Talk:Tabun oven

Tabun and Tandoor
Hi, so whats the difference between Tandoor and Tabun? According to the word "Tabun" is synonymous with "tannour" in Israel. The etymology section in Tandoor says that Tandoor is also called Tannour. I have concluded that Tabun is not perfectly cylindrical in shape while Tandoor is like a standing cylindrical object. The modern tabun oven is used to make Pizza, Pita and other things (search Pizza oven/Pita oven images and compare it with the images in this article). The old Tabun that is in the photo of that Palestinian has also similar features which is that the Tabun bread is inside the oven horizontally while in Tandoor the bread is vertical (in a 2D polyline). Here is an example of a traditional Palestinian Tabun bread (see how and where they put the bread) and here is an example of a traditional Yemeni Tannour bread (see where the bread is)--SharabSalam (talk) 22:38, 12 September 2019 (UTC)
 * , The German author, Gustaf Dalman, published a seven-volume book in 1935, entitled Arbeit und sitte in Palästina. These volumes were reprinted in Hildesheim in 1964. In volume 4 he describes the ovens made by the Arabs in Palestine. He also has a section of black-and-white photographs of these ovens; some are made of stone, and others of clay. No two ovens are alike. He calls the larger ones shown in the photographs by the Arabic name tannur, all of which have an opening in the top, rather than in the side. They appear to be made of clay. The smaller ovens with an opening in their sides and which are completely closed at the top except for a small air hole in its middle for ventilation he calls by the Arabic names ʿarṣa (furn). They too seem to be made of clay. One is made with a fire-pit beneath its side opening. What I found most helpful is that in the same book he shows a diagram (drawings) of two kinds of tabun. In one drawing, he writes for its caption "the West Palestinian tabun," which was made in a circular shape (presumably of clay) but with only one opening at its top, and which opening had a removable clay door, used for sealing it and preserving the heat. The fire was lit on the inside of the oven's floor, made of stone. In the other drawing, the caption reads "the East Palestinian tabun (furn)," and it is entirely made of clay, including its floor bottom, and it has two openings, one on the top and one in its side. Both openings are made with a removable door, used for sealing the oven and trapping its heat inside. In one photograph, he shows what he calls tabun, a large structure made of stones, and with an opening in its side. Another photo shows a smaller tabun made of clay, with an opening at its top, concerning which tabun the author writes that it was bottomless, meaning, it was portable and could be placed on any flat surface for building a fire.Davidbena (talk) 23:23, 12 September 2019 (UTC)
 * , the one with stones in the bottom is the one the old Palestinian man in the video is using and he calls it "Tabun".--SharabSalam (talk) 23:27, 12 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes, that seems correct, because G. Dalman also calls it tabun.Davidbena (talk) 23:37, 12 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Still, Dalman also shows other basic designs for tabun. The tabun can be improvised in shape and design.Davidbena (talk) 00:36, 13 September 2019 (UTC)
 * SharabSalam, it is clear from the two YouTube videos above that the "tabun" in Palestine and the "tannour" in Yemen, are one and the same thing, but with different names. They slightly differ in design, but are more similar than different. The bread is put into the oven from the top. This agrees with Dalman.Davidbena (talk) 13:05, 13 September 2019 (UTC)
 * No, they are differences. Let me explain first how the Palestinian traditional Tabun works. First, they dig a small hole then they put wood and burn it inside that hole. After that, they put iron spits over the hole horizontally then they put iron sheet over everything (the hole with the fire and the iron spits). After that they put something that is made of clay and has a dome shape, over the iron sheet. After this it looks like this . After that they bury the remaining parts of the iron sheet. then they put stones inside the Tabun and then they bake the bread over these stones. This is the very old traditional Palestinian Tabun. (Remember what I said in my talk page when I translated the Arabic lexicon, " The word Taban' means "to bury something" and “Taban' al-Nar” means "buried the fire" )
 * The Tabun has been modernized over the time and there is no need to dig a hole. See this Egyptian Tabun Flickr - archer10 (Dennis) - Egypt-4B-012.jpg, there is no hole here because there is a room or a vacuum under the dome thing where the fire is.
 * The general idea of a Tabun is to make the fire below the thing that you are cooking with an insulator between the fire and the thing that you are cooking. I guess that burying the fire is also the idea of Tabun.
 * The Tandoor also called Tannour is different, it is used in Yemen, Iraq(mostly Arab tribes with Yemeni origin like Shammar, Zubaid etc), India and even in the Levant. The fire in the Tannour is not buried and the bread is in the wall of the oven. There is no hole or an insulator. I guess you know how the Tannour works. It is pretty clear.--SharabSalam (talk) 19:28, 13 September 2019 (UTC)


 * hi, you are from India, right? Could you tell us the differences between Tabun and Tannour?. Thanks in advance.--SharabSalam (talk) 06:53, 6 October 2019 (UTC)
 * I'll return to this subject when I find the time. I will make a chart showing the different views and descriptions of these ovens.Davidbena (talk) 12:06, 7 October 2019 (UTC)