{{short description|One of several styles of clay ovens used in the Middle East}} thumb|Tabun oven with lid, from Palestine [[File:Tabun of Palestine - 1935.jpg|thumb|Baking ovens in Palestine: 1. ''saj'', 2. and 3. ''tabun'']] A '''tabun oven''', or simply '''tabun''' (also transliterated '''taboon''', from the {{langx|ar|طابون}}), is a portable clay oven, shaped like a truncated cone. While all were made with a top opening, which could be used as a small stove top, some were made with an opening at the bottom from which to stoke the fire. Built and used even before biblical times as the family, neighbourhood, or village oven, ''tabun'' ovens continue to be built and used in parts of the Middle East today.<ref name=Negevp91>Negev and Gibson, 2005, pp. 91-92.</ref> ''Tabun'' ovens are distinct from tandoors, but are often mistaken for tandoors.<ref name="levant">{{cite journal |last1=Ebeling |first1=Jennie |last2=Rogel |first2=M. |title=The tabun and its misidentification in the archaeological record |journal=Levant |date=2 September 2015 |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=328–349 |doi=10.1080/00758914.2015.1108022 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00758914.2015.1108022 |access-date=30 September 2025 |issn=0075-8914|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="nol2021">{{cite journal |last1=Nol |first1=Hagit |title=Ṭabūn, Tannūr or Mustawqad? Fire Devices and Their Use in the Early Islamic Period |journal=Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World |date=9 February 2021 |volume=1 |issue=1-2 |pages=34–66 |doi=10.1163/26666286-12340007 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/mcmw/1/1-2/article-p34_3.xml |access-date=31 January 2026|hdl=2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/320690 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Unlike a tandoor, bread inside the oven is placed on a bed of hot stones, rather than being slapped into walls of the oven.<ref name="Journal of Ethnic Foods2018">{{cite journal |last1=Pasqualone |first1=Antonella |title=Traditional flat breads spread from the Fertile Crescent: Production process and history of baking systems |journal=Journal of Ethnic Foods |date=March 2018 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=10–19 |doi=10.1016/j.jef.2018.02.002 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235261811830009X#bib32 |access-date=7 February 2026|hdl=11586/217814 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In modern times, this form of oven is common in Jordan and Palestine.<ref name="Journal of Ethnic Foods2018" />
==History== The ''tabūn'' oven has historically been used to bake flatbreads, and has been in widespread use in the greater Middle East for centuries.<ref name="Abraham">{{Citation |contribution=Perush Shishah Sidrei Mishnah - A Commentary on the Six Orders of the Mishnah|title=The Six Orders of the Mishnah: with the Commentaries of the Rishonim|last=Nathan ben Abraham|author-link=Nathan ben Abraham I|volume=|publisher=El ha-Meqorot|editor-last=Sachs|editor-first=Mordecai Yehudah Leib|place=Jerusalem|year=1955|language=he|oclc=233403923}}, s.v. ''Menahot'' 5:9</ref> References to {{Transliteration|ar|ALA-LC|ṭawābīn}} ({{lang|ar|طوابين}}) can be found in the writings of medieval Arab geographer al-Maqdisi, which is described as an oven buried into the ground and spread with pebbles, where bread as by placing dough on the pebbles.<ref>{{cite web |title=أحسن التقاسيم في معرفة الأقاليم |url=https://alwaraq.net/book-view/10000/68 |website=Arabic books Library |access-date=25 September 2025 |language=en |quote=وللقرياتيين الطوابين تنور في الأرض صغير قد فرش بالحصى فيوقد الزبل حوله وفوقه فإذا أحمر طرحت الأرغفة على الحصى |page=68 |trans-title=The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the Regions |trans-quote=The villagers have a small oven in the ground, covered with pebbles. Dung is lit around and on top of it. When it turns red, the loaves of bread are placed on the pebbles.}}</ref><ref name="NawalNasrallah">{{cite book |last1=Nasrallah |first1=Nawal |author1-link=Nawal Nasrallah |title=Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens: Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq's Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook |date=31 December 2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-2305-8 |page=574 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQCwCQAAQBAJ |access-date=25 September 2025 |language=en}}</ref>
==Usage==
Unlike other ovens, the ''tabūn'' is a large, overturned earthenware bowl and covers over completely the heated place (usually a bed of smooth stones, upon which a fire is built). After dying out, the ashes are removed and dough is spread out over the smooth stones.<ref name="Krispil1983">{{cite book|last=Ḳrispil|first=Nissim|author-link=|title=A Bag of Plants (The Useful Plants of Israel) (Yalḳuṭ ha-tsemaḥim)|publisher=Cana Publishing House Ltd.|volume=1 (A.-G.) |year=1983|location=Jerusalem|page=37 (Field Baking-oven)|language=he|oclc=959573975 }}</ref> Since the ''tabūn'' is built with an opening at its top that can be sealed with a ceramic lid, allowing it to be completely smothered over in ashes, dough that is spread out over the stone-lined bottom is quickly baked into bread.<ref name="Krispil1983"/> When the top ashes are cleared away and the lid removed, a cooking pot can also be laid on top of the ''tabūn'' oven for heating and used as a small stove.<ref>{{cite book|author= |title=Mishnayot Zekher Chanokh (משניות זכר חנוך)|volume=11 (Kelim)|publisher=Vagshal Publishing Ltd.|place=Jerusalem|year=2011|page=70 (''Kelim'' 5:2) |language=he |oclc=1140888800}}, commentaries. Ideally, a ''kūppaḥ'' (tabun oven) is made at least 4 handbreadths high (32 cm) if used strictly for baking, and 3 handbreadths high (24 cm) if used strictly for cooking. In the Jewish laws of purification, these were the minimum specifications needed to render such an oven susceptible to uncleanness had the corpse of one of the eight sheratzim fallen into the airspace of the oven.</ref> In some cases, in addition to the hole at the top, there is a second side opening called the "eye of the oven", used for stoking the fire and clearing away the ashes, and which is closed by a detachable door.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mulder-Heymans|first=Noor |author-link= |title=Archaeology, experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeology on bread ovens in Syria|journal=Civilisations|publisher=Institut de Sociologie de l'Université de Bruxelles|volume=49|issue=1/2 (Bread, Ovens and Hearths of the past)|page=199 (s.v. Tabun)|date=2002|doi=10.4000/civilisations.1470 |jstor=41229650|language=en|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Maimonides |title=Mishnah, with Maimonides' Commentary |publisher=Mossad Harav Kook |translator=Yosef Qafih |volume=3 |date=1967 |location=Jerusalem |page=160 (''Ohalot'' 5:1)|language=he |oclc=741081810 }}</ref>
Bread dough was spread out on the pebbled floor of the ''tabun'' oven's interior, with hot coals and embers scattered with ash piled on top of the exterior shell, along with dried cattle dung.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Dalman |author-first=Gustaf |author-link=Gustaf Dalman |title=:de:Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina |trans-title=Work and Customs in Palestine |volume=4 (Bread, oil and wine) |location=Hildesheim |year=1964 |orig-year=1935 |page=164 |language=de |oclc=312676221}}</ref> ===Fuel=== Many types of fuel or a combination of fuels can be used to heat a tabun. Dried animal dung,<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Dalman|author-first=Gustaf |author-link=Gustaf Dalman |title=Work and Customs in Palestine |volume= II |publisher=Dar Al Nasher |location=Ramallah |year=2020 |orig-year=1935 |language=en |translator=Robert Schick |editor=Nadia Abdulhadi-Sukhtian |page=164 |isbn=978-9950-385-84-9 }}</ref> dried bird droppings, chopped and dried tree branches or tree trimmings, wood chips, charcoal, dried tree leaves, fabrics, and other materials are potential fuels.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mulder-Heymans|first=Noor |author-link= |title=Archaeology, experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeology on bread ovens in Syria|journal=Civilisations|publisher=Institut de Sociologie de l'Université de Bruxelles|volume=49|issue=1/2 (Bread, Ovens and Hearths of the past)|page=199|date=2002|doi=10.4000/civilisations.1470 |jstor=41229650|language=en|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Qafih |first=Y. |author-link=Yosef Qafih|title=Halichot Teman (Jewish Life in Sanà) |publisher=Ben-Zvi Institute |date=1982 |location=Jerusalem |pages=203–204 |language=he |isbn=965-17-0137-4 |oclc=863513860 }}</ref>
===Firing=== The top opening is covered and a layer of fuel (usually dried manure) is spread on the outside of the shell and lid.<ref name="Qafih">{{cite book |last=Qafih |first=Y. |author-link=Yosef Qafih|title=Halichot Teman (Jewish Life in Sanà) |publisher=Ben-Zvi Institute |date=1982 |location=Jerusalem |pages=203–204 |language=he |isbn=965-17-0137-4 |oclc=863513860 }}</ref><ref name="Krispil1983"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Mukaddasi|year=1886|editor=Le Strange, G.|editor-link=Guy Le Strange|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028534265|title=Description of Syria, including Palestine|location=London|publisher=Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society|page=79}}</ref> Once the fire takes hold, the fuel is covered with a layer of ash.<ref name="Qafih"/><ref name="Krispil1983"/> The fuel will smolder for hours, usually all night long. The smoke also helps in repelling insects and mosquitoes. In the process the heat gets stored in the foundation. The amount of fuel varies depending on the amount of baking needed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Qafih |first=Y. |author-link=Yosef Qafih|title=Halichot Teman (Jewish Life in Sanà) |publisher=Ben-Zvi Institute |date=1982 |location=Jerusalem |page=204 |language=he |isbn=965-17-0137-4 |oclc=863513860 }}</ref>
===Baking=== When the smoke stops, the lid is removed and chunks of dough are hand flattened and placed directly on the limestones.<ref name="Krispil1983"/> In most ovens, 4 to 5 loaves can be baked at the same time. Then the opening is sealed and the fire stoked using the hot embers and ashes. When the bread is ready, the lid is removed and the bread taken out. The process can be repeated, or other dishes can be baked using metal or pottery trays. The bottom of the bread will take the shape of the pebbles or other materials used in constructing the oven floor. This baking process is unique and economical and produces aromatic and flavorful food.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}
In the larger, fixed baking ovens (''tannūr''), the flattened dough is applied to the inner-wall of the oven, after the wall is dampened with a wet cloth, allowing for adhesion. After baking, the bread is removed.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}
Besides bread, it was also traditionally used to cook the chicken used in ''musakhan''.<ref> {{cite book |last1=Qleibo |first1=Ali Hussein |title=Before the Mountains Disappear: An Ethnographic Chronicle of the Modern Palestinians |date=1992 |publisher=Kloreus Book |isbn=978-977-13-0043-4 |page=198 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Before_the_Mountains_Disappear/9nxtAAAAMAAJ?gbpv=1&bsq=musakhan |access-date=13 January 2026 |language=en}} </ref>
==Taboon bread== {{Infobox food | name = Taboon bread | image = Salfit Khubz 006.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Taboon bread on a bed of stones | alternate_name = | country = Middle East | region = | creator = | course = | type = Flatbread wrap | served = | main_ingredient = | variations = | calories = | other = | commons = Category:Taboon bread }} [[File:Salfit Khubz 001.jpg|thumb|Taboon bread being prepared on a contemporary taboon, Salfit.]]
'''Taboon bread''' ({{langx|ar|خبز طابون|khubz ṭābūn}}) is Levantine flatbread baked in a ''taboon'' clay oven. It is used as a base or wrap in many cuisines, and eaten with different accompaniments.<ref name="AP2023">{{cite news |title=عادوا لخَبزه بسبب نقص الوقود وأزمة الحرب.. قصة خبز الصاج والطابون الفلسطيني الذي استخدمه الغزّيون منذ قرون |url=https://arabicpost.live/%d9%85%d9%86%d9%88%d8%b9%d8%a7%d8%aa/2023/12/08/%d8%ae%d8%a8%d8%b2-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%ac/ |access-date=29 December 2025 |work=ArabicPost |date=8 December 2023 |language=ar |trans-title=They returned to baking it due to fuel shortages and the war crisis... The story of Palestinian saj and taboon bread, which Gazans have used for centuries.}}</ref><ref name="aj2019" />
===History=== 17th-century Islamic court records from Ottoman Jerusalem mentioned a bread very similar to modern-day taboon bread called ''hasawi'' bread ({{langx|ar|حصوي|translation=from pebbles}}), baked on a bed of smooth river stones.<ref>{{cite web |title=Asif Exhibition: A City, Wheat, Bread |url=https://asif.org/en/a-city-wheat-bread-exhibition/ |website=Asif Culinary Institute |access-date=3 October 2025}}</ref> Prior records from 1530 to 1598 also list the prices of ''Ṭabbūni'' and ''Tannūri'' breads.<ref name="cohen">{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Amnon |title=Economic Life in Ottoman Jerusalem |date=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52435-3 |pages=146–151 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/economic-life-in-ottoman-jerusalem/flour-and-bread-prices-in-jerusalem/CE958F4F21F3EA8F574133D4B69CE0E7 |access-date=3 October 2025 |chapter=Flour and bread prices in Jerusalem}}</ref>
Gustaf Dalman, a German orientalist, documented its making in Palestine in the early 20th century, among other types of breads.<ref name= "DalmanGustaf1935">{{cite book |author-last=Dalman|author-first=Gustaf |author-link=Gustaf Dalman |title=Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina|volume=4 (Bread, oil and wine)|location=Hildesheim |pages=114–115 |year=1964 |language=de |oclc=312676221}} (reprinted from 1935 edition)</ref> In Palestine, folded flatbread was often filled with a spinach and onion mixture, or with cheese curds and onion mixture, or with raisins and pine nuts.<ref name= "DalmanGustaf1935"/> The ordinary ''taboon'' bread was slightly smaller in size than the ordinary ''tannur'' bread.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Dalman|author-first=Gustaf |author-link=Gustaf Dalman |title=Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina|volume=4 (Bread, oil and wine)|location=Hildesheim |year=1964 |language=de |oclc=312676221}} (reprinted from 1935 edition), Diagram 30</ref> Over the centuries, bread-making in communal ''taboons'' played an important social role for women in Palestinian villages.<ref name="Bethlehem U" />
===Variations=== ''Taboon'' bread is an important part of Palestinian cuisine,<ref>{{cite book | last=Albala | first=K. | title=Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia | publisher=Greenwood | issue=v. 2 | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-313-37626-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NTo6c_PJWRgC | access-date=2019-10-03| pages = 28–29}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1=William Meynell|last1=Whittemore|title=Sunshine, conducted by W.M. Whittemore [and others].|url=https://archive.org/details/sunshineforforh00whitgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/sunshineforforh00whitgoog/page/n14 6]|date=1874|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Albala | first=K. | title=At the Table: Food and Family around the World: Food and Family around the World | publisher=ABC-CLIO | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-61069-738-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-o28CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA171 | access-date=2019-10-03 | page=171}}</ref> traditionally baked on a bed of small hot stones in the ''taboon'' oven.<ref name="Bethlehem U">{{cite web|access-date=2019-02-03|title=e-turathuna-Tabun - Bethlehem University|url=https://www.bethlehem.edu/3-ic/ic-lib/turathuna/topics/e-turathuna-tabun|website=www.bethlehem.edu|archive-date=2019-02-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203201726/https://www.bethlehem.edu/3-ic/ic-lib/turathuna/topics/e-turathuna-tabun|url-status=dead}}</ref> The hot stones give the bread an uneven texture and prevent the formation of bubbles in the bread due to the expanding water vapor, which facilitates adding toppings to it, but also prevents the formation of an inner hollow pocket like pita.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kassis |first1=Reem |title=Taboon (Palestinian Flatbread) |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/taboon-recipe-5219608 |website=Serious Eats |access-date=26 March 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="falastinbook">{{cite book |last1=Tamimi |first1=Sami |last2=Wrigley |first2=Tara |title=Falastin A Cookbook |isbn=9780399581748 |language=en |chapter=8.1,7.1}}</ref> It is the base of ''musakhan'', often considered the national dish of Palestine.<ref name="falastinbook"/>
Besides regular bread, tabun ovens were traditionally used to prepare breads like manakish and maltout.<ref name="raya2015"> {{cite news |title=مناقيش الزعتر هوية فلسطينية |url=https://www.raya.ps/news/929073.html |access-date=13 January 2026 |work=Raya news |date=2015-12-21 |language=ar |trans-title=Za'atar manaqish are part of the Palestinian identity}} </ref><ref name="aj2019"> {{cite news |title=فلسطين.. حكاية خبز الطابون من البداية بالفيديو |url=https://www.aljazeera.net/lifestyle/2019/10/1/%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AD%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%B2-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%86 |access-date=12 Jan 2026 |work=Al Jazeera |date=2019 |language=ar |trans-title=Palestine: The Story of Taboon Bread from the Beginning (Video)}} </ref>
==Construction== thumb|upright|Woman kneading bread in front of a baking hut which contains a ''tabun'' ===Shell=== Made of yellow pottery clay soil. The best is from Aaroub or Al Aaroub. The soil is wetted and made into a thick clay mixed with chopped stubble and straw from harvested wheat. The clay is hand-formed to make the dome-shaped shell. It can be as much as {{convert|82|cm}} in diameter at its base, about {{convert|32|cm}} high, with an open top, approximately {{convert|23|cm}} in diameter.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Dalman |author-first=Gustaf |author-link=Gustaf Dalman |title=:de:Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina |trans-title=Work and Customs in Palestine |volume=4 (Bread, oil and wine) |location=Hildesheim |year=1964 |orig-year=1935 |page=Illustration no. 12 |language=de |oclc=312676221}}</ref> In some places, the shell may be as high as 2 {{frac|1|2}} feet and 2 feet wide.<ref>{{cite book |title=Customs and traditions of Palestine: illustrating the manners of the ancient Hebrew |first=Ermete |last=Pierotti |author-link=Ermete Pierotti |translator=T.G. Bonney |translator-link=Thomas George Bonney |publisher=Deighton, Bell, & Co. |location=Cambridge|year=1864b |oclc=1253816803 |pages=154–155 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o342AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1 }}</ref> The shell wall is about 2.54 cm (1 in) to 5 cm (2 in) thick. The shell is sun baked for weeks, before it is fired.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}
===Foundation=== The earthenware shell is placed over an impression in the earth, usually about {{convert|4|ft|m}} to {{convert|5|ft|m}} in diameter and about {{convert|38|cm}} to {{convert|51|cm}} in depth. This impression is usually filled with sand and gravel,<ref name="Krispil1983"/> or with compacted locally abundant materials known to handle and store heat, such as broken glass, rock salt, and broken potsherds, over which layer beach stones<ref name="asif">{{cite web |last1=Choufan |first1=Matan |last2=Bishara |first2=Muzna |title=The Eternal Flame of Ancient Bakers and Their Taboons |url=https://asif.org/en/the-eternal-flame-of-ancient-bakers-and-their-taboons/ |website=Asif Culinary Institute |access-date=30 September 2025 |date=11 July 2022}}</ref> or ''Suwan'' stones (flint stones) are carefully embedded.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}
===Lid=== The lid is made of clay or a sheet metal piece large enough to cover the top opening.<ref name="asif" />
===Process=== In a sheltered area, usually a clay hut or a cave, the foundation is dug in the ground filled and compacted. The shell is placed, wider side down, on top. A layer of clean smooth limestone pebbles about 2.54 cm (1 in) in diameter is spread on top of foundation inside the shell to form a clean baking surface.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}
==See also== *Wood-fired oven
For those related to taboon bread: * Lahmacun * Manakish * Al-Maltout
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==Bibliography== *{{citation|title=Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land|first1=Avraham|last1=Negev|first2=Shimon|last2=Gibson|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=2005|isbn=9780826485717}}
==External links== *[https://www.bethlehem.edu/2020/02/27/traditional-palestinian-tabun-oven/ Traditional Palestinian Tabun Oven]
{{flatbreads}} {{Levantine cuisine}}
Category:Arab cuisine Category:Palestinian cuisine Category:Jordanian cuisine Category:Fireplaces Category:Ovens Category:Firing techniques