Amazon Quiz (August 6, 2021): Which empire does this type of furniture share its name with?
Here are your options:
a. Byzantine Empire
b. Ottoman Empire
c. Spanish Empire
d. Russian Empire
Answer: Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire was an empire founded by Turkish tribes in Anatolia (Asia Minor) that evolved to be one of the world’s most powerful kingdoms during the 15th and 16th centuries.
The Ottoman Empire lasted more than 600 years and was superseded by the Turkish Republic and numerous successor states in southeastern Europe and the Middle East in 1922.
At its peak, the empire included most of southeastern Europe to the gates of Vienna, including modern-day Hungary, the Balkan region, Greece, and parts of Ukraine; portions of the Middle East now occupied by Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Egypt; North Africa as far west as Algeria; and large portions of the Arabian Peninsula.
According to one theory, the ottoman was the primary type of domestic seating in medieval-era Turkey and encouraged human bonding. According to Engin Ozcan, a scholar at Ankara’s Bilkent University, the term “ottoman” also refers to “divans,” which are banquette-style sectional furniture that hugs or wraps around three walls of a room. This form of seating, typically piled with cushions, was used during council meetings (also known as divan) between sultans and their commanders. The ottoman appeared in Europe in the late 18th or early 19th century and was given its name because of its function in Turkish daily life.
The term was first used in France in 1729 under the name ‘ottomane.’ However, the term entered the English language after Thomas Jefferson’s memorandum disclosed his purchase of a velvet ‘ottomane’—most likely an armchair—during his Paris vacation in 1789.
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