jewellery of Palestine

Traditional Palestinian headdress: wuqaya

Published Dec 20, 2023

This is a beautiful headdress from Palestine, called a wuqaya. It was worn in the area of Jerusalem and Ramallah. [1] It would be placed under the headveil, with the coin fringe showing on the forehead.⁠

Wuqaya: design and wear

In the image above (click to enlarge it) you’ll see how it is designed: a more or less square piece of cloth with a central embroidered panel. Below the chin, a series of chains and other coins dangle. The headdress has a beaded border in red and blue, and a double row of coins.⁠ According to Weir, this headdress was probably worn by girls [2].

Wuqaya: the coin fringe

The coins on this headdress may tell us a lot about the wearer herself, and the world she lived in.

The number of coins usually reflects the wealth of the wearer. That is because the silver in these coins used to be what made them valuable. From this tradition, the use of displaying coins became standard.

Also when the wearer was not that affluent: all of the coins on this particular headdress are imitation coins in brass. Note the detail with which the coin fringe begins. Starting in the centre, the coins fall in two directions: a red fabric detail covers the part where they part ways. It also ensures the first two coins stay in place.

Brass coins for the headdress of an unmarried girl make sense: she would not have had a large fortune of her own yet. This would become hers upon marriage: learn how that works here.

Palestinian wuqaya: the chainwork

This particular wuqaya also shows chainwork. This is attached so it would fall below the chin, not unlike the chin-chain from Bethlehem presented in this post. This seems to be a later addition to this piece: the chainwork is irregular, mismatched and seems to have been added rather haphazardly.  

None of the headdresses published seem to have such an addition: it may come from another type of headdress, and used as embellishment of this one.

Its addition is also strange in light of who would be wearing this headdress. Such a set of chainwork is usually reserved for headdresses of married women. They would carry silver coins and display her wealth. This wuqaya however was worn by girls who had not yet acquired such wealth.

A German token coin in Palestine

The central pendant on the chin-chain carries a German text. You’ll see it in more detail on the photo above: click to enlarge it. ‘Spielmarke’ means a token. But this pendant is not as random as it might seem. On its other side, it shows a double-headed eagle. This resembles many actual coins from the period, notably the Maria Theresia Thaler.

The Maria Theresia Thaler was among the most popular coins in the Middle East and far beyond, because of its guaranteed high silver content. You will find these coins on many pieces of jewellery throughout North Africa and Southwest Asia.

Around the border however, it reads ‘Neurenberger Spiel und Rechenpfennig’. These were exported on a large scale to the Ottoman world. As they were much valued substitutes for actual coins, you will find many of these on dresses, veils and other objects of personal adornment.⁠⁠

The wuqaya: between girl and woman

According to Weir [3] this headdress was worn by girls who had reached puberty. That was an age on which girls would marry: in the area around Hebron/al Khalil, a large coin such as a Maria Theresia Thaler would be attached to the wuqaya to indicate the girl was ready to get married.

This headdress would accompany a girl during her transition from unmarried girl into married woman: an important step in her life’s journey.

—

More posts on jewellery, cultures and people? Browse them all here!

Join the Jewellery List and receive new articles, jewellery news and more in your inbox!

More cultural background on jewellery from the Middle East and North Africa? Check out the courses on offer!

—

Reference1

[1] Völger, G. (ed) 1987. Pracht und Geheimnis. Kleidung und Schmuck aus Pälästina und Jordanien, p. 277.

[2] Weir, S. 1989. Palestinian Costume. The Trustees of the British Museum, London, p. 177.

[3] Weir, S. 1989. Palestinian Costume. The Trustees of the British Museum, London, p. 176.

Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].