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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please, can you tell why you think that is a bella amulett. i see it many times but i know it as something als. thanks
verry beautiful. great work. thank you for posting it
wonderful craftmanship, just great great work!!!
@Ait Ouakli: this pendant is always called being from the Bella, do you think it is Tuareg?? THis really interests me. I have a similar one, attached to a leather amulett, and I really wonder.
Angela Fisher, in Africa Adorned, attributes this type of pendant to the Bella.
These amulets are worn by Bella women in northern Nigeria and are often attached to a leather tab.
You can see a similar piece on page 189 of "Africa Adorned" by Angela Fisher and many others in this wonderful site.
Toya faster than me. Ciao. Liuba.
Ciao Eva,
The traditional Tuareg society is very hierarchical. Different classes, real "castes". In particular, the three main classes are:
Imajaghan: those belonging to the noble tribe
Imghad: those belonging to the vassal tribe.
Iklan: the slaves (also known as Bella in Songhay language).
thank you toya and liuba. i see it all the time and hear about it. it is the raison why i sked you for more info. i do not own the book of angela fisher, i had a look one time. it is interesting and many of my friends have it.
maybe it is classificated as bella pendent and keeps under this name after chnaging the way of existing and use . could be also because many people see it worn as a pendant.
for me, itself ,is not a pendant and not an amulet because:- it is never worn allone, always with a book
-originaly, it is not made to be worn as a pendant. the hole in the top, what is the bottom in the origine, is a part of the geometric sampl and not a hole from where a chain can pas throw or hanged from.
- the flat form without thick form or decoration as the rest of the pendents. only in the bottom here, what is actualy the top
- some recent pieces are made now to be worn as a pendent.
the origine and the usual use of this piece and semilar ones was bookmarker in the quran schools or mosques and privat. the only thick piece gets out from the book , the rest inside.
how it bekoms to be worn as pendant with the book and beeing a bella pendant is a good subject
here when it is made to be a pendant
@Ait Ouakli, this is very interesting, I have read earlier (at least 2-3 years ago or more) that it was a bookmark to put into the Coran, I have read it several times, but I did not believe it. (Because I did not believe that Tuareg, who live originally in the desert, read the Coran themselves). You say, it was used in Coran schools, that makes more sense to me. But then it was not used by the Tuareg, because they lived as nomads, hence they could not send their children to Coran schools. What do you think about my thoughts? If it was used in Coran schools, who used it?
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