In Jordan and Palestine, the solid wastes (jift or gefet) is used
primarily as a fuel source. It may occasionally be used as animal feed
but this is only a very minor use. There are several companies in Jordan
now making commercial charcoal from the jift, and this charcoal is
prefered over other types of charcoal. Pottery kilns in JOrdan also use
the jift as kiln fuel. In many homes in the smaller villages in northern
Jordan the jift is used as winter heating fuel in small stoves. Overall,
the burning characteristics of the jift are the reason it is preferred as
a fuel; it burns with a high, intense heat, has little smoke or smell, and
burns almost completely to ash leaving almost no inclusions (an important
factor when cleaning out firing chambers and stoves).

An agricultural experimental station in Jordan is looking at ways to
include jift in animal feed, and farmers I talked with mentioned
occasionally feeding jift to sheep, but the primary usage is as a fuel
source.



Peter Warnock
Dept. of Anthropology
Swallow Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
(573) 443-4203
(573) 884-5450 (fax)
c581927@showme.missouri.edu