Beit Al Mehbash

About

Beit Al Mehbash project is a home project established by Samer Freihat in his home in Ajloun. Beit Al Mehbash specializes in manufacturing wooden works and tools, relying on his long technical experience in this field. Samer has developed the project to the point of specializing in the manufacture of traditional Jordanian products made of wood, including mahbash, rababa, wooden sticks and others. Samer was able to expand his project and officially register it in 2020, build a customer base in Ajloun and a number of Jordanian cities, and participated in many bazaars, events and related gatherings.

Samer started his business in his home with an area of only a few meters in the village of Kafranja in Ajloun since he was young, where his focus was on manufacturing wooden products. Then he developed this and expanded into manufacturing products to specialize in the manufacture of Mahbash specifically and excel in its manufacture. From there, he became a destination for those wishing to revive the folklore, coming from different governorates of the Kingdom and beyond, by heading to the “Jordanian Mahbash House”.

The Mahbash is also known by other names, such as the jar, pestle, najr and mortar, all of which are used to grind and break up the grains that are placed inside it for this purpose. It is a wooden cone with a hole 8 centimeters in diameter, which is the entrance to a wooden hand that grinds the materials inside.

Samer uses “natural materials, such as some special oils, such as tek oil, which is known as wheat oil, and Monicord oil, which is the best and most expensive type of oil in the world, with a price of 150 dinars ($211) per liter, and olive oil in the first place.” Fraihat makes mahbash and its accessories from eucalyptus, rosewood, walnut, apricot and pawpaw wood. Freihat also makes cardamom mortars, decorative mortars, dishes, various kitchen utensils, and other wooden containers for preserving materials. As for the prices of the products, they start from one dinar (1.4 US dollars) up to one thousand dinars (1,400 dollars). Samer has held several training courses at the Ministry of Culture and several other local organizations, and has collaborated with government agencies to manufacture some products to present them as gifts to foreign delegations to showcase Jordan's traditional products to the world.

As for ambition and aspirations, Freihat said in an interview that he aspires to participate in international exhibitions.