A woman from Artsakh baking bread in a tonir

An Armenian woman from Artsakh bakes bread in a tonir, around the middle of the 20th century. She sits at the edge of a tonir set into the ground; the lower part of her face is covered by her headscarf, she holds a baked round loaf, and finished loaves are stacked beside her. Metal pots, firewood and a wooden fence can be seen around her.

The tonir is a traditional clay oven set into the ground, used for baking lavash and other breads. It is believed that the ancient Armenians made the tonir in the likeness of the setting sun, and that women bowed before it before baking. Baking was a collective and exclusively female task, passed from mother to daughter, and included 7 stages, from grinding the wheat to sorting the finished bread. Bread, especially lavash, has great significance for Armenians: dried lavash can be kept for up to 6 months and is considered sacred.