| The body, or govde, of a hookah pipe consists of a | | | | blown glass, often highly decorated in gold or enamel |
| curved vessel which holds water. A graceful stem | | | | painting, brass, aluminum, silver, porcelain, clay, carved |
| rises from the body and at the top of the stem is a | | | | stone and wood, and leather. All these same |
| bowl, or lle, which holds the tobacco. From one to | | | | materials are used today, with the addition of |
| several flexible hoses, the marpuc, with a | | | | stainless steel, Pyrex glass, plastic, rubber, and high |
| mouthpiece, or agizlik, at the end, are used to draw | | | | quality acrylics, among others. |
| the hookah smoke down through the water. The | | | | In restaurants and smoking lounges, individually |
| hookah tobacco is heated by charcoal and the water | | | | wrapped, disposable plastic mouthpieces are provided |
| filters and cools the smoke. The water gurgles | | | | for each smoker. Other accoutrements of the |
| gently, like a woodland stream, and, in the process, | | | | hookah pipe and tobacco include the hookah charcoal |
| makes the smoke smooth and cool. | | | | and metal tongs. The charcoal is typically in coin-sized |
| The word shisha, which is often another word for | | | | pieces and each lasts for about 30 minutes in the |
| hookah, comes from the Persian meaning glass or | | | | slow smoking tobacco mixture. |
| bottle. Hookahs and the culture of hookah smoking is | | | | Certain etiquette applies to the smoking of hookah |
| often referred to as hookah shisha. Somewhat | | | | pipes: the water pipes are meant to be on the |
| confusingly, at first, people also refer to hookah | | | | ground, rather than on a high table or shelf, with the |
| tobacco as shisha, or hookah shisha--and there is a | | | | smokers seated on cushions or low seats around |
| Shisha brand of hookah shisha! | | | | it--though in modern hookah lounges, they often |
| Hookah pipes today come in many styles, from | | | | appear on tables. Shared hookah pipes are not |
| Egyptian to Syrian, traveling, mini and mod models to | | | | supposed to be passed, but rather set down after |
| specialty and custom designs. There is a world of | | | | smoking so that the next smoker can take up the |
| history in the craftsmanship of hookah pipes. | | | | pipe at their leisure. |
| Traditional materials used in making hookahs were | | | | |