Glossary
The words of the hammam
Sixteen terms, from the marble you lie on to the mitt that scrubs you, so nothing in the ritual is a surprise.
At a glance
Key hammam terms: hamam (the bath), göbek taşı (the heated marble navel stone), kese (the exfoliating mitt), köpük (soap foam), peştemal (the cotton wrap), kurna (the marble basin), tellak and natır (male and female attendants), sıcaklık (hot room), soğukluk (cool room), camekân (entrance hall), halvet (private cubicle), nalın (wooden clogs), hamam tası (copper bowl), lif (washcloth) and Sultan hamamı (the four-hands ritual).
The Turkish bath has its own vocabulary, most of it Ottoman and much of it older. Knowing a dozen words makes the ritual easier to follow and the attendant easier to understand. Each entry says what the word means, where you will meet it in our hammam at Hilton Istanbul Airport, and how to pronounce it.
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