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.

Siwa oasis silver pendant or temporal

The sound from the bells is really beautiful. I am still searching if this pendant was lying on the breast or rather used as a temporal
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  • Hi Ayis, this is called a ti'alaqin and is used as temporal (much like the isudan of which I posted one here (https://www.facebook.com/DesertSilver). In the Siwa dialect, ti'alaqin means 'side'. They were worn on a leather band over the head, and sometimes varieties are seen worn on the back of the head. Is yours made of silver or of white metal? Both occur, but the white metal ones are generally younger.
    Cheers!
    Sigrid
  • thanx Sigrid,  parts of it are of silver  and i think the chains are metal.

     

     

  • The museum of Arts and Design in New York describes this as a tashabat "This hanging ornament, called the tashabat, is normally hung in front of the adrim (circular disc). Silver chains with small bells at the end are specific to the region. In this example, the bells are suspended from a horizontal bar. In other manifestations, the bar is replaced by a horizontal tube, filled with incantations or verses from the Koran." Daniel and Serga Nadler, Silver: from Fetish to Fashion (New York: PDN Publishing, 2005), But , in general , the tashabat is a long, hollow amulet which serves the same purpose, so I am sure that Sigrid's description is accurate. Here, however, is a pic of a typical tashabat .063883.jpg&maxwidth=650&cache=yes&borderwidth=1&borderheight=1&bordercolor=EDEDED&passepartoutwidth=5&passepartoutheight=5&passepartoutcolor=ffffff&bg=ffffff

  • maybe i can help with a translation

    ti alakin is amazigh word but arabik origine, means : the hangings

    adrim means: a coin

    tashabat feels amazigh too but i m not sure about the translation

  • The adrim in the Siwa jewelry is a large disc which hangs from a torque for unmarried ladies.When the ladies are married,they usually remove the disc and retain the torque. Sometimes the tashabat which is an amulet is worn over the disc instead.I just got a great book -- sand and silver -- which talks about life, culture, jewelry and textiles of Siwa so I am a bit obsessed by this right now. I think we have discussed Siwa jewels before, here is a pic of the disc and torque just to remind us of the style.360015y.jpg&width=317&height=423&bg=000000

  • This is what Sigrid says about Siwa jewelry on her website bedouinsilver.com Jewelry from the Siwa oasis, in the northwest of Egypt, is distinctly different from the jewelry of other parts of Egypt. The Siwa jewelry is very Berber in nature and shares many similarities with jewelry from Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and even Morocco. Notably the similarities between jewelry from Libya and the Siwa oasis are very strong.--my assumption here is that the distinction is between Berber jewelry and Bedouin jewelry which other parts of Egypt share with the Gulf states, parts of Yemen, etc. I guess I would be interested to know if there is any Jewish influence in the Siwa jewelry since there is so much influence from the Jewish silverworkers in other North African jewelry.

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