The felt makers of Sanliurfa in southeastern Turkey tell a legendary story about the invention of their craft by Ebu Said Libabid. Libabid endeavoured to make wool bind together by stamping on it, but however much he stamped it made no difference. For forty days he tried to no avail, and began to weep. Weeping and stamping in frustration, he finally inspected the wool again and found that his tears had caused the fibres to knit together inseparably. Of course this is just a story. The history of felt is far older than weaving, going back to the Uighur period in Central Asia and to the Hittites in Anatolia. Relief carvings found at the Hittite cities of Bogazköy and Yazilikaya depict people wearing felt caps and clothes, and fragments of felt dating from the 4th or 5th century BC were discovered at Pazyryk in Central Asia, showing that the ancient Turks had also known how to make felt. On the evidence of findings in tombs archaeologists know that felt played an important part in the lives of the Scythians, Sarmatians and Malkars of Karaçay.

The Türkmens traditionally lived in tents made of white and black felt symbolising wealth and poverty, and the Kazakhs lived in felt tents known as kiyiz üy. Felt is variously known throughout the region as kidhiz, kidiz, kiz, kiiz and kiyiz. Felt making was widespread among the Seljuk and Ottoman Turks, and these craftsmen played an important role in the mystic trade organisations known as ahi. The uncle of the famous 13th century mystic Haci Bektas Veli was Keçeci Baba (Father of the Felt Makers), who lived in the village of Keçeci in the district of Erbaa in Tokat. Although felt is mainly made by machine today, some continues to be made by hand in parts of Turkey. The fact that the process is labour-intensive, prices low, and the use of felt artefacts less widespread than in the past means that this traditional craft is on the decline. Young people are no longer interested in learning this technique, and the few surviving workshops are unlikely to last another generation.

In the neighbouring province of Erzurum similar red caps are worn in the villages, and in the northwestern province of Kirklareli you will come across men wearing maroon felt fezes. In Hakkâri in southeast Turkey people wear slippers known as reþik, harik or herik, sewn from layers of felt and wool. In the villages of Trabzon elderly women wear fez-like caps made of dark red felt. Perhaps the most famous felt garments of all are the tall conical caps called sikke worn by the Mevlevi dervishes, which are made in the city of Konya by Mehmet Girgiç, and sold not only in Turkey, but all over the world.

Wool from lambs in dry areas and sheared in the autumn is the best for felt making, and the felt makers prefer wool sheared from lambs of three to four months old from the arid Harran Plain.

It is also possible to make felt from the hair of rabbits, camels and goats, including mohair from the angora goat. The sheared wool is then fluffed up using a bow and mallet. First the motifs cut from raw felt are arranged on a cloth of unbleached muslin spread on the ground, and the spaces between them filled with fluffed dyed wool. Undyed wool is spread over this in an even layer and sprinkled with water. Then a stick 3-4 cm in diameter is laid across one edge and together with the muslin cloth, the mat is rolled up and the two ends tied with hemp rope. Now the felt makers begin to stamp on the roll, singing as they work. When the edges fray the mat is unrolled, sprinkled with water again and rolled up around the stick, then stamped again for between one and three hours. At last the wool begins to felt, at which stage it is referred to as 'raw felt'.

Next comes the most difficult stage, which is carried out in the hot steamy atmosphere of a public bath. The mat is folded up and placed on the central platform of the bath, where the felt maker now pounds his chest repeatedly against the mat for about five hours. The mixture of sweat, water, steam and pressure completes the felting process. Then the edges are trimmed and the mat rolled up for the final stamping, which lasts 15-20 minutes. Finally the felt is unrolled and left to dry in the shade or the sun. The most laborious part of the work - pounding the felt with the naked chest - is today carried out by machines for the most part. However, in Sanliurfa's Felt Market a few craftsmen still continue to use the traditional method. Felt is mentioned in numerous local folksongs, songs accompanying childrn's games, and wedding songs, such as these: 'I spread a felt in the eyvan / What does life hold? / Will those days come? / I long for my beloved', and 'Felt there / Felt here / A girl's mother / Labours for nought.'
* Renan Yildirim is a journalist.