the part of the house men weren't allowed in, which tells you who actually ran it.
means a secluded section of a household reserved for women and family, historically common in muslim and ottoman societies, later mythologized by outsiders as a den of sultans and silk.
from from arabic haram, meaning forbidden or sacred, the same root as haram in modern usage; it named a protected space before europeans turned it into a fantasy genre of paintings.
topkapi palace harem — ottoman istanbul, housed sultan's mother, wives, over 300 women at peak.
hurrem sultan — 16th century concubine who became empress and shaped ottoman policy.
forbidden city inner court — qing china's parallel system of empresses and consorts, beijing.
ingres odalisques — french paintings, 1814 onward, that fabricated the western harem fantasy.