Selham

What it is

The selham is a wide cloak with a hood that reaches to the feet and is sewn together at the front on the chest for only about a hand’s breadth; this keeps it on the shoulders without a clasp or button¹. It has no sleeves, and in outline it resembles a bell². Harrell’s dictionary of Moroccan Arabic describes it as an outer garment with a hood and without sleeves; the tassel on the hood is called belluta³.

In town it is worn over the djellaba⁴. For centuries it was a man’s garment, worn by sultans, officials, jurists and ordinary people; today women wear it too, and women designers are reinventing it for them⁵.

Where it comes from

The selham is the Moroccan form of the burnous, which is worn throughout North Africa, in town and country, by Berber and Arabic speakers alike⁶. Moroccan Berber speakers usually call it asdelham, a form also known in Arabic; the word burnous itself is unknown among them⁷, but in Moroccan Arabic bernus stands alongside selham in the dictionary⁸. The name selham may possibly be traced to an Arabic word for slender and tall⁹.

History

Ibn Khaldun describes the burnous as the clothing of the Berbers, and Augustine already mentions a cloak called birrus that was worn in Africa in his time¹⁰. Under the Marinids the selham was a levy paid by the rural population to the state, which Sultan Abu al-Hassan (1331–1351) abolished¹¹.

What it is made of

As a coat against the cold it is woven very densely, of pure white wool or brown goat hair, sometimes dyed black¹². The well-off had it made of fine wool, silk or brocade; simple pieces are of coarse wool¹³. A tassel hangs from the hood, which could be very large on urban notables¹⁴.

How it is made

In Figuig women spin and weave sheep and camel wool, and men sew it into selham and djellaba; five women work on one piece for about ten days¹⁵. The Jbel Mdioun east of Fez and the Tadla area were also known for making it, and the trimmings were made in some quarters of Fez¹⁶.

When

Town dwellers who hold on to tradition wear the selham on holidays, on Fridays and on special occasions¹⁷. In tbourida, the equestrian performance, it is part of the festive dress, together with the djellaba and the draped haik¹⁸.

How to recognise it

What distinguishes it from the djellaba is that it has no sleeves and is almost entirely open at the front¹⁹. In Figuig the colour indicates the wearer or the occasion: white for religious occasions, black for the upper class, brown for farmers, while red is considered the finest and is reserved for notables²⁰.