Photograph of relatives no. 065

Photograph of relatives in front of a mudbrick house on the occasion of the day of circumcision (sünnet) of three boys, on the 7.9.1952. It was customary for circumcision to take place before boys went to school, about the age of six. In case there were more boys in the family, with a difference of a few years in age, the sünnet took place at the same time for all, for two or more brothers or relatives, taking into consideration that the oldest should not have passed his 8th year. Such seems to have been the case with the boys in the photograph. The boys are wearing white shirts and trousers, two of them long, the third short. Their appearance is modern, as also applies to all the other people on the photograph. The boys who had the sünnet were distinguished by a band made of shining material, worn diagonally across the chest, and the special headdress. On the bands the word maşallah, which means God´s blessing, is usually written. The headdress in those years was a fez covered with gold coins. Metallic silver tinsels (Greek téllia, Turk. tel) are shown hanging from both sides of this special headdress (başlık).