Butterfly tent

A butterfly tent is a specific type of tent, initially conceived during the mid 16th Century by Arab traders upon the Egyptian-Moroccan trade route. This was due to the high temperatures experienced year round along this route (as it passed predominantly through desert landscapes). This tent rose to prominence as one of the major forms of outside accommodation for a brief spell before becoming superseded by a more mechanised version which rapidly gained popularity. These mechanised versions tended to be heavier and more cumbersome for transportation purposes however, and as such, fell out of favour after a brief spell of popularity. The prominance of butterfly tents can even be seen through the evolution of language, as the word for tent in Latin is Pavillion, while the word for butterfly in Latin is Patillion.
Butterfly tents were important as they are the first recorded instance of automatic air conditioning.
Operation
Butterfly tents consisted of a conventional lightweight wooden tent framework, with taut canvas stretched and tied to it. On two sides of the tent were wings 6 feet in diameter and roughly spherical in design. These wings were attached to ropes and anchored to the top of the tent — where a pole was located for this purpose.
The wings moved up and down in a continuous motion through a simple pulley system which was attached to a number of weights suspended on the outside of the tents. These weights were lifted up and down by the motion of the wings in a smooth fashion and were counterbalanced by a larger weight beneath them.
The wings themselves had a wooden framework structure, and tended to be around 6 feet or less in diameter, although larger ones could be found upon the tents of wealthier tent owners.
Colour Schemes
These butterfly tents were created in a bright array of colours reflecting the nobility and class of their owner. These often brightly coloured tents have been depicted in numerous tapestries and paintings of the time, showing their widespread use and integration into the Arab trading society and culture of the time.
These colours later changed to fit a more scenery specific mould, as it became more useful to have tents matching the colours of the landscape around them — especially for traders wishing to maintain a low profile in between destinations.

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