Bodemjuweeltjes/Gems Unearthed

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Museums & Exhibitions

Archaeological jewellery

Bodemjuweeltjes/Gems Unearthed

Published July 4, 2025

Humans have been making and wearing jewellery for thousands of years. In fact, the first non-utilitarian objects ever created by humans were items of personal adornment. When you have been following this blog, you know jewellery is more than decoration—it’s a genuine historical source. Each excavated piece gives us a new perspective on our past and ourselves. It reveals trade routes, cultural connections, social hierarchy, and spiritual beliefs. Bodemjuweeltjes/Gems Unearthed is an exhibition in the Zeeuws Museum, The Netherlands, that discusses precisely these themes – so I had to go and see!

Gems Unearthed: the theme of the exhibition

Gems Unearthed invites visitors to think about these meanings while appreciating the objects themselves—pendants, chains, rings, bracelets, brooches, buckles, and hairpins, some several thousand years old. I appreicated that the introduction included an explanation of what we miss: only what has survived is on display. Metals like bronze and gold, glass, and gemstones have endured, while organic materials such as textiles and plant fibres have largely decayed.

The exhibition also features a strong selection of pieces from the early Middle Ages (my favourite!), a time when it was common to bury people in their finest clothes and jewellery. The exhibition fills three rooms in the museum – so let me walk you through!

Medieval glass beads in vibrant colours against a black background. This photo is part of an article on archaeological jewellery on the Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog.

Showcase with rings in the exhibition Bodemjuweeltjes, with four photos of gold rings inserted into the image. This photo is part of a blog article on the Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog.

Gems Unearthed: archeological jewellery

The first room focuses on archaeological jewellery. One thing I appreciated was the way the pieces were displayed at different levels, corresponding to their age: older items at the bottom, newer ones higher up – just like archaeological layers. You can see what I mean in the photos above: click to enlarge them to take in the details. It’s a great way to show development over time, and I thought it was well designed. The display levels even use different earthy tones to enhance the layered effect.

However, I’m not sure all visitors will pick up on this… because the room is very dark. Like, well and truly dark. While the jewellery itself is well lit and stands out, the overall lighting (or should I say lack of it) makes it hard to read the explanatory texts on the brochure that visitors receive. The texts on the sides of the showcases, indicating which level corresponds to which time period, are also hard to read.

This room opens with one of the oldest known pieces from the Netherlands: a boar’s tooth pendant dating from around 9000–4000 BCE. The showcases are organised by jewellery type, so you’ll find showcases dedicated to pendants, rings, necklaces, bracelets…I like how the chronological layout helps place them in context, so even when you’re just admiring the pieces, you’ll get a sense of their relative age and development.

Glass chevron beads against a dark background. The image shows how these beads are constructed, and is part of an article on the Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog.

Photo of part of a bone, from which small discs have been perforated to serve as beads. This image is part of an article on the Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog.

Image showing a brigh showcase with chunky amber beads, and three beads enlarged next to it. The beads were excavated in the Netherlands. This image is part of an article on the Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog.

Gems Unearthed: production and craftmanship

The next room is dedicated to jewellery production, and it’s much brighter. I found this section especially interesting because it explains how these items were made, showing techniques and tools that help you understand the craftsmanship involved. It shows moulds and half products, and touches on recycling: this happened quite often in the past. Just one example is a fibula (a clothing pin) made with an Arab coin which was found in the province of Friesland.

There is a selection of stones and gems, including a practice stone for intaglio cutting – every craft needs practising, and this is a piece I love! A beautiful set of chunky amber beads, along with garnets, Meerschaum, jet and more illustrates the range of materials used.

A separate showcase deals with the production of beads: Roman mosaic glass inlays, recycled for their glass in the early Middle Ages, 17^th century glass beads known as chevron beads, consisting of multiple layers of glass (and a few misfits), a piece of bone used to cut out small beads in a monastery…while small, this room manages to pack in quite a few techniques and materials!

Photocollage showing traditional Dutch clasp and head ornaments in gold, against a background of jewellery drawings. This image is part of an article on the Bedouin SIlver Jewellery Blog.

Three gold rings from Zeeland, the Netherlands, and a drawing of a woman in traditional Zeeland dress. This collage is part of an article on the Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog.

Photocollage of archaeological jewellery. This image is part of a blog article on the reliabe and fully referenced Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog.

Gems Unearthed: traditional Zeeland jewellery

The third and final room is even brighter and focuses on traditional jewellery from the museum’s own region. I really enjoyed this part! It features a careful selection of local gold and silver jewellery, jewellers’ drawings, and images of people wearing these pieces. There’s also a section on filigree, which played an important role in local traditions. In this way, the last room ties together what you’ve seen earlier: design patterns that go back centuries and a continuing story of skilled production.

Gems Unearthed: an overview of archaeological and traditional jewellery

This is a lovely exhibition: small, but with a lot of beautiful items presented in a coherent manner! The publication accompanying the exhibition is also a delight: a magazine-style publication, offering more insights on some of the pieces shown as well as personal insights by collectors and curators alike on a really wide variety of jewellery-related topics.

The exhibition texts are available in both Dutch and English, so you’ll be able to enjoy the full range of information.

All in all, should you find yourself in The Netherlands, this exhibition is definitely worth a trip to Zeeland!

More on the exhibition is on the website of the Zeeuws Museum.

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The Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog: Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on jewellery, informal ritual and collections. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only. Sigrid strongly believes in accessibility of knowledge, and aims to provide reliable and trustworthy content: that’s why the Bedouin Silver blog provides references and citations.

Ancient jewellery: Syria

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Cultures & People

Jewellery history of the Levant

Ancient jewellery from Syria

Published Feb 2, 2025

When we think about the history of jewellery, Syria offers some of the richest finds in the region. From the earliest shell beads along the Euphrates to the magnificent adornment on Palmyra’s funerary busts, jewellery has been a constant presence in Syrian history. It tells us about daily life, trade connections, and cultural identity across thousands of years.

In this post, I’ll explore the role of ancient Syrian jewellery in different eras: from Bronze Age tombs at Ebla and Ugarit, to Roman-era sites such as Dura Europos, and into the splendour of medieval goldsmithing in Raqqa.

This blog is part of my Ancient Jewellery series, exploring how adornment shaped identity across the Middle East and Mediterranean. You can also read about ancient jewellery from Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine and more to come!

Early jewellery history of Syria: shell beads & adornment

The geographical area which is now Syria is, historically, part of the larger Syro-Palestinian cultural sphere. Like in many other regions, shell beads are among the oldest forms of personal adornment in Syria.

In southwestern Syria, shell beads from three archaeological sites in the foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range tell us more about the importance of personal adornment at the end of the Paleolithic, some 11,000 years ago.

A rock shelter at Baaz, and two caves at Kozah and Ain Dabbour yielded large quantities of shell beads. These were not simply made of leftover shells after food production: analysis has shown the majority of the shells came from the Mediterranean, some 90 kilometres and two mountain ranges away!

Bronze Age jewellery in Syria: Ebla and the Euphrates

Syria is home to some of the earliest farming communities on the banks of the river al-Furat, or Euphrates. Here, settlements developed into true city-states, and by 3,500 BCE current Tell Mardikh was the seat of one of these internationally orientated kingdoms: Ebla. The kingdom traded with Cyprus, Egypt, Afghanistan and Sumer in current-day Iraq, which is clearly visible from the archives excavated in the city.

What we also learn from the archives is the value of precious commodities such as personal adornment. Daggers, their belts and the connecting suspension hooks seem to have been worn as status symbol and as carrier of identity, a practice reminiscent of the Omani and Yemeni jambiya or khanjar. Ornamental discs of silver or gold, inlaid with precious stones, were as common as bracelets, which are described as having eagle-headed terminals.

What is even more fascinating is the glimpse of a redistribution economy the archives offer: jewellery is regularly melted down in exchange for other pieces. One example mentions the melting of three silver bracelets to obtain three decorative discs in low-grade gold.

Bedouin Silver | Beaded necklaces from Syria

Beads and jewellery of Bronze Age Syria: Ugarit and Qatna

The royal tombs of Ebla contained gold jewellery, which was also found in the city of Ugarit in modern-day Ras Shamra. Here, goldsmiths employed filigree and granulation, as can be seen on the pair of crescent earrings shown above: a type that is still current in Syria today. In northern Syria, burials such as found at Tell Sabi Abyad show a wide variety in jewellery: bracelets and anklets in bronze, gold, or even iron, hairpins and combs, necklaces, pendants and beads of stone, glass, faience, shell and gold.

The length and width of the trade networks is demonstrated by the royal tomb at Qatna, current-day Tell Mishrife, where amber beads were identified as coming from the Baltic area. Interestingly, this tomb also contained various beads and pendants of a blue-greenish material set in gold: instead of turquoise, this is variscite, which apparently was valued for its close resemblance to turquoise.

Gold earrings excavated in Syria, dating to 200 - 300 CE

Dura Europos and Syrian jewellery in the Roman world

In the utmost east of Syria, on the banks of the Euphrates, a city was built by the Seleucids around 300 BCE. It was conquered by the Romans in the 2^nd century CE, and finally destoyed by the Sassanids in the 3^rd century. Called Dura Europos, this was a cosmopolitan city with temples for Graeco-Roman, Mesopotamian and Persian gods as well as a church and a synagogue.

Throughout the city, jewellery was found during excavations: lost pieces or treasures stashed away in hoards. Besides these actual pieces, the city also has numerous wall paintings showing how jewellery and dress were worn. Here, we find Roman fibulae or clothing pins indicating a strong military presence, and key-shaped rings. These were used as actual keys and are therefore very telling items: they clearly signal the wearer owned valuable items.

Silver rings with intaglios in semiprecious stones or glass show the variety of the Graeco-Roman pantheon, and bracelets with terminals in the shape of snake-heads are reminiscent of bracelets as they are still worn today.

Palmyra jewellery: funerary busts and cultural identity

In the Roman city of Palmyra, elite ladies had themselves portrayed on funerary busts. These show a mixture of Roman, Persian and Indian jewellery styles and clothing and served to show the considerable wealth of the inhabitants of the city.

These busts were originally painted in bright colours, which gives us an idea of the splendor worn. They also form an interesting way of expressing identity. While in other parts of the Roman Empire women would not be shown wearing large quantities of jewellery to underscore their feminine virtues, in Palmyra the opposite was true: the more jewellery, the more honourable the lady wearing it. Here, we see how local forms of expression are used to convey similar concepts.

Medieval Syrian goldsmithing: Raqqa and the Fatimid period

During the Middle Ages, Raqqa was an important center for goldsmithing. Many jewellery pieces from the Fatimid dynasty (909-1171) have been created either in Egypt or Syria: the difference is indistinguishable. The jewellery of this period is exceptionally finely made, using wire filigree and granulation. Not much of it survived, as it was mostly melted down in later periods. The openwork filigree of the Fatimids continued to be produced under the Ottomans, albeit less delicate and in completely different shapes, and so continued into the traditional jewellery of our time.

Ancient jewellery of Syria: heritage and preservation

The story of ancient jewellery in Syria spans millennia. Shell beads from the Euphrates show how even the simplest ornaments carried meaning. Bronze Age sites such as Ebla and Ugarit reveal jewellery as a marker of wealth and ritual. Palmyra’s busts preserve a vivid record of local jewellery styles, while finds from Dura Europos place Syria in the wider Roman world. In the medieval period, Raqqa’s workshops highlight Syria’s role as a centre of fine goldsmithing.

Taken together, these finds show that jewellery in Syria was never just about adornment. It was a language of identity, status, and belief — and one that continues to connect us to the people of the past. By tracing Syria’s jewellery from beads to busts and beyond, we see how deeply woven adornment is into the story of human culture.

The many years of devastating war in Syria have not only destroyed the age-old suqs, but also severely impacted older heritage. Museums have been looted and are slowly beginning to be rebuilt where possible. Jewellery forms part of the millennia old heritage of a country where civilization began: keeping this heritage alive has never more been important and urgent than it is now.

More jewellery from Syria? You might also like Silversmiths of Deir ez-Zor

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References

This is an updated, adapted and expanded version of a blog I wrote earlier for the Zay Initiative.

Abe, Y. et al. 2019. Use of variscite as a gemstone in the Late Bronze Age Royal Tomb at Qatna, Syria, in: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 27, 1-6

Düring, B., E. Visser & P. Akkermans 2015. Skeletons in the fortress: the Late Bronze Age burials of Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria, in: Levant 47:1, 30-50

Fortin, M. (ed) 1999. Syria. Land of Civilizations. Les Éditions de l’Homme

Kaizer, T. (ed) 2016. Religion, Society and Culture at Dura-Europos. Cambridge University Press.

Kalter, J. 1992. The Arts and Crafts of Syria, Edition Hansjörg Mayer, Stuttgart/London

Kandel, A.W. et al 2017. Epipaleolithic shell beads from Damascus Province, Syria, in: Quaternary International 464, 126-140

Klaver, S. 2019. Women in Roman Syria. The cases of Dura-Europos, Palmyra and Seleucia on the Euphrates. PhD-thesis, University of Amsterdam

Maiocchi, M. 2010. Decorative parts and precious artifacts at Ebla, in: Journal of Cuneiform Studies 62, 1-24

Mukherjee, A. et al. 2008. The Qatna lion: scientific confirmation of Baltic amber in Late Bronze Age Syria, in: Antiquity 82, pp. 49-59

Prévalet, R. 2009. Preliminary observation on three Late Bronze Age gold items from Ras Shamra (Ugarit), in: ArcheoSciences 33. Access this publication here.

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Czech glass pendants with Arabic script

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Magic & Amulets

Western glass for the muslim world

Glass amulets with Arabic script

Updates August 22, 2024

Looking at a very specific type of amulet in this blog post: the pressed glass plaquettes inscribed with what looks like Arabic calligraphy. Are those texts even real? And how old are these?

Glass amulets with Arabic text: their shape and origin

Let’s look at their shape first. This is similar to much older pendants that were popular in for example Iran and India. In the gallery above, you’ll see an example from Iran which dates to the 18^th century. It carries writing on both sides. The other example is a jade pendant from India, also densely inscribed, which even older: it dates to the 17th century.

Plaquettes of similar shape, dating to the late 1800’s, are in the collection of the British Museum, and all seem to point to the Shi’ite realm in their texts. [1] So this shape is one that was familiar to many people, notably (but not exclusively!) Shia muslims.

Glass pendants with Arabic text: Western production

The glass amulets with what looks like Arabic script, as you see above, are much newer. They have been produced widely in the Western world, with the aim of selling these to the Islamic world. Like in so many other cases, these companies created objects that were already known and popular, but offered them in larger quantities than ever before: mass production processes flooded the markets and, very often, upended local economies.

One of the companies that created these was Sachse & Co., who specialised in glass objects for trade around the world. They created not just beads and pendants for the Islamic world, but also, for example, imitations of teeth and bone for the trade with Oceania – and much more.

In the late 1800s, when these glass pendants were produced, Jablonec, the town where the company was located, was still part of Austria and known as Gablonz. [2] The light blue, translucent pendant that I’m holding in the photo above carries the text Czechoslovakia – thus establishing their date of production at least after 1918 and before 1938. Nowadays, this is known as the Czech Republic.

Glass pendants with Arabic text: where and how were they used?

Glass amulets with Arabic text were used in a variety of ways. One of its uses that I really love, is mentioned by Barbara Black Koltuv. She describes how clear glass amulets of this type, which she purchased in Jerusalem, were attached to Bayer aspirin bottles: surely, aspirins would work if encouraged by the name of God! [3] I have reached out the Bayer company archive to enquire if this practice was known to them. It was not, so I believe that these were attached to the bottles in the Middle East itself by entrepreneurial sellers.

Another one of these amulets was strung on cord much like jewellery from Rajasthan in India, and worn as a necklace. You’ll see it in the gallery below: compare the stringing to that of the antique jade pendant from India above. In fact, a few of the examples in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford have labels attached specifying where they were traded to, like Singapore [4].

But their use was not limited to the eastern Mediterranean and further east, such as Iran, India, Singapore or Indonesia. One such pendant was part of an amulet obtained in Algeria in 1906. Interestingly, this was part of a set consisting of one coral bead, two cowrie shells, one green glass bead and a black glass bead decorated with two bands, painted in gold. [5]

Glass pendants with Arabic calligraphy: what does it say?

This is where it gets more complicated. Because not all of these amulets actually carry legible text, but some of them absolutely do! And whether or not they do is confusing, to museum curators and speakers of Arabic alike.

See the two examples above (click to enlarge the images): the blue amulet reads Hasbi Allah, meaning ‘God Suffices’, or ‘God is enough for me’. Try this with your online translation app, and it will most likely come back with a legible result. Now the pendant next to it is the same, but is labelled with ‘bogus inscription’. This one, too, reads ‘God Suffices’, but the first letter is drawn slightly different: there is more of a downward line. That also goes for the third pendant, where the first letter looks like a single diagonal line.

For the dark blue pendant with elaborate calligraphy as shown above in the first gallery, I reached out to the community and wow, what an amazing response! Hatem Arafa, who is a calligraphy artist and designer based in Turkey, and Youmna Elsabry, an Egyptian jewellery designer, explained to me what it says: ‘What God willed [has occurred], there is no power except in God’, a reading conformed by many others. [6]

Glass pendants with text: how old are these?

Going over the examples in museums and those available in the trade today, it seems these glass plaquettes of a form originally associated with Shi’ite pendants were created up until the Interbellum. Incredibly important here is the acquisition date of objects, as that shows you when these things became available on the market, when they were at the peak of their availability, and when they ceased to be offered.

A quick overview shows that the glass amulets with the most elaborate inscriptions (such as the dark blue example above) have been collected at the beginning of the 19^th century, and those with simpler forms (like the one I am holding above) seem to have been produced up until the 1930s. They do not seem to appear later – of course, the popular beads known as ‘hajj beads’ continued to be produced, but these are of a very different shape.

This blog will be continued with an article on Czech glass hajj beads and their use!

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References

[1] Porter, V. 2011. Arabic and Persian Seals and Amulets in the British Museum, p. 154.

[2] As researched here by Pitt Rivers Museum.

[3] Black Koltuv, B. 2005. Amulets, Talismans and Magical Jewelry. A Way to the Unseen, Ever-Present, Almighty God. Nicholas-Hays, Berwick, p. 135.

[4] Accession number 1900.27.17. See it here.

[5] Accession number 1985.50.1050. See it here.

[6] See the comments on this Instagram post, where I asked the community for their insights and several people responded.

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Khalili eye beads: Palestinian glass beads from Hebron

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Magic & Amulets

Glass eye beads from Hebron

Khalili eye beads: Palestinian glass beads from Hebron

Updated October 1, 2025

Eye beads are among the most recognisable amulets in the Middle East, but Palestine has its own distinctive variation: the Khalili beads of Hebron (al-Khalil). Produced in the city’s glass workshops during the 19th and early 29th century, these beads were made in many sizes, often with local names like “rooster’s eye” or “camel’s eye.” They were so popular that they were sold far and wide.

Today, Khalili beads survive in museum collections and family heirlooms, offering insight into Palestinian glasswork, jewellery traditions, and protective beliefs. In this blog, part of my series on amulets in jewellery, we’ll take a closer look at how these unique beads were made, used, and understood.

The origin of Khalili eye beads in Hebron (al-Khalil)

The Arabic name of Hebron is al-Khalil. This is how the town was known to its Arab-speaking inhabitants. That’s an important observation to make, because the name of these beads is derived from the place where they were made. These beads are called khalili: from al-Khalil.

A photo in National Geographic Magazine of April 1934 pictures a glass workshop in Hebron, where strands of such eye beads dangle from wooden racks. [1] This image is shown below, click to enlarge: I have this volume in my library, and added a dash of blue to guide your eye to the beads – do you spot the glass vessels on the tray in front of them?

How to recognise Palestinian Khalili glass eye beads

What do Khalili eye beads look like? They are flat beads of a circular shape. In the centre, you’ll have a white glass disc with a black dot of glass in its centre. Around that, concentric rings of glass were added. Garcia Probert describes in them in detail in her book on the Tawfik Canaan collection: the outer circle could be executed in blue, green or black; the second one would be yellow or orange. [2]

They work along the same lines as other eye beads: see this blog post for a quick introduction on the cultural context of eye beads and how they are supposed to work.

Sizes and local names of Khalili eye beads

These eye beads from Hebron were produced in several sizes: you could say they existed in small, medium and large varieties. And these sizes each had their own name. The small ones are called ‘rooster’s eye’ or ‘ayn al-dik. The medium-sized ones are called ‘ayn al-qa’ud: dromedary eye. And the big ones are named after camel eyes, ‘ayn al-gamal. [3] Beads without a black dot for a pupil, so just consisting of a white centre with coloured circles around that, are called ‘ayn amya. [4]

How would you decide which one to pick? Garcia Probert suggests that the size of the bead may be related to the severity of the symptoms of someone in need of an eye amulet: big issues, big beads. [5]. And while I totally see how that could work, I think the choice for a particular size could also be inspired by what you would be using it in, and maybe your budget would also play a role here.

Assuming that smaller beads cost less than big ones, maybe a small bead could be all someone could afford. And then there is how you would be wearing it. An inconspicuous small bead attached to a dress would still be effective against the evil eye, and a larger bead threaded on a necklace would also double as adornment. So, how were they used…?

Khalili beads in museum collections

A significant obstacle to understanding these beads is that we know them mostly in collected context. The beads we find in museum collections seem to have been purchased directly from the sellers of such beads. And that is not just in Palestine: these beads were very popular and were exported to, for example, Istanbul and Venice.

The collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford holds Khalili eye beads that have been purchased in Hebron itself, in Jerusalem, but also in Istanbul and Italy. What I noticed about these, is that they are usually strung together as 4 or 5 beads or so. You can’t wear them that way, it looks as if they come straight from a bead seller.

Only in a few cases do you see a complete strand of them, labeled as ‘necklace’ – but is it? The first strand shown above is labeled as ‘necklace’ in the database of the British Museum, but with a length of 19,5 centimetres they’re on the short side for necklaces. Larger strands exist as well, such as the other one shown above, which measures 41 centimetres. As you see on the image above of the bead seller, he has indeed various lengths on offer.

Were Khalili beads worn in jewellery?

What evidence can we find of these beads being used? I went through a stack of resources to see if there is anything showing these beads being used in jewellery: collections of jewellery from Southwest Asia, and old photographs.

I found that, unlike the saba ‘uyun beads, Khalili beads do not seem to have been worked into jewellery and dress all that much: you will not find them set in silver, in for example a pendant or ring, or worked into necklaces, whereas the saba ‘uyun or Seven Eyes beads feature heavily in jewellery. There are plenty of jewels made of blue beads, but these particular beads are not part of those.

What is more, going over lots of old photographs, I saw no one wearing bracelets or necklaces made of Khalili eye beads, while beaded jewellery in general is abundantly available – apparently, strung together as we find them in museums was not the mainstream way of wearing these things.

Yet, these beads were produced in the thousands….they have must have been used somehow!

Khalili eye beads as amulets against the Evil Eye

And then I found them in use! The British Museum has two amulets in its collection that feature a Khalili eye bead as part of their design: in fact, these beads sit in the centre of the amulet. In that respect, the little note with two of these beads I photographed in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford (in the gallery above, click to enlarge) is also interesting: this labels the beads as ‘amulets’. So instead of complete ‘necklaces’ that help fight the evil eye, these beads seem to have been produced as individual eye-catchers (pun intended, sorry).

Explore the meaning of beads against the Evil Eye in this main article

Unanswered questions about Palestinian eye beads

I wonder if the Palestinian eye beads as we see them in museums today could not rather be strands as they come from the seller, instead of finished jewels as they are often labeled now.

The eye beads are, to my current knowledge, not present in regular jewellery and not visibly worn as complete necklaces or bracelets. They do occur as parts of amulets, and so I can’t help but wonder if we might find these attached to dress or veils, amulets hung on children’s cribs, attached perhaps to bonnets of babies….instead of used in jewellery.

And that is interesting to me in itself: apparently, this type of bead is not something you’d make jewellery of.

I’ll be on the lookout for them: if you spot one, please drop me a line? I’m very interested to learn what you make of these: together, we always see more!

Frequently Asked Questions about Palestinian eye beads

What are Khalili eye beads?
Khalili eye beads are glass beads produced in Hebron (al-Khalil), Palestine. They were made with eye-like designs and believed to protect against the evil eye.

Why are Palestinian eye beads called Khalili beads?
They are named after their place of origin, Hebron, which is called al-Khalil in Arabic. The city was known for its glass workshops that specialised in bead production.

Did people wear Palestinian Khalili eye beads as jewellery?
Research has shown that they were generally not used in jewellery such as necklaces or bracelets. Instead, they may have been carried as amulets, hung in homes, or kept as protective objects.

Why do Khalili beads come in different sizes?
The beads ranged from small versions to very large ones, with local names such as “rooster’s eye” and “camel’s eye.” These variations likely reflected different symbolic uses or preferences.

Where can Palestinian Khalili eye beads be found today?
Production ceased in the 20th century. They survive in museum collections, including the British Museum and Pitt Rivers Museum, as well as in family heirlooms passed down through generations.

Palestinian Khalili glass eye beads: meaningful beads

Khalili eye beads show how Palestinian glassmakers contributed to the long tradition of amulets against the evil eye. Their varied shapes, sizes, and names reveal how deeply these beads were woven into everyday life, from workshop production to personal adornment. While not always worn in jewellery, they remain powerful reminders of how people in Palestine sought protection through the objects they carried and kept close.

This blog is part of my series on amulets in jewellery — alongside posts for example on triangular amulets, glass amulets, and clove necklaces. Together, these stories show how materials as different as glass, cloves, and silver were all drawn into the shared human desire for protection and meaning.

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References

[1] National Geographic Magazine, vol. LXV (1934), no. 4, p. 513

[2] Garcia Probert, M. 2021. Exploring the life of amulets in Palestine. PhD thesis, Leiden University, p. 80-81

[3] Garcia Probert, M. 2021. Exploring the life of amulets in Palestine. PhD thesis, Leiden University, p. 81

[4] Garcia Probert, M. 2021. Exploring the life of amulets in Palestine. PhD thesis, Leiden University, p. 81

[5] Garcia Probert, M. 2021. Exploring the life of amulets in Palestine. PhD thesis, Leiden University, p. 81

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Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on the jewellery of the Egyptian zar-ritual. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

Restringing ethnic jewellery

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Tips for collectors

ethnic necklaces

Restringing ethnic jewellery

Published Jan 19, 2024

‘This necklace is on its original stringing’ is something you may read in jewellery descriptions. But what does ‘original stringing’ mean? In this article, I’ll zoom in on stringing and restringing: it’s cultural context and 5 practical points to inspect when checking for restringing.

Ethnic jewellery: the many lives of necklaces

What I love about ethnic jewellery is that these jewellery pieces lived. They were part and parcel of everyday life, they moved along with their wearers, they bumped into other things, they got dented, banged up, damaged.

Take a necklace, for example. It may have been gifted to a bride on her wedding day, or assembled from treasured beads by a girl. It was worn on festive occasions or maybe every day, it was seen, admired and cherished.

And at one point during its long life, it broke. The thread snapped, perhaps after a sharp edge of a bead had chafed at it relentlessly, or simply because years of wear finally made it give way.⁠

It was repaired, and at that point may have been embellished: another silver bead added because finances had been good, maybe another amber bead found its way in the composition as well…

And there you have it: a second incarnation of the same necklace. Rinse and repeat: one necklace may have been repaired or changed countless times.⁠

An antique Kabyle necklace with coral and silver pendants

Close-up of a spectacular Amazigh Berber necklace from the Draa Valley in Morocco, showing its abundance in coral, amber and trade beads

Restringing ethnic jewellery: a part of life

Now this applies to straightforward, single strand necklaces, but also to beaded necklaces with multiple strands, lots of beads, silver amulets strewn in between…pieces like these would eventually break, once or several times, and be repaired.

That is for example visible in the Kabyle necklace in the gallery above. Clicking it will enlarge the image. It is still on an original stringing as the wearer had intended it, but upon closer inspection, the pendants are not all of the same age. Some have lost all their enamel, while others still have it; some have become smoothly worn, while others look more crisp. This necklace has been restrung at least once, in which a different selection of pendants was made.

Necklaces might also intentionally have been taken apart to be restrung with newly acquired beads, or to be divided up into smaller necklaces for children.⁠

The point is that a piece you see *today* is not necessarily the same as when it was first created. Jewels were altered over time, adapted, improved, taken apart, made smaller…altering ethnic jewellery is a regular practice.

A heavy silver Omani somt necklace with Maria Theresia Thalers

A gorgeous heavy silver somt necklace from Oman

Restringing ethnic jewellery: an example from Oman

A great example are these two necklaces from Oman: click the photos above to see both necklaces.

The first necklace is an older one that is still on its last stringing. The thick hemp rope has darkened over time, the knot at the closure is frayed, and the dirt is also visible between and underneath the beads. A trick often used to make a necklace look old, is to darken its stringing. Looking between and underneath the beads may help assert if it actually has been worn, or that it just looks that way.

The second necklace is on a clean rope. You also see how the necklace is closed in a very different way: the two ends have been stitched together. It is much younger: this piece was a gift to a foreign teacher in the 1980s. Her Omani students wanted to present her with a parting gift, and financed this necklace together. The teacher never wore it, but instead treasured it at home.

Both are on original stringing, but one has not been worn as intensively as the other. And what is more: necklaces like these were restrung from time to time, too. [1] When the rope would get too stained or dirty, or new beads or pendants were added, the necklace would be restrung in its entirety.

Glinting Maria Theresia Thalers in a silversmith's workshop, Amman

Old silver jewellery in Cairo's Khan el Khalili

Restringing ethnic jewellery: materials

This continuous stringing and restringing also means that it is perfectly possible for new materials to sit next to older ones. It’s not uncommon to find plastic beads added to coral, or to see newer coin pendants find their way into a necklace of older ones. As the photos above show (click to enlarge them), you will find bits and pieces of older jewellery lying around in just about every workshop from Marrakech to Cairo and beyond.

Because of these elements, the necklace forms a biography of the culture of its wearers. Who were they in contact with, who did they trade with, what materials made an appearance? Nylon fishing line, for example, has been in use since the 1960s to string necklaces with – it’s not necessarily a sign of modern stringing.

And that brings me to another aspect of restringing: the composition of a necklace.

Restringing ethnic jewellery: composition

There is, generally speaking, a set of standards within a culture as to what a necklace is supposed to look like. It’s a ‘type’ of necklace that is specific to a particular group, tribe, region etc. The individual components may vary, but the overall lay-out remains the same.

Over time, these compositions change, too: fashion will always play a part in how ethnic necklaces are created. The next generation always wants to do things a little differently, and these changes are visible in small or large details.

Looking at old photographs can be very helpful here (bearing in mind the complications these may bring – read more about that here). Looking at jewellery that has with certainty been collected before a particular date, or that has been in a family for generations, is also very helpful (you did not really think you were getting an article without me pointing out the importance of provenance, did you…?).

Restringing ethnic jewellery: our coloured view

So, the jewellery that we see, is the end result of years of threads breaking, fashions changing, beads bought, silver traded for cash, new elements acquired, dividing up larger necklace among kids…there is a depth of life behind these that is just amazing.

But these last incarnations are the ones that get published in jewellery books, shown in exhibitions and presented online. And that is often when they ‘freeze’: they are taken out of their living context, shown as beautiful objects in their own right, and become the main sources for studying jewellery.

The last composition we see, can’t readily be used to unequivocally establish that this is how a piece of jewellery always is ‘supposed’ to look. ⁠Not on the level of ‘but there are supposed to be three blue beads here’, anyway. But what they are very useful for, is establishing what the predilections of the time were, what the overall design is and which materials were in use.

Restringing ethnic jewellery: how is a piece presented to you?

By now, I suppose it will be clear that restringing is standard practice. But I’m guessing that is not what you want to know…because ‘original stringing’ often is connected to a form of authenticity. ‘This is the real deal’, that sort of thing. A restrung necklace however, can be just as real.

The thing to be aware of is how a necklace is presented to you. I have seen pieces presented as ‘19^th century on original stringing’, but including beads that did not exist in the 19^th century.

There is a fine line between original restringing, and modern compositions made to look old. What you really want to know, is the difference between the two.

Restringing ethnic jewellery: how to check for restringing

Restringing is the norm, not the exception. But how to see if you’re looking at an actually old piece, or a new one made to look original? Here are five tips:

1 – You will need to be aware of styles and types worn by the particular people the piece is from, and the timeframe it is supposed to be from. There’s no escaping that. Look at the overall composition carefully;

2 – Next, zoom in and see if the individual materials used match with that timeframe. Again, it’s not uncommon, for example, for plastic beads to find their way into an incarnation of a necklace, but when this is presented to you as ’19th century, never altered’ that is cause for concern;

3 – Zoom in a little further and check if the thread has been artificially aged: inspect the space between the beads and in the bead openings. Do note however that when a necklace is densely strung, the thread may remain cleaner than the rest;

4- Inspect the closure. This is often altered over time to allow for easier wearing. Here again, it helps to be aware of how these pieces were fastened. A loop-and-knot/bead/coin closure can be, but is not always the original way of fastening a necklace (and please remember that nothing is easier to pick up a stray coin to use – coins do not automatically date a piece of jewellery). S-hooks almost always indicate restringing.

5- Read the description carefully, if it concerns a necklace on offer. Does it say ‘in the style of’ or ‘based on’ or ‘composed of’? That indicates restringing or even a design creation by the seller.

And there is nothing wrong with that, by the way! In fact, all of my ethnic Dutch necklaces have been restrung, for example – I don’t want them to break when I wear them. Also the replacement of closures with S-hooks is nothing dramatic, and in fact adapts the necklace to a new stage in its life where it is wearable again.

Just as long as one is transparent about what is simply restringing, and what is altering (or even designing) the composition itself.

Restringing ethnic jewellery: living jewellery

Jewellery is not frozen in time, but grows old with us, and like us, changes appearances along the way. We see its last identity as it were, and it’s up to us to be aware there have been multiple lives before that!⁠ Restringing is normal. In that light I would suggest to replace ‘on original stringing’ with ‘on an original stringing‘ – it does do more justice to the many lives a necklace has had.

This article will continue with an article on how to spot alterations in ethnic jewellery, and an article on what to think of before you start restringing necklaces that are still on an original stringing – stay tuned!

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References

[1] This practice was shared with me by mrs. Alix Normandeau.

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

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

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