Turkish Bath Research Articles

The Comfort Properties of the Terry Towels Made of Cotton and Polypropylene Yarns

Studies of woven fabric comfort properties have aroused the interest of researchers in recent years. Although studies on the structures of woven terry fabrics are rather limited, the study of the comfort properties these fabrics will reveal new approaches regarding the subject. The terry-structured fabrics, used in bathroom, pool, sea, sauna and Turkish bath, hold an important place in people's personal lives as end-products. The methods of identifying and improving the comfort properties of the terry-woven fabric structure are discussed in this study. In the process of sample production, the towels were made on a loom and standard finishing techniques were applied. Cotton and polypropylene yarns were used in this study, and the properties of woven towel fabrics with alternative weaving constructions were measured and analyzed. The comfort parameters of the gray and finished fabrics such as air-permeability, velocity of water absorption, and vapor permeability were measured under standard laboratory conditions and the obtained data were evaluated statistically. At the end of the experimental studies, the data from the terry fabrics which were made of different yarns and different structures were evaluated in order to identify the fabric and yarn parameters which will lead to the best comfort. The experimental results show that the use of the polypropylene fibers for the yarns in high-pile fabrics and the use of the cotton yarn in ground yarns have tend to provide the best comfort.

Lisson Grove: Part One

Lisson Grove: Part One Stanley Plumly (bio) On December 28, 1817, the painter Benjamin Robert Haydon hosts what he refers to in both his diaries and Autobiography as “the immortal dinner.” What follows is the first half of the first chapter of a book about that dinner, its guests, and the implied world surrounding it—a moment in cultural and literary history framed by the Regency and Romanticism. The stated reasons for the dinner are, one, that Haydon wants to introduce his young friend John Keats to the great William Wordsworth and, two, that Haydon wishes to celebrate his progress on his most important and largest historical painting so far, “Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem.” Haydon has invested three years in this work, with three more to go. Keats, Wordsworth, and Charles Lamb (also a dinner guest) appear as spectators in the most vivid quadrant of the painting, along with anachronistic versions of Newton and Voltaire. Later arriving guests include John Landseer, Joseph Ritchie, and John Kingston. After thoughtful and entertaining discussions of poetry and art and their relation to Enlightenment science, the dinner party evolves into a lively, even raucous evening. Haydon also refers to this memorable event as “an immortal evening.” The title of the book is The Immortal Evening. I Keats has the most ground to cover. From Well Walk, in the village of Hampstead, to Lisson Grove, west and a little south of what will soon be London’s Regent’s Park, is a distance of about three, maybe a bit more, miles. In 1817, it will be a walk through countryside and emerging outlying city, a combination first of open fields, small woods, and close-in lanes yielding to streets of shops and market gardens, row [End Page 340] housing and classic Georgian brick and stucco houses, some of them mansion-sized. There is also, along the way, the occasional modest furniture or china factory. It is three days after Christmas, and he will have likely started out in the early afternoon since Sunday dinner will be served at a regular 3:30. By report it is already one of those severely cold winter seasons—just three years ago the Thames had frozen over during “the Great Frost of 1813-1814,” and this year seems to be suffering the lingering effects. Keats is wearing, of course, his great coat, the same coat or one much like it that he will forget to take with him on another, later winter day in February, 1820, on a visit into London proper, when the temperature suddenly drops and the consequence is the hemorrhage that will prove to be his “death warrant.” This far from central London there is yet no gas street lighting, so he is probably carrying a lantern for the night walk back. Of the two other major guests invited to dinner, Charles Lamb is next in the distance he must travel—more than a mile and a half, maybe two miles, depending on the route from Russell Street, Covent Garden, just above the Thames. He has recently moved from Inner Temple Lane, from west along the route of the river. “Here we are transplanted,” he writes to Dorothy Wordsworth the month before. “We are in the individual spot I like best, in all this great city. The theatres, with all their noises, Covent Garden, dearer to me than any gardens of Alcinous, where we are sure of the earliest peas and ’sparagus. Bow Street, where the thieves are examined, within a few yards of us. Mary had not been here four-and-twenty hours before she saw a thief. She sits at the window working; and casually throwing out her eyes, she sees a concourse of people coming this way, with constable to conduct the solemnity. These little incidents agreeably diversify a female life.” Perhaps what Lamb is also saying, without meaning to sound condescending, is that Mary’s window life is distracting as well. Mary is Lamb’s devoted but emotionally fragile sister. To get to Lisson Grove, Lamb must pass through his beloved but compromised “commercial” area of the Garden, with businesses [End Page 341] ranging from brothels, taverns, even Turkish baths, to...

From ancient times to the present: development of the drinking water supply system of Şanliurfa in south-eastern Turkey

In this paper, water supply, distribution and storage structures in Şanlıurfa city that were built since the ancient times are investigated and technological details of some water supply structures are given. The city is one of the oldest cities and has hosted many civilizations throughout the centuries, beginning from 11500 BC. The acquired archaeological heritage shows that the city had important water supply practices. Many water structures, which can be categorized as the structures of the pre-Islamic Period (Roman Period) and post-Islamic Period (Ottoman Period), were constructed in the city. Charity structures and cisterns, Turkish baths, aqueducts and dams, water balance facilities, maksems, bridges, wells, fountains and karliks are among these structures. Roman influence is observed in the water architecture of the Ottoman Empire. The influence is best observed in the hayrats of the city, built in the pre-Islamic and post-Islamic Period. During the history of the city, the settled communities have destroyed many of the cultural structures of previous civilizations; however they have protected and developed water structure systems. This situation has meant that water structures have lasted to the present and it is interesting to note that most of these systems are still in use.

Studying satisfaction and spending willingness of guests visiting spas and thermal baths in the Northern Hungarian Region

In my study I will show the opinion of the guests familiar with seven thermal baths of the Northern-Hungarian Region (such as Eger Thermal Bath, Eger Turkish Bath, Egerszalók Salt Hill Thermal Spa, Demjén Thermal Bath, Bogács Thermal Bath and the Cave-Bath of Miskolc-tapolca) about the medical supply elements, about the price-value rate of supply elements in the thermal bath, and also the spending willingness of the guests in relation to age and earns. From the data I calculated mean, SD and spectrum and examined the crosstab correlations as well, and the Cramer’s V associate coefficient. The results of the correlation tests could be summarised as the following: Guests regardless financial state and age give grade 4 to price/value ratio, but despite their positive judgement spending is not characteristic (most guests spend nothing additional besides admission fee, if so, they do not exceed the 5000 forint amount) even among those who belong to the ’upmarket’ category. Both younger and elderly guests can be characterised with the economical approach, i.e. “Make both ends meet” although seemingly they could extend these “ends”.

Kubad Abad kazısında bulunan bir grup kürevî konik kap

Kubad Abad is a palace complex on a small peninsula at the southwest bank of Beysehir Lake in Beysehir District of Konya. This palace complex, which was built by I. Alaeddin Keykubad, is being enlightened with the excavations going for over thirty years. Important findings varying in a lot of types had been surfaced with the Kubad Abad excavations, which is one of the long-running Medieval excavations in Turkey. Among these are ceramics which are important for their period. In this work, 11 pieces of sphero-conical vessels found at the south of the reservoir and the furnace part of the Great Palace’s Turkish bath, among the rocks, during the 2012 excavations will be held. Some hypotheses will be improved about these vessels being found altogether at the same place near the Turkish bath, and they will be introduced to the scientific circle for the first time. Different ideas have been put forward by the researchers about the functions of these types of ceramics, which are called sphero-conical vessels in the art historian literature because of their form. It had been detected that these sphero-conical vessels, which are denoted as mercury cup, beer/malt cup, hand grenade, naphtha cup, perfume cup, tobacco or hashish cup, oil lamp ball, fire bellow, have spread to a large area in the Turkish and Islamic geography and they vary in form. These ceramics, could be found glazed or unglazed, are generally unglazed. They show common features in material with their dense texture, thick and hard clay mould. With this aspect they could be seen as suitable for carrying liquid, valuable powder or mineral in long journeys easily, without breaking, thus it could be said that these vessels have many functions.

Antalya Kenti Konut Dışı Tescilli Sivil Mimari Yapılar ve Özellikleri

Antalya, the most developed city of the Mediterranean Region, besides having natural beauty is a rich place in terms of its archeological and historical monuments as it has been a residence for centuries. Many historical civil architectural structures such as mosques, khans, tombs, caravansaries, Turkish baths, schools, board structures and shops form the historical identity of the city. Today, these historical structures being stucked in the city centre are in danger of being extinct. That the new city regulations ignore the historical atmosphere and a faster development has been in Antalya than that of Turkey makes this process faster. Also, the high prices of the areas in the city centre, the profound effect of social-economical change caused by technological advances on the physical structures and being amateurs on the preserving policies effect this process. That’s why it is essential for Antalya that its city atmosphere problems should be searched, by determining the features of recorded civil architecture structures, the problems should be found and in the light of this information, the necessary things according to today’s conditions should be done

Discovering Scheherazade: Representations of Oriental Women in the Travel Writing of Nineteenth-Century German Women

This article explores how three nineteenth-century writers, Ida Pfeiffer, Ida Hahn-Hahn, and Luise Muhlbach, represented women from the Orient in their travel narratives. Because European women travelers such as Pfeiffer, Hahn-Hahn, and Muhlbach had privileged access to female spaces in the Orient (harem and the Turkish bath), their accounts challenged the traditional image of the lascivious Oriental woman and, by doing so, confirmed the established Western idea of the beautiful Oriental woman. Hence, I argue that these writers used their travelogues not only to describe the appearance and habits of Ottoman women but also—in juxtaposition—to heighten the position of women in Western society. Furthermore, I claim that Eastern women were not passive subjects of Western constructs but cleverly manipulated their visitors’ impressions.

Diyarbakır’da Su Mimarisi Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme

Anadolu'nun uygarlaşması diyebileceğimiz dönem içinde, çeşitli yerleşim alanlarında ve güzergâhlar üzerinde çok sayıda su yapısı inşa edilmiştir. Söz konusu eserlerin bir bölümü bazı nedenlerden dolayı günümüze kadar ulaşamamıştır. Günümüze ulaşan eserlerin tümünün değerlendirilmediğini de söylemek gerekir. Diyarbakır il merkezinde yer alan su yapılarının mimari özelliklerini genel hatları ile değerlendirmeyi kapsayan çalışmada tarihi taş köprü, hamam ve çeşme yapılan incelenmiştir. Yapılan incelemelerde toplam 42 adet su yapısı (Köprü, Hamam, Çeşme) tespit edilmiştir. Bu yapıların mimari özellikleri tanıtılmaya çalışılırken fotoğraf ve çizimlerden yararlanılmıştır.

The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East: an analysis of their internal spatial configurations

The hammams (or Islamic bath-houses), commonly known as ‘Turkish baths’, are one of the key urban facilities in Islamic cities. They evolved from the Roman and Byzantine public baths, as these were assimilated when the Umayyad dynasty conquered Byzantine territories in the Middle East between AD 661 and 750. Early hammams were built in the eighth century by the Umayyad rulers who established their capital in Damascus. The most famous ones are Qusayr Amra, in today's north-eastern desert of Jordan and Khirbat al Mafjar. The period following the rise of Islam witnessed a rapid development in the architecture of baths and the change from Roman to Islamic bathing habits. Public Roman baths consisted of very large establishments, the thermae, which comprised not only bathing facilities but also recreational ones such as libraries, gymnasiums, exercise grounds and gardens, tanning rooms, ball courts and concert halls. The balnea were the smaller privately or publicly owned Roman baths, located in greater number within the city.

Fidelity Level and Knowledge of Medicinal Plants Used to Make Therapeutic Turkish Baths

Fidelity Level and Knowledge of Medicinal Plants Used to Make Therapeutic Turkish Baths

Fidelity Level and Knowledge of Medicinal Plants Used to Make Therapeutic Turkish Baths

The value and importance of indigenous knowledge are now being increasingly acknowledged all over the world. For this reason, the aims of this study is not only to identify the medicinal plants use...

The Early Days of Spinal Tumour Surgery

In numerous examples in this series of essays on 'The Early Days of ...' there is argument and debate about who should be given the credit for introducing a particular major advance in treatment. However, in the story of the management of tumours involving the spinal cord, there is no doubt at all about priority; the surgeon was Victor Horsley and the date was June 1887! The patient was a Captain Gilbey, a business man and a retired Army officer. In 1884, shortly after his wife's death following a road traffic accident, he developed severe upper thoracic back pain. He was seen over succeeding months and years by numbers of specialists, whose diagnoses ranged from an aneurysm to neurasthenia, and whose treatments included advice to take a long sea voyage, to have Turkish baths and to take the cure at the medicinal baths at Aix-la-Chapelle. His various medical advisors thought his condition to be functional, even though he was gradually losing sensation and movement in his legs and trunk, was having considerable difficulty in passing his urine and was now requiring morphia for the pain.

Correlates of HPV: a cross-sectional study in women with normal cytology in north-central Morocco

Epidemiological studies have shown the association between risk of developing cervical cancer and the persistence of high-risk papillomavirus types in addition to some co-factors. However, little is known about co-factors associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, especially in developing countries. This study aims to determine HPV status and associated risk factors in women with normal cytology living in the north-central area of Morocco. From February 2007 to December 2008, a total of 925 women consulting in the gynaecological department of Fez University Hospital were asked about sociodemographic characteristics and reproductive and sexual health. Cervical samples were collected for cytological examination and HPV DNA detection. Data collected from 751 women with normal cytology were used in this study to assess the correlation between HPV infection and potential risk factors. High prevalence of HPV infection was detected (42.5%). The highest infection rate was observed in women aged > 45 years and in those with history of abortion (OR:3.76; 95%CI[1.77-7.98]) fibroma, polyp or cysts (OR:1.68; 95%CI[1.07-2.65]). No significant association was detected with other reproductive health and risk factors including oral contraception. In spite of the insignificant association of HPV infection with age, health authorities should seriously consider and implement strategies to increase and maintain a cervical cancer screening programme in women aged 45 and above. More attention must be given to women with gynaecological history (abortion, fibroma, polyp or cysts) since these events may be predictors of HPV infection. Investigations on partner sexual behaviour and some specific hygienic habits, especially public Turkish bath use, are needed to clarify the HPV incidence in this region.

Effect of radon measurement methods on dose estimation

Different radon measurement methods were applied in the old and new buildings of the Turkish bath of Eger, Hungary, in order to elaborate a radon measurement protocol. Besides, measurements were also made concerning the radon and thoron short-lived decay products, gamma dose from external sources and water radon. The most accurate results for dose estimation were provided by the application of personal radon meters. Estimated annual effective doses from radon and its short-lived decay products in the old and new buildings, using 0.2 and 0.1 measured equilibrium factors, were 0.83 and 0.17 mSv, respectively. The effective dose from thoron short-lived decay products was only 5 % of these values. The respective external gamma radiation effective doses were 0.19 and 0.12 mSv y(-1). Effective dose from the consumption of tap water containing radon was 0.05 mSv y(-1), while in the case of spring water, it was 0.14 mSv y(-1).

Cardiovascular effects of Turkish bath and sauna/The effect of Turkish bath on QT dispersion

Cardiovascular effects of Turkish bath and sauna/The effect of Turkish bath on QT dispersion

The effect of Turkish bath on QT dispersion

It is known that QT intervals might differ from each other on electrocardiogram (ECG). It is also known that diversity of QT interval between derivations is an indicator of heterogeneity of repolarization and it is a leading electrophysiological cause of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden heart death. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the Turkish bath on QT dispersion. A total of 47 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the prospective study. The 12-lead ECG recordings were taken in all subjects before and after bath and QT dispersions were calculated. Blood pressure and the heart rate of each patient were recorded. QT dispersion was defined as the difference between the maximum and minimum QT intervals occurring in any of the 12 leads. Statistical analysis were performed using Wilcoxon rank test and paired t test. The mean age was 49.47+/-11.64 years; range was between 23-70 years. The mean temperature of the bath was 39.72+/-1.75 degrees C, mean humidity percent was 84.42+/-4.74%. QTc dispersion were respectively determined as 0.047+/-0.025 sec and 0.047+/-0.019 sec (p=0.981) before and after bath. We determined no correlation between duration time at bath and QTc dispersion (r=-0.069 p=0.646). In our study we found no meaningful difference in QTc dispersion in individuals who take bath. Our study is the first study in which we evaluated QTc dispersion in high temperature and humidity environment of the bath and we did not determine any effect on QTc dispersion.

Structural Analyses and Assessment of Historical Kamanlı Mosque in Izmir, Turkey

Historical structures are one of the most precious pieces of cultural accumulation. In this study, an interdisciplinary work was conducted to assess the structural condition of a historical masonry structure, Urla Kamanli Mosque in Izmir, Turkey. The structure is a member of group of structures, Yahsi Bey Complex, which includes a Turkish bath, a tomb, two fountains, and a primary school. The structure dates back to early 14th century to mid-15th century. History investigation, measurement survey, long-term settlement, and moisture observations were conducted. Nondestructive and destructive material tests were performed on stone, brick, and mortar. 3D finite-element model of the structure was used to investigate the critical locations of the structure under its self-weight, seismic load, and settlement load. Linear elastic and nonlinear settlement analyses were conducted to investigate the reason for massive cracks challenging the structural integrity.

TURKISH BATHS: MEANING RECONSTRUCTED AND REFILLED BY MODERN AND POSTMODERN CONSUMPTION

Turkish baths, originally known as hamam, were an indispensable part of everyday life in the Ottoman Empire. They served not only for personal cleanliness but as places for relaxing and as a forum for social gatherings. After the foundation of the Republic 1923 and the accompanying social shifts, Turks began to turn away from traditional lifestyles towards a life that was distinctively modern ie; westernized, secular. In modernizing Turkey hamam culture started to lose its traditional value besides, home technology and privatized values brought baths to homes and kept Turkish people away from hamams. With the globalization of mass tourism, consumption of Turkish heritage was popularized and the social value of the hamam, evacuated by modernization, was refilled with contemporary values as a heritage experience. Hamams gained new and different context in foreign markets and this development encouraged local consumers to reconsider hamams as fashionable. But the context of hamam is not cleaning anymore; it is a luxurious, glamorous leisure time activity for high class consumers in Turkey. These changes in context are not the result of trying to protect the traditional values but again imitating the Western consumers who show interest to authenticity and ethnicity again. This research investigates differences in preferences and understandings of hamam between modernity and postmodernity and how global tourism helps refill the meanings of hamams. We conduct in-depth interviews with Turkish consumers and visitors, which combined with archive and media research, trace the development of hamam culture in modernizing and postmodern contexts.

A landscape of their own: space and identity in Ozpetek's Hamam: The Turkish Bath and Julio Medem's Cows

A landscape of their own: space and identity in Ozpetek's Hamam: The Turkish Bath and Julio Medem's Cows

THE MEDIEVAL AND OTTOMAN HAMMAMS OF ALGERIA; ELEMENTS FOR A HISTORICAL STUDY OF BATHS ARCHITECTURE IN NORTH AFRICA

Algerian medinas (Islamic cities) have several traditional public baths (hammams). However, these hammams are the least known in the Maghreb countries. The first French archaeological surveys carried out on Islamic monuments and sites in Algeria, have found few historic baths in medieval towns. All along the highlands route, from Algiers (capital city of Algeria located in the North) to Tlemcen (city in the Western part of Algeria), these structures are found in all the cities founded after the Islamic religion expanded in the Western North Africa. These buildings are often associated to large mosques. In architectural history, these baths illustrate original spatial and organizational compositions under form proportions, methods of construction, ornamental elements and the technical skills of their builders. The ancient traditions of bathing interpreted in this building type are an undeniable legacy. They are present through architectural typology and technical implementation reflecting the important architectural heritage of the great Roman cities in Algeria. Furthermore, these traditions and buildings evolved through different eras. Master builders, who left Andalusia to seek refuge in the Maghreb countries, added the construction and ornamentation skills and techniques brought from Muslim Spain, while the Ottomans contribution in the history of many urban cities is important. Hence, the dual appellation of the hammam as “Moorish bath” and “Turkish bath” in Algeria is the perfect illustration of the evolution of bath architecture in Algeria.