked about this, they told me it is a tradition that one who has sufficient economic power visits a mosque in another city (big mosques in big cities-my comment) he/she donates a rug which he/she prays on. I mean the donation of woven pieces to mosques is closely related to praying. Excuse me for departing from the subject, bag.
Can another idea about preservations of bags in good conditions be that the woven bags were replaced by wooden and metallic containers with the developing faster vehicles so that it would be possible to reach forests easily? And this replacement was earlier in the history comparing with the replacement of handwoven rugs by machine made rugs. Therefore, the bags were being kept as heirlooms in the big chests for long times.
Regards,
Erol