What could you do in a Hammam? Fill your “tas” with hot water and pour it over your body to take a hot water bath, lay on “göbek taşı” to get a bubble massage, scrub, or simply relax. What I did the last time when I went to a hammam was sit by a “kurna”, smelling the strong smell of soap, and edit Wikipedia. I was at “ılıklık” (warm room) of Zeyrek Çinili Hamam at Istanbul. It was a Monday afternoon, a closed day of that Hammam. However, on that Monday, Zeyrek Çinili Hamam opened its doors for Wikipedians to come together and edit Wikipedia articles about Hammam culture.
Discovering the functions of Hammams
I knew that the role of hammams in Istanbulites’ lives had never been restricted to just cleaning and leisure. They were public places where people from different social backgrounds gathered and interacted; made business deals, searched for brides for their family members, did matchmaking, intimately chatted and shared their stories, sometimes complained about their fates, discussed politics, and even organized a revolt (see Patrona Halil). On that day, together with some experienced Wikipedians and newbie Wikipedia editors, we brought a new function for hammams: hosting a Wikipedia edit-a-thon.
The event was organized upon an invitation from Zeyrek Çinili Hamam. That is a 16th-century hammam built by the greatest Ottoman architect Sinan and in recent years passed through a big restoration by its new owner. I learned that the restoration of the Hammam had turned into an excavation since many historical objects were found during the work and it took 13 years. Finally last year, the new owners did not only opened the Hammam to its original function – bathing- but also started to display around 3000 İznik tiles found at the excavation in Hammam. That’s how a new Hammam museum was founded and Beril Gür, the manager of this newly founded museum, reached out to Wikimedia User Group Turkey to organize the first-ever event of the museum.
“We also have a library specialized in hammams and hammam culture,” Beril told me and suggested to work together on improving Wikipedia content about this topic. We delightedly started to prepare the first-ever edit-a-thon organized in a Turkish hammam. Archeologist Nedim Güvenç prepared a list of articles that needed to be improved and added, as well as a list of suggested resources. An open call was made for participating in the edit-a-thon about Hammam culture. Participants included some clients of Hammam, young people interested in architecture and archeology, and Wikipedians from Istanbul.
A hammam experience without bathing but by editing
Zeyrek Çinili Hamam is a “çifte hammam” (double hammam), which means it has two adjacent sections for women and men allowing simultaneous use. We met at “ılıklık” – a transition room between the dressing room and the hot chamber – of the women’s section. This place is surrounded by sedirs -traditional long, low, comfortable sofas- but low coffee tables and stools were also brought for working on the laptops.
Of course, a Hammam culture edit-a-thon could not be started without first drinking Hammam sherbet- a cold drink served to Hammam customers when they arrived -. After drinking our sherbet we toured the men’s section of the hammam. Beril guided us and explained how this hammam was built by the great Sinan to provide upkeep of the mosque complex of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, the admiral of the Ottoman Navy; and the story of the structure afterward.
When we returned to the warm room, two Wikipedians made a presentation about Wikipedia and its pillars for new editors; encouraged them to use the Edit button, and explained how to add sources and images. Afterward, the participants started to examine the books brought to the room from the library and edit the related Wikipedia articles. Meanwhile, we discussed about differences between hammam and sauna, how our ancestors were bathing in their tents before they settled and hammam structure were born, and told the stories of bridal hammams we know.
During the whole time, we could feel the warmth of the Hammam, because once heated a hammam has to be kept heated for months, it is not possible to just turn it off. We also could get the smell the soap all the time. Although we did not have a bath, chatting, heat, and smell were similar to the typical Turkish bath experience. Before closing the event, we also had a guided tour of the museum to see thousands of Iznik tiles as well as the collection of nalın (Turkish clogs) and other Hammam objects.
Time to edit
As an editor, now I feel much more motivated to learn more and write about hammam culture on Wikipedia. I know that in modern days, visiting Hammam is mostly a tourist attraction, and most Turks today have never set foot in a Hammam. I also know how hammams are represented as a space of sexuality in Western literature, and there are a lot of false information and myths around this deep-routed culture. Hammam architecture, traditions, socio-economic aspects of hammam culture, related concepts, and terminology provide tonnes of topics to work on. It’s time to roll up our sleeves to edit.
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