Ramadan Drummer

Here's audio of al-misharaty, the drummer that wakes the neighborhood up before dawn so that they can eat the pre-fast meal of SuHuur during Ramadan.  It is a tradition that dates back to the Ottoman Empire.  The Syrian tradition is to blast a large cannon, but cities have grown too large for that.  Some would say that the cities also have outgrown the drummer, but I'm glad some of the old traditions still survive.

I believe he is saying the traditional chant of "Es ha ya nayem…Wahed el dayem...", or "awake, oh sleeper, and praise Allah".




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This post concludes my regular blogging from Amman, up next, The Credits, a little thank you to those who made my two months in Jordan so enriching.