Smokin'

Occasionally one comes across an artifact that without explanation leaves one pondering the ingenuity of man. One such is this Moroccan clay object.

This lack of description leads to three (or four) possible explanations as to its actual usage :

a) The small moroccan bee (Apis mellifera intermissa) is dipped in a marinade of honey and cumin with some alfalfa seed, inserted into the holes in the smoker and a gentle fire of camel dung chips lit beneath to give a warming drying eddy of smoke. After three or four hours the desiccated carcasses are sold by street vendors much in the way that grasshoppers, deep fried, are found in the markets of Cambodia.

b) The aperture is stuffed with the seed heads of various wild plants, thyme, desert grasses, damp thorn twigs , and the aromatic vapour is wafted into the hive of bees to calm and sooth them whilst the women of the village plunder the hives for their honey.

c) It is actually part of a miniature village scene, much like the model villages in England , where this clay building is reserved for colonies of workers who nick in there for a sly fag in their afternoon breaks. Much like the smokers refuges at the rear of offices in London, these buildings are full of young lassie bees in mini skirts and tartan patterned purple legs ,shivering from the cold whilst being chatted up by acned youths in shirtsleeves and brilliantined hair. In more traditional towns elderly bees wear smoking caps and puff from hookahs, whilst drinking mint tea from brass pots.

One more unlikely explanation was given to me in Fez, which I include only to allow you to make up your own minds,

d) The device is filled with dried grass by the trainers of racing camels, and waved above the head until glowing. As the 'el memededt" (starter) calls the camels to the race line, the trainer applies the glowing vessel to the anatomy of the beast ,just below the tail. This is rumoured to give a slight impetus to the camel as it leaves the start line. Rumours that the trainers of England's less successful Olympic athletes are considering a modified version as an alternative to performance enhancing substances have not yet been confirmed.