Date: Tuesday, 01 August 2017
"THE
ANTROPOLOGY OF HOUSING CONSTRUCTION"
Ones a Czechoslovakian
Anthropologist who was our Professor at the American University explained to me
how every part of the house is named after human anatomy in his country. for
example, the construction materials such as plywoods (murale in Italian), are
used for roofing are called "RIBS" while the windows "EYES" with their
semi-circle at the top "EYE-BROWS." and the front door of course, "MOUTH"
In
Eritrea, the overall structure of the house seems to be
associated with SECURITY. For example, the window is known as መስኮት (meskot)
whereby one escapes in case of emergency (ኣፈ-ርክቡ) as the saying goes መስኮት ኢሉ ወጺኡ
(sneaked out). The innermost of ህድሞ (terraced house typical of rural Eritrea) is
known as ውሻጠ meaning private room reserved for keeping some valuable
possessions. The door is named after verbal noun ማዕጾ derived from the word ዓጸወ
(he shut) indicating how it is more pronounced when it comes to security in a
society that ones used to live among dangerous animals and enemies.
-Haile
