A camel-powered sesame oil press in a courtyard in Beihan. A tethered and blindfolded camel is pictured walking in a circle around a large vat of sesame seeds, operating the wooden grinding mechanism. A man stands of on a part of the apparatus. Another camel with sesame oil press is pictured in the background. Several children look on.

Collection type: Photograph
Description: A camel-powered sesame oil press in a courtyard in Beihan. A tethered and blindfolded camel is pictured walking in a circle around a large vat of sesame seeds, operating the wooden grinding mechanism. A man stands of on a part of the apparatus. Another camel with sesame oil press is pictured in the background. Several children look on.
Geographical reference: Yemen
Asia > Western Asia > Yemen; Shabwah Governorate; Beihan
Person: Expedition or compiler Jenny Balfour-Paul; Photographer Jenny Balfour-Paul; PRM source Jenny Balfour-Paul
Date / Period: Date of photograph: 1989
Acquisition information: Donated: 14/05/2018
Photographic process: Black & White
Dimensions: Image dimension 35 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 2018.137.2320
Research and responses: Glencairn Balfour-Paul recalls this trip to Beihan in his memoir Bagpipes in Babylon: "...Beihan turned out to be scenically enchanting, quite apart from revealing in its small township one surviving and very active indigo dyer and such other delights as a huge square in which a number of camel-driven sesame-oil presses were operating." Ref: Balfour Paul, G., 2006. Bagpipes in Babylon: A Lifetime in the Arab World and Beyond. London: Tauris, p.279. [JMC 04/09/2020]

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