Mahaffah
...Hand Fan
The cooling device for producing a current of air that has been used throughout the world since ancient times is the hand-held fan of different shapes and designs. Inside the ancient bedouin tent the cooling device used was the hand fan or “Mahaffah” made from the leaves of palm tree.
The long slender palm leaves is knit beautifully to form a square shaped fan. A 10 to 12 inches long, harder portion of the palm leave is cut and knitted together with one end of the fan for holding it on the hand. The swinging of the fan to and fro with the hand produces a cool current of air to flow thus giving relief from the hot temperature.