Middle Eastern Puppetry?

[muppetfan89]

Does anyone know what type of puppetry the Middle East is known for, particurally Syria? I mean American is known for all sorts of puppetry, particurally hand puppets, like The Muppets. The Chech Republic is known for their marionettes. So what about the Middle East?

 

[TheCreatureWork]

Does anyone know what type of puppetry the Middle East is known for, particurally Syria? I mean American is known for all sorts of puppetry, particurally hand puppets, like The Muppets. The Chech Republic is known for their marionettes. So what about the Middle East?

I love your question! I scoured the internet searching for an answer and found the "best" one here on the website www.indiaparenting.com


Middle-Eastern Puppets
"Explorers have discovered figures with movable parts dating back 4,000 to 5,000 years ago in the Middle East. Egyptian hieroglyphs of 2000 BC portray 'walking statues' in religious dramas. The Turkish Shadow Theatre called karagoz is one of the most noteworthy puppet theatres in the Middle East. Apparently puppets travelled from China to Turkey via India. Other theories state that the Turkish rulers were impressed with puppet shows in Egypt and brought the tradition back with them. Puppets have assumed poetical overtones in the Middle East. A form of shadow puppetry is called khayal al-zill or 'shadows of imagination'. Here, live music consisting of drums, tambourines, and flutes is played, along with smoke, fire, thunder, rattles, and elements that may evoke strong reactions from the audience. Iran also boasts of a unique style of puppetry where there are two players in the performance."

and this is from Wiki...not always the best but it states the same basically...

Middle Eastern puppetry, like its other theatre forms, is influenced by the Islamic culture. Karagoz, the Turkish Shadow Theatre, has widely influenced puppetry in the region and it is thought to have passed from China by way of India. Later, it was taken by the Mongols from the Chinese and passed to the Turkish peoples of Central Asia. The art of Shadow Theater was brought to Anatolia by the Turkish people emigrating from Central Asia. Other scholars claim that shadow theater came to Anatolia in the 16th century from Egypt. The advocates of this view claim that shadow theatre found its way into the Ottoman palaces when Yavuz Sultan Selim conquered Egypt in 1517. He saw shadow theatre performed during a party in his honour and he was said to be so impressed with it that he took the puppeteer back to his palace in Istanbul where his 21-year -old son, later Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, developed an interest in the plays.[11]
In other areas, the style of shadow puppetry known as khayal al-zill, a metaphor translated as "shadows of the imagination" or "shadow of fancy", still survives. This is a shadow play with live music, "the accompaniment of drums, tambourines and flutes...also..."special effects" – smoke, fire, thunder, rattles, squeaks, thumps, and whatever else might elicit a laugh or a shudder from his audience"[12]
In Iran, puppets are known to have existed much earlier than 1000 CE, but initially only glove and string puppets were popular .[13] Other genres of puppetry emerged during the Qajar era (18th-19th century BC) as influences from Turkey spread to the region. Kheimeh Shab-Bazi is a traditional Persian puppet show which is performed in a small chamber by a musical performer and a storyteller called a morshed or naghal. These shows often take place alongside storytelling in traditional tea and coffee-houses (Ghahve-Khave). The dialogue takes place between the morshed and the puppets.[14] A recent example of puppetry in Iran is the touring opera Rostam and Sohrab.[15]

 

[muppetfan89]

wow...thank you so much for the response and information. This was very helpful. I had a feeling it was shadow puppetry that was known for Middle East, but I wasn't too sure. Now I am. Thank you.