Text, Ritual Cauldron

Ritual Cauldron. The cauldron (lelghen) was used for cooking sacrificed animals. This large cauldron was made from 52 sheets of copper which were welded and fastened together with the aid of large rivets arranged symmetrically on the surface of the cauldron. A lelghen seldom belonged to one family; usually it was the property of a community or a church. On feast days the cauldron was carried to the village square or to the churchyard, and poles would be inserted through the handles to lift it and place it on the fire. The sacrificed oxen would be boiled in the vessel. The cauldron was designed for two oxen or three cows. The cauldron (lelghen) was stored in an extension of the church called ladbash. The cauldron was available for rent and was quite costly: an amount of wheat or oats equivalent to the capacity of the vessel, a day's work in a field The existence of the locally produced cauldron lelghen among the museum exhibits attests how developed were the practice of mining and metal