Hibs BRR-Roumi
Our Family Roumi Heritage
Al-Hibs ( A Definition )
Al-Hibs: (with a kasra under the “H” and a sukun on the “b”) refers to a pier or a dock used for lifting ships. When a ship reaches the shore, the mast, ropes, and all belongings are removed to make it easier to launch or pull out of the water. The ship is then placed on the coast, and its belongings are stored in a nearby warehouse. Some shores have structures resembling a tongue extending into the sea, made of cement and stone (referred to as “al-Masna”), which facilitates transporting goods into the warehouse, a storage area for large equipment, as noted by Mr. Mohammad Youssef Abdulrahman Al-Roumi.
BRR-Roumi ( A Definition )
Among the Arabs, it is common to say someone is “the son of” a particular person, or “Bar” such a person. On the Namara inscription (a region’s name), they found a tombstone inscribed with “This is the tomb of Imru’ al-Qais, BRR-Uthman.” Two reasons explain the doubling of the letter “r” here: the first “r” is for “Bar,” and the second “r” is for “Roumi,” forming the word “BRR-Roumi,” as explained by Mr. Mohammad Youssef Abdulrahman Al-Roumi.
Contributions of AlRoumi Family in Kuwait
Al-Hibs
The plural of “Hibs” (with a kasra under the “H” and a sukun on the “b”) is “Ahbus.” Along the coast of Kuwait City, there are many large and small “Ahbus” constructed by Kuwaitis to serve their fellow citizens, particularly shipowners. A “Hibs” is named after the person who built it, similar to how they would say “Naqaa of so-and-so,” and so on.
A “Hibs” is a wall of rocks, about five meters wide or more, rising about a meter or more above sea level during high tide. Some have steps on the sea side for descending or washing.
Historian Saif Marzouq Al-Shamlan, in his book “Popular Games of Kuwait” on page 241 under the letter “H,” describes “Hibs” as follows:
“A ‘Hibs’ (with a kasra under the ‘H’ and a sukun on the ‘b’) is well known to us, and its plural is ‘Ahbus.’ It refers to a collection of stones stacked together, forming a small dock. There is the large ‘Hibs’ and the small ‘Hibs.’ The term ‘Hibs’ is also mentioned in Arabic language books, pronounced with a kasra under the ‘H.’ In language, ‘Hibs’ refers to stones built in a waterway to hold water back, and ‘Hibs’ is what is placed in a waterway to prevent flow; its plural is ‘Ahbas.’
The ‘Hibs’ is associated with children’s activities. Fish are caught on the ‘Hibs’ using a line or a hook. They sit on the ‘Hibs,’ and they swim around it, especially beginner swimmers. Each neighborhood has one or two ‘Ahbus’ used by shipowners for their work. A ‘Hibs’ is usually built by one person for the benefit of everyone.
In our neighborhood (Fereej Shamlan), there were three ‘Ahbus’:
- Hibs Al-Roumi.
- Hibs Mulla Hussein.
- Hibs Abu Qamaz.
The most famous and important was Hibs Al-Roumi, which the neighborhood relied on for maritime activities, as did others. Children swam around it with their families, and some women washed their clothes on the stones of the ‘Hibs.’ The Hibs of Al-Roumi remained until around 1952.
As for the Hibs of Mulla Hussein bin Abdullah Al-Turkiyat, it was a wide dock. In 1940, the government built a water basin on the dock of Mulla Hussein. The Hibs of Salem bin Ali Abu Qamaz was a small, insignificant ‘Hibs’ surrounded by black silt, unsuitable for swimming and rarely visited.”
From the book History of Pearl Diving in Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf – Volume One – History of Pearl Diving in Kuwait by Saif Marzouq Al-Shamlan (pages 235, 236).
