The Amazing Yurt!

(Cue classical music; the permanent staff and tonight’s guest lecturer here at whateveristrueandnoble.blogspot endorse Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, the “Pastoral”)

ANNOUNCER:  Good evening, and welcome to “The Wide World of Central Asia,” a continuing series of blog posts exploring the exciting world of inner Asia, and its fabulous tapestry of peoples, places, and other nouns!  Tonight, we’re thrilled to have with us again the guest lecturer whose previous visit held us all spellbound!  And now, our narrator:

IMPRESSIVE NARRATOR:  A few weeks ago, we here at whateveristrueandnoble.blogspot were pleased to bring to you the fascinating story of the yak, one of the most versatile and industrious species of livestock with which God has blessed our planet.  Today, we are equally proud to call your attention to a particular type of dwelling equally reminiscent of the vastnesses of Asia – namely, the yurt, the ubiquitous round tent of nomads, conquerors, shepherds, and granolas.  Tonight, on “The Wide World of Central Asia,” we will explore what the yurt is, its origins, why have so many peoples down through the centuries adopted this peculiar habitation, its immense cultural significance, where the discerning outdoorsman may procure such a domicile, and to what ends.

IMPRESSIVE NARRATOR:  The yurt is, to the surprise of many Europeans and North Americans, not some hideous aberration of the Queen’s English fashionable among the younger set, but rather a word of Turkic origin, presently referring to a round, quasi-conical portable dwelling, common among the various nomadic peoples of Central Asia.  The yurt itself is constructed of a circular latticework, topped by roof ribs, in turn topped by a crown or compression wheel.  

The crown serves to both provide structural strength and as an expedient chimney for an internal hearth.  Originally, the Turkic word meant the impression in the ground left by the aforementioned dwelling, and gave rise to the Russian word, “yurta” in the Latin alphabet, from whence the English word, yurt.  In Kyrgyz, the dwelling is called “boz uy,” being “grey house” from the color of the wool felt which surrounds the framework and provides waterproofing and insulation.  The self-supporting wooden frame, once covered by the felt walls and roof, is bound together by rope or ribbon, and may have an additional cover of canvas or other material, depending upon availability.  We here pause for web page identification, and then will return to the “The Wide World of Central Asia.”

ANNOUNCER:  This is “Whateveristrueandnoble,” your blog page for all things Kyrgyzstan, Crocheting, and Cooking, tonight featured by the wonderful people at Studebaker Corporation.  Studebaker – the oldest name in American automobiles:  have you driven a Studebaker recently?  Probably not, since the last one rolled out of the factory in 1966.  But, don’t you wish you could?  We do!  Now back to “The Wide World of Central Asia.”

IMPRESSIVE NARRATOR:  The yurt is an exceedingly common dwelling across the steppes of Central Asia, and is of great antiquity.  The famed Ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote of the ancient Scythians, a supposedly “barbarous” people also mentioned by St. Paul in the New Testament.  Herodotus described the Scythians living in yurts roughly twenty-five hundred years ago, and the design has little changed since then, if at all.  Indeed, it would seem the various nomadic peoples of the steppe are firm believers in the proverb, “Don’t reinvent the wheel,” and small wonder, when the wheel-like tent has performed able service across so many centuries in such difficult circumstances?  The yurt’s distinctive round shape has been used by pastoralists and warriors alike from Mongolia to Afghanistan to the Kazakh steppes; its efficient design handed down from father to son over innumerable generations.  Among the Kazakhs, for instance, it is a matter of no small pride as the crown of the family yurt becomes increasingly stained by hearth smoke across generations, even as the remainder of the yurt is rebuilt and repaired as time goes by.  The yurt, a marvel of practical portability, can be raised in about two hours, and is carefully configured for disassembly and packing on the back of the yaks and Bactrian camels indigenous to the region.

IMPRESSIVE NARRATOR:  It would be difficult to overestimate the immense cultural significance of the yurt.  Its fabric designs are literally woven into virtually every aspect of traditional life on the steppes; a variation of the yurt’s distinctive crown design forms part of the national coat of arms of Kazakhstan, for instance, and is at the center, again literally, of the national flag of Kyrgyzstan.  It is this continuing connection to the steppes of yesteryear that results in the yurt’s features being a popular choice for museums, cafes, and souvenir shops in the Central Asia of today.  However, the yurt’s appeal is no longer limited to the traditional habitues of the steppes; today, there is a multiplicity of firms in North America and Europe manufacturing variations of this time-tested tent for Westerners seeking, perhaps, to experience a little of the fascinating cultures of Central Asia for themselves, or who have simply recognized excellent engineering when they see it.  However, the western yurts are, generally speaking, not as portable as their forebears, being intended in the main more as permanent structures rather than nomadic homes.  Still, the enduring popularity of the idea of the yurt, spanning generations and continents, remains a testament to the wondrously rich traditional life of Central Asia.

A Kyrgyz yurt with the Tien Shan mountain range in the distance.

ANNOUNCER:  This has been “The Wide World of Central Asia” here on whateveristrueandnoble.blogspot, your blog page for all things Kyrgyzstan, Crocheting, and Cooking, brought to you in part by the good folks at Studebaker Corporation – Studebaker:  the oldest name in American automobiles – and by a quirky sense of humor on the part of the guest lecturer.  On behalf of all of us here at whateveristrueandnoble.blogspot, thank you for joining us, and we’ll see you next time for “The Wide World of Central Asia!”

(Fade out classical music)

If you’re interested, most of the information in this posting was taken from Wikipedia articles (again, I know!) about yurts (and Studebakers) along with the websites of various private companies who make yurts in the USA.  No, I didn’t have to consult a thesaurus.  Yes, it was hard to keep a straight face while I wrote it.