A digital archive showcasing the extensive collection of jewellery and adornment images shared on the former Ethnic Jewels Ning site over the years. These images have significantly enriched discussions on cultural adornment and its global dispersion.
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I hope you got what i tried to explain!
Great picture and very good explanation. It's good to see the original way jewellery was worn (and hopefully still is, in some places at least...).
Interesting use of tesbih, I did not realize they were used for adornment, just thought they were used for prayer.
very nice
I personally dont think tesbih for women did have any role in a religious activity, the fact is that the mauritanian society through its male side is very very erudite in religious affairs compared to the average muslim in the entire islamic world!
Using a tesbih for a woman would mean that they are relating to this, but the main use of this jewel was to maintain the indigo cloth firmly on=ver the body!!
To confirm that you should count the number of beads on each of these tesbih, it never fits with the regular number observed on the religious accessory elsewhere!
Beautiful, interesting, historical. I am also admiring the other jewellery on the Lady, speak the Boghdad, and the hair adornment! it is very good to see such old photos, they deliver a lot of Information and joy! And how lovely, she is wearing a lot of Jewellery (good for us !!!).
Wonderful photo and explanation! Thanks for sharing!
What a great resource! Thanks Alaa.
I'm curious about the actual name of the beads. You refer to them as garbat al fadda, and I've seen them called aggrab al fadda. Do they mean the same thing?
Re. tesbih, there's a great photo of a guedra dancer from the book Africa Adorned, where the beads are worn as a bracelet. See https://www.pinterest.com/pin/212443307393816387/.
the exact spelling is "GARBAT" El fadda, like the first part of the name of former ussr president "gorbat'chov".
It literally means silver goatskin!
Goatskin such as those used in many countries (water seller in morocco for instance) to carry water!
They are so poetically named!
So water drops scatters over hair, head and shoulders, put into silver containers and worn by desert nomads!!!
We can not get further into symbolism!!
As for the guedra dancer, at the stage when the dance becomes more frenetic and speedy, the dancer removes the veil which was before held over head and body by the rosary!!
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