Çubuk (Chibouk)

Çubuk (known in Western languages as the chibouk or tchibouque) is the traditional long-stemmed pipe of the Ottoman world, whose length could exceed a meter and reach as much as a meter and a half.

The origin of its name is debated: some sources trace the word to the Persian çûbek (little stick), while some etymological dictionaries link it to the Old Turkic root çıbık (thin branch); in either case, the word passed from Turkish into the Balkan languages and into Western languages. After tobacco's arrival on Ottoman soil, the chibouk spread widely in the 17th century and remained part of daily life for more than two centuries across a broad geography stretching from the Balkans to Iran. This entry treats the chibouk as an object; the hospitality and social customs that grew up around it are described in the entry on chibouk culture in the Ottoman Empire.

Structure and Parts

Unlike modern pipes carved from a single block, the chibouk is formed from the union of three separate parts:

• Bowl (lüle): A fired clay chamber that holds the tobacco. It fits onto the end of the stem and can be replaced on its own when worn out or broken.
• Stem (çubuk): The long shaft that gives the pipe its name, made from jasmine, cherry, or rosewood. The smoke cools as it travels through this long channel.
• Mouthpiece (imame): The part that meets the lips; usually made of amber.

This three-part arrangement is essentially the Ottoman equivalent of the bowl-shank-mouthpiece layout of today's pipe anatomy; it is thanks to the chibouk that the words "lüle" and "imame" still survive in Turkish pipe terminology today. On fine examples, the amber mouthpiece was known to be set with precious stones and the stem wrapped in silver wire; the length and ornamentation of a chibouk were considered a mark of its owner's social standing.