It is made from sheep's wool and is usually combined with a black scarf during work and with a white silk scarf for celebratory, leisure and formal events.[1][4]
The fashion persisted into medieval times among the Christians of northern Mount Lebanon,[9] where it was especially useful for its natural water-resistance against rain and providing warmth during the cold winters of the mountain. The labbadeh survived into the modern era still being used by some villagers as well as becoming a national symbol of Lebanon as a part of the traditional folk costume of the country.[10]
Etymology
The word labbadeh comes from the Lebanese Arabic word libada which translates to "beat" or "beaten" and is a reference to the beating of wool in the process of making a labbade.[1]
Process
The making of the labbadeh is a hand-made felting process. First, the wool threads must be finely separated from one another before being saturated with soap and water. Then, the wool threads are mixed together again and beaten until they solidify into a labbade. The finished product is then soaked with water and put out to dry.[1][4]
History
The Lebanese[7] Labbadeh goes back to Phoenician times.[2][10][11] Statuettes assumed to be votive offerings have been found scattered across the Levant with the most numerous amount found in ancient Phoenician temples in Byblos where they have since been dubbed the Byblos figurines.
A good number of statuettes, placed in these vases, are depicted in full motion and wearing the lebbadé or conical cap, which is still in use in certain regions of Lebanese high mountain. This headdress was held on the head by a chinstrap. One of the ex-votos included several dozen of these statuettes so similar that one can imagine that they represented a troop that would have offered their sponsors [effigies] to the temple before embarking.[12]
The use of the labbadeh for practical purposes began to decline around the mid-20th century.[7] However, the headdress is experiencing a revival movement notably in the village of Hrajel where a workshop has been opened by local farmer Youssef Akiki with the intent of preserving the tradition and knowledge of the labbadeh.[13]
Gallery
Byblos figurines showing some of the oldest depictions of the labbadeh
Temple of Hadad within the Citadel of Aleppo with an engraving of two men wearing ornate forms of the labbadeh
Statuette of a deity wearing a labbadeh, found in Tel Michal
Evolution of the labbadeh throughout time
Two Lebanese village boys watching the sunrise. The boy sitting is wearing a labbadeh while the boy standing has on a tarboosh, c. 1920s
Peasant from Btalloun wearing typical mountain headdress. Oil on canvas by Khalil Saleeby, 1926
^ abAl-Dabaa, Ahmed (2 January 2023). "اللبادة.. قبعة تحكي عن الهوية اللبنانية منذ عهد الفينيقيين" [The labbadeh... a hat that tells the story of the Lebanese identity since the Phoenician era]. alqaheranews. قناة القاهرة الإخبارية. قال "عقيقي"، لـ"القاهرة الإخبارية"، إن اللبادة يرجع تاريخها في لبنان إلى الفينيقيين، وصارت تتوارث من جيل إلى آخر، خصوصًا سكان المناطق الجبلية، الذين يرتدونها بسبب برودة الطقس. ["Akiki" told "Cairo News" that the history of the labbadeh in Lebanon dates back to the Phoenicians, and it has been passed down from one generation to the next, especially among the inhabitants of the mountainous regions, who wear it because of the cold weather.]
^Hakmeh, Katerina (29 October 2024). "شو قصة اللبادة يلي كانوا يلبسوها جدودنا؟" [What is the story of the labbadeh that our ancestors used to wear?]. beirut.com. Beirut.com, SA. عكس الطربوش اللي يعتبر عثماني، اللبادة أصلها لبناني، واستخدمها الشعب اللبناني لقرون طويلة. [Unlike the tarboosh, which is considered Ottoman, the labbadeh is of Lebanese origin and has been used by the Lebanese people for centuries.]
^"Origin of Levantine Costumes". Almashriq. Hiof. Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Small Phoenician statues dug up in Lebanon show this same style of conical cap, while bas reliefs from the Aleppo citadel also depict men wearing a cap of the same proportions as the labbade worn today.
^Gubel, Eric (2022). "Phoenician lionesses devouring Nubians and the Egyptian Pyth of the Distant goddess". In Wicke, Dirk; Curtis, John (eds.). Ivories, Rock Reliefs and Merv: Studies on the Ancient Near East in Honour of Georgina Herrmann. Münster: Zaphon. p. 135. ISBN9783963272080. Note the papyrus background, the light mobile furniture in wickerwork of identical type to that reproduced on the Yaba and Golgoi bowls (below, n. 29), as well as the Phoenician lebbadé headdress worn by the singer of a group of musicians also present on the latter (Gubel 1987, loc. cit., Meyer 1987, 167–180).
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