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The atmosphere too will have changed;
the candles or oil lamps that would have lit
the hammams from some niche in the wall
have been replaced by the harsh glare of
The jouwani at Hammam
Othmania in Homs
14 Hammaming in the Sham
fluorescent lights. Who could document the
Arab love affair with the fluorescent tube, not
to mention the loudspeaker! With one flick
of a switch the dreamy afternoon light in the
hammam is shattered, and the fluorescent
tubes hanging like a trapeze artist’s bars
from the dome fix all and sundry with their
unforgiving glare.