Arabic kohl and its material culture: history, tradition and UNESCO recognition

Arabic kohl and its material culture: history, tradition and UNESCO recognition

by | General jewellery topics

Arabic kohl history and tradition

Arabic kohl and its material culture: UNESCO recognition

Published December 12, 2025

Kohl eyeliner has just been recognised as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.

In December 2025, kohl was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. That is hugely significant, because it recognises the importance of the heritage of adornment. Like henna, which I wrote about in an earlier blog, kohl is much more than a beauty product: it is a practice, a tradition, and a form of expression. So, let’s take a closer look kohl, and what its material culture can tell us about beauty, identity and memory!

Why did UNESCO recognise Arabic kohl as intangible cultural heritage?

First, let’s look at what the World Heritage inscription actually says. The UNESCO description highlights the multi-layered role of traditional kohl in Arab societies:

‘Arabic Kohl is both a craft and a social practice that is integral to the lifestyle of Bedouin and nomadic tribes, as well as rural, marshland, and fishing communities in the Arab region. It is a fine black powder used as eyeliner by people of all genders, serving not only as a cosmetic but also for protection against wind, sand and sunlight. A part of everyday life, special occasions and religious rituals, it is made from natural ingredients, with the preparation varying according to local environments and lifestyles. Kohl is made either at home or in gatherings, mostly by women, who transmit the related knowledge and skills to their daughters and granddaughters. Arabic kohl is typically stored in decorative containers called ‘makhala’, which are often passed down as family keepsakes. The practice is also transmitted through oral traditions, community events, schools and cultural institutions. In addition to being a symbol of community identity and a key part of daily beauty routines, kohl is used as a physical and spiritual healing remedy. It promotes dialogue and fosters meaningful exchanges between nations and communities of women. Kohl-rimmed eyes also serve as a strong form of female expression, particularly in societies where only eyes are visible due to face coverings.’ [1]

This powerful recognition shows that Arabic kohl is a living, breathing tradition. It’s about the how, not just the what. Like henna, the art of applying kohl is not just make-up or beautification. It’s a system of knowledge passed on through generations.

Which countries submitted the nomination for kohl as intangible heritage?

The nomination for kohl as intangible cultural heritage was submitted by a number of countries: Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Although these are the nations that submitted the nomination, I’d invite you to bear in mind that the practice of kohl exists in a much wider region and in many different forms. The practice of kohl is also not limited to Arabic communities, but is part of many other cultures, too.

Just one example: the oldest form of kohl known to date comes from ancient Egypt, where eye make-up palettes appear at the end of the 4th millennium BCE. Egypt, however, is not among the countries that submitted the nomination of this cultural heritage – that does not automatically mean kohl doesn’t exist in Egypt. That is not what this inscription on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list claims: it is a recognition of a living cultural practice, and in this case, the scope has a narrower geographical reach than that of the actual practice itself.

(but with that long history of kohl, I was personally surprised to see Egypt did not join the nomination)

Kohl as a living tradition

Kohl, obviously, is not a thing of the past, but a living practice. If you have ever visited anywhere in North Africa or Southwest Asia, you’ll have seen it on offer and in use. The recipes vary widely, but the basic goal is the same: to create a smooth, fine black powder. This could be made from something as simple as burnt charcoal, lamp black or pot soot (sarral kohl) or more specialised substances like antimony or galena (athmad kohl).

Application methods of this powder also varied: from saliva and water for everyday use, to rosewater and orange blossom water for more luxurious occasions. In some traditions, aromatic resins such as burnt ambergris, frankincense or ‘ūd (aloeswood) were added to the mix.

The material culture of kohl: containers, adornment, and meaning

Where there’s kohl, there’s a container [2]. These are generally called makhala, and the needle used to apply kohl to the eyes is known as merwad. That’s the same word used for the needle to apply perfumes: merwad means stick, needle.

Besides practical containers, makhala are very important in ceremonial use. In Beit Dajan, Palestine, brides would dance on their wedding while holding their kohl container: person, adornment, social status and object are one and the same.

Elsewhere, kohl was a popular gift from pilgrims returning from the Hajj. This was antimony kohl (athmad) mixed with water from the ZamZam well. Their function here extended beyond cosmetics: they combine religious concepts of purity and cleanliness with adornment.

How kohl containers reflect local values

The form, decoration and materials of kohl containers vary across the region. In some areas, they belong more to the realm of jewellery, made of silver or copper, and intended to be seen. I’ve written about similar practices in Afghan vanity sets in this blog.

They may even have gendered distinctions: men do not generally wear adornment, but kohl is worn by men, women and children. Men, too, had to carry their kohl containers on their person. In those cases, the containers took the shape of masculine attributes: silver bullet-shaped containers or versions of gunpowder horns. That is not to ‘hide’ the fact that men use make-up: kohl containers simply take the form best suited to their wearer.

In other regions kohl containers are part of dress and costume, the container itself covered in fabric. By studying the decoration of these containers and comparing them to regional jewellery styles, we begin to see where these objects fit into personal adornment. Were they worn on a person? Displayed in the house? Kept in private, away from prying eyes? These questions help us understand what these containers meant to their users.

Kohl as identity, resistance and care

While kohl enhances beauty, it also has protective and healing roles, both natural and supernatural. Natural ingredients such as antimony were considered to strengthen and purify the eyes. It also protected against evil spirits, and applying it is an act of purity and cleanliness in itself. This ties into a wider tradition where adornment is protective as well as decorative. If you have been following this blog for a while, you know that is a theme that recurs across jewellery, scent, textiles, body aesthetic and more!

Kohl: a world heritage of adornment

Kohl’s inscription as World Heritage is a recognition of an ancient practice. And as with henna, recognising kohl as intangible cultural heritage brings attention to the people who keep these practices alive: the women who prepare it, apply it, teach it, and wear it. Because heritage is not just objects: the objects are only the material component of something much larger.

Kohl and its containers form part of an entire system of knowledge, care, expression and identity: if we look at them as one component in a network of beliefs, actions and objects, we learn so much more!

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References

[1] See the UNESCO inscription here https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/arabic-kohl-02261

[2] See Paint it, Black by Jolanda Bos (2019): the only book to date with an extensive overview of kohl containers from past to present.

The Bedouin Silver blog gives credit where credit is due! Transparent referencing and citing sources helps us all grow. Would you like to do the same and quote this article? Here’s how:

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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.

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The Ottoman-style kirdan in the Middle East

The Ottoman-style kirdan in the Middle East

by | Objects

Ottoman jewellery

The Ottoman-style kirdan necklace of the Middle East

Published July 24, 2025

The Ottoman Empire stretched over large parts of North Africa and Southwest Asia. This centuries-long colonisation resulted in jewellery forms that are found all over the region. In this blog, I’ll show you a particular piece that is found with variations throughout the Ottoman world: a choker-like necklace.

What is a kirdan necklace?

The kirdan necklace is a choker-style jewel that forms part of the Ottoman jewellery repertoire. The original ornament is of a type widely used in the 19th century. With regional variations, it was worn from Tunisia to Turkey as well as beyond, on Cyprus, in Greece, and in the Balkans. In the cities, wealthy urban ladies would wear theirs in gold; rural ladies would resort to gilt silver or simply silver, depending on the fashion and traditions of their region.

The ornament consists of a choker-like band of repoussé segments. These may be fastened on to a fabric band, which is tied around the neck or closed with a loop-and-knot, or strung together to form an interlinking band itself. Usually, from the choker multiple pendants are dangling, and it is in the variations and differences of these that we may see regional preferences.

Regional variations of the kirdan

This ornament is generally called kirdan, but goes by many names. Let’s look at some regional variations next!

A postcard from Tunisia, showing a woman in traditional dress and jewellery. She is wearing the chiriyya necklace and pennanular brooches.

The chiriyya in Tunisia and Libya

In North African jewellery traditions, notably in Tunisia and Libya, this ornament went by chiriyya (also spelled chairiyya). In Tunisia, they are worn notably in the southeast, from the town of Sfax onwards. [1] In Libya, they were mainly produced in Tripoli, by artisans who catered to the east coast of Tunisia as well as to Libyan towns and tribes as well. [2]

The choker had a yellow fabric backing, on which the individual segments were sewn. In the centre of the band a square ornament featured. From the choker, large pendants were suspended, and in the centre one or multiple crescent-shaped pendants, executed in filigree, fell onto the chest.

The chiriyya notably does not carry coins, and does not have a central element on the band itself, which sports only the repoussé segments.

Detail of the central part of an Egyptian kirdan on the Bedouin Silver website. This image is part of a research article on the Ottoman-style kirdan in the Middle East.

The kirdan in Egypt: kirdan or kirdan hilali

In Egypt, the necklace is known as kirdan (also spelled kerdan) or kirdan hilali. Here, the segments flank a central element sewn on the band, usually a rectangular or square piece. In the centre, a central pendant falls on the chest: usually, a crescent or a set of tiered crescents, which is where it gets its name from: kirdan hilali means kirdan with crescents. They may be set with small turquoise beads, and the segments themselves are threaded through with red thread. Egypt also uses coins on the kirdan pendants.

The first photo shows a painting of a woman wearing such a necklace: more on her and her jewellery is in this blog!

Coastal Southwest Asia: the kirdan in the Levant

Palestine, western Jordan, Lebanon and western Syria all form part of the Bilad as-Sham, and share a cultural continuum that predates modern borders. Regional variations may extend beyond current borders, and in general trying to delineate exact attributions here is difficult. [3]

The kirdan was worn by both city-, village- and Bedouin women. Finer pieces in gold would be worn by urban women. Compared to North African variations, the coastal Southwest Asian variation generally have more and larger segments – and we also find innovative forms for women who could not afford as many silver or gold segments. They would add beads between the segments, so the kirdan required less precious metal. An example of such a simpler kirdan is shown below.

The kirdan of coastal Southwest Asia uses coins, and has a large variation in forms for the central element on the band.

The kirdan in Syria

For current-day Syria, Kalter notes that the individual segments for the band were purchased directly from silversmiths in Aleppo and Damascus by women themselves, who would then sew them on to a fabric band of their choosing. [4] Below the neck band, a row of coins or imitation coins jingles, and in the centre a single pendant such as crescent or inscribed amulet may hang. The central part of the band could also include a filigree square or rectangle, such as the example above shows, or a colourful red and blue ornament.

The kirdan in Jordan

In El-Kerak, the necklace was called kirdan migwiz. [5] In between the repoussé segments on the band, one or three filigree boxes were present in the central part of the band. Below the band, long silver elements with coins were suspended, and at the front, again one or three elaborate crescent pendants could hang.

The kirdan in Palestine

In Palestine, the necklace went by kirdan. They were made in several places, such as Nablus, but also in Irbid and el-Kerak but worn in Palestine [6] – again, the borders of today have little bearing on the past and the cultural reality is much more varied. In Nablus, the coin pendants are shorter than in El-Kerak. In the centre, an ornament of small tiered crescents fell on the chest. [7] In the Galilee, the coin pendants were similarly short, but the ornament itself also featured very long silver chains with multiple triangular pendants. In the centre of the ornament, the silver chains connected multiple crescent pendants. The style of the pendants is widespread in a larger region, including Syria.

The kirdan in Eastern Southwest Asia

Eastern Jordan and Syria, bordering on Iraq, were a bit more distant from the Ottoman world – the Ottoman sphere of influence mainly concentrated around the Mediterranean littoral. But we see cultural influences nonetheless, where Ottoman forms travelled on trade routes and gradually developed into styles of their own. In Kurdistan the choker was still worn, and the dangles often take the shape of fish – a form also encountered further on in Afghanistan.

Black and white photo of Egyptian dancer Taheyya Carioca with a a gold-coloured kirdan necklace on her hip.

Stage forms of the kirdan

One particular use of the kirdan is in an exaggerated version as stage jewellery. This was worn by dancers, mainly in Egypt. From the mid-19th century onwards, we see the kirdan in its usual size worn by dancers. The image above shows a phot of such a dancer (click to enlarge it). Around the turn of the century, the hilal pendants started to get larger, and from the 1950s onwards, entertainers would be wearing huge kirdans – of course, its sight really adds to the performance! [8]

A bracelet made of a repurposed kirdan necklace.

Repurposing of the kirdan

Because they fell out of fashion at some point, you may come across repurposed kirdans. They have often been divided up into bracelets.

The legacy of Ottoman kirdan chokers: forgotten heritage

The general Ottoman origin of this piece appears to be increasingly forgotten, and the reality of cultural interaction is hindered by thinking in today’s borders.

It is virtually impossible to distinguish between Tunisian and Libyan chiriyya, because the craftsmen that made them operated in both countries and pieces made in one country would be sold on a market in the other.

Likewise, trying to determine whether a piece is Syrian or Jordanian does not make much sense, as most likely, it was produced before either country as we know it today existed. Rather, it would be better to see if a place of production could be determined, in the full knowledge that from there, it may have been traded to at least 4 different countries as they exist today.

These pieces of jewellery remind us of a shared heritage. That is the historical jewellery value they continue to carry, and I do love how they took on a new life and new meanings on their own in the various parts of the Ottoman realm!

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References

[1] S. Gargouri-Sethom 1986. Le Bijou Traditionnel en Tunisie, p. 24, with examples.

[2] S. Gargouri-Sethom 1986. Le Bijou Traditionnel en Tunisie, p. 65; Ghellali, H. 2024. Jewellery and Adornment of Libya. Blikveld Uitgevers Publishers, Zandvoort

[3] J. Kalter, M. Pavaloi & M. Zerrnickel (eds) 1992. The Arts and Crafts of Syria, p. 81 already notes this.

[4] J. Kalter, M. Pavaloi & M. Zerrnickel (eds) 1992. The Arts and Crafts of Syria, p. 90, with examples.

[5] Pracht und Geheimnis, p. 388-389.

[6] J. Rahab 1989. Palestinian Costume, p. 121.

[7] Pracht und Geheimnis, p. 265.

[8] See this reel by Heather D. Ward on the kirdan in dance costumes

The Bedouin Silver blog gives credit where credit is due! Transparent referencing and citing sources helps us all grow. Would you like to do the same and quote this article? 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].

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.

Oriental woman with sineklik

Oriental woman with sineklik

by | Jewellery & Art

Jewellery and art history

Oriental beauty with sineklik

Published May 24, 2025

Jewellery in paintings — that’s something I always keep an eye on. It tells you not only about the fashion and the painter’s eye for detail, but also about how people at the time viewed dress and adornment. Oriental Woman with Sineklik, painted by Pinel de Grandchamp in 1846, is one such portrait that draws us in with both costume and ornament.

This blog is part of my series on Jewellery and Art, exploring how artists depicted jewellery and dress in portraits and Orientalist paintings. You can also read Portrait of A Syrian woman, Decoding Habiba’s jewellery, and more posts in this series as it grows.

Oriental beauty with sineklik by Pinel de Grandchamp

This article focuses on a single painting, Oriental Beauty with Sineklik (also known as Odalisque à l’éventail) by the French artist Louis-Emile Pinel de Grandchamp, and explores how the jewellery in the painting places the woman painted in her cultural context – and where things went wrong.

Pinel de Grandchamp and the Orientalist tradition

Louis-Emile Pinel de Grandchamp (1834–1894) was a French painter associated with the Orientalist tradition. He spent a significant part of his career in Egypt, where he produced numerous works – and unlike some of his colleagues his paintings were based on direct observation. He mostly painted scenes in Cairo, and these include recognizable architectural details that actually are from Cairo, not a made-up version of a random ‘Oriental’ city. When you see one of his paintings, you recognise the setting as Cairo immediately – at least, I did. [1]

Oriental Beauty with Sineklik is different in that it focuses on the individual sitter and her adornment. There are no details in the background like a building or a recognisable view that tell us where this lady is from, and the title is particularly unhelpful. So, in such portraits, it is the jewellery and dress that tell us where this lady is from!

Oriental beauty with sineklik: jewellery as key to identity

In this painting, a woman is seated against a dark red background, holding a sineklik (fly whisk) in her hand. Her gaze is directed away from the viewer, and she wears a loose white garment, a striped headwrap, and multiple items of jewellery. Although the title refers only to her as an ‘Oriental beauty,’ her adornment offers specific clues about her identity.

The eye-catcher is her gold necklace: composed of repoussé segments and disc pendants. The central pendant is larger, consisting of a crescent-shaped pendant with a disc below it, again framed with dangling discs. This necklace is of a type called kirdan. It is commonly associated with Ottoman jewellery, worn in Cairo during the 19th century. See a few examples of this type of adornment in the gallery above: click to enlarge the images.

Read more about the history of the Ottoman-style kirdan here

Her earrings match the necklace and echo designs from the 19th century, like for example depicted by Edward Lane [2]

Draped over her left wrist and hand is a strand of large yellow beads. They may be amber or glass, and they echo the look of a misbaha or tasbih, a strand of prayer beads. A similar strand of beads can be seen on the painting Oriental Woman Burning Incense, by Cesare dell’Acqua (1869, also in the gallery above: click to see its details).

Her headwrap, formed from a striped textile and loosely coiled around the head, aligns with styles worn by women in elite Cairene households.

So, that’s what we see: but what does all this mean?

Beyond the title: what ‘Oriental Beauty’ leaves unsaid

Despite the generic title, the woman in the painting is not without identity. Her adornments anchor her in a specific time and place; they firmly situate her in a late Ottoman Egyptian setting. The crescent-shaped necklace, with its repoussé craftsmanship and coin pendants, was typical of Egyptian adornment and is well represented in both photographic archives and surviving examples.

But this painting has its problems as well.

The anonymity of the sitter for example: she is not mentioned by name, and reduced to a very general title. In fact, we don’t even know if this is an actual portrait, or a model that served to create a generic view of that faraway region, ‘the Orient’.

This fits in with broader trends within Orientalist art: it produced very generalized images of “Eastern” subjects. In these works, jewellery and dress were frequently used as symbolic ‘shorthand’, you could say, flattening the layered meaning in jewellery and dress into a singular, romanticized visual language.

Take the strand of prayer beads, for example, dangling from her wrist. For starters, it misses its central bead, and is reduced to ornamentation: within its own cultural and religious context, this would not have been depicted as such.

Add to that the composition of the work: I don’t know if you noticed, and I apologise for drawing your eye to this, but everything seems to be centred around her cleavage. It’s literally the focal point of the painting, and the V-shaped lines of her garment, the handle of the fly whisk and even the perfect vertical line from her earrings through the central element of her necklace end up in her cleavage. I mean, jeez.

So, yes, the jewellery and dress allow us to add more context to this painting than just a random Oriental beauty – but the painting itself leaves viewers to interpret the scene based on partial information and oversimplifications.

Jewellery, dress & identity in Orientalist art

Pinel de Grandchamp’s Oriental Woman with Sineklik is not only an Orientalist portrait; it is also a visual puzzle. While the title centres on an accessory, it is the jewellery and dress that provide the key to interpretation. The kirdan necklace, Egyptian ornamentation, and Ottoman Cairo clothing place the sitter firmly in a cultural context that the label “Oriental beauty” glosses over.

So now that we know all this, what to do?

This painting reminds us how Orientalist art both reveals and conceals. It preserves details of dress and adornment that allow us to reconstruct cultural identity, while at the same time reducing women to symbols of an imagined East. By asking what jewellery tells us — and what the title leaves unsaid — we can approach these portraits with a more critical eye.

The thing is to be aware of that world beyond the artistic frame in which it is delivered to us. And this is where having insights in jewellery and dress can play an important role, too. Awareness of the importance and meaning attached to adornment helps resisting the anonymity imposed by the painting’s title and composition. There are more, and deeper stories to be told than just a woman holding a fly whisk and staring out of an invisible window.

That’s why I do what I do, in running this blog and creating courses to explore just that world, and I’m happy you’re here to join me on that journey!

Other blogs in the series on Jewellery & Art are here:

Decoding Habiba’s Jewellery

Portrait of a Syrian woman by Portaels

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

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References

[1] See for example this painting, that shows the Ghuriya complex on the main street of Cairo’s souq: it still looks like this today https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6154449

[2] Lane, E.W. 1842. An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians. The Definitive 1860 Edition. The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo (2003).

The Bedouin Silver blog gives credit where credit is due! Transparent referencing and citing sources helps us all grow. Would you like to do the same and quote this article? 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].

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.

Perfume jewels: meskia

Perfume jewels: meskia

by | Objects

Ottoman splendour

Perfume jewels: the meskia pendant

Updated Feb 19, 2024

In the Maghreb, notably in Algeria and Tunisia, spectacular containers called meskia are worn. What are these, what is their history and why are they important? In this post, I’m exploring these delicate and sumptuous jewels.

A stunning gold meskia from Algeria, with pearls, rubies, emaralds and diamonds.
A beautiful gold meskia from Tunisia.

What is a meskia?

A meskia is a small, delicate pendant with an open worked lid, which contained fragrances. It is usually made of precious materials, such as gold, and decorated with gemstones and pearls. Its name, meskia, is derived from its content: it would hold musk, but was also used for other scented substances. [1]

These containers are relatively small and very opulent in their decoration. That tells us more about the importance attached to these jewels. So, what is that importance?

Meskia: fragrance and faith

Like its name suggests, the contents of boxes like these would have been musk. Musk is an important and popular scent, as it was said to be the favourite fragrance of the Prophet. In that respect, it carries a religious association.

Musk was a scent that was imported into the Mediterranean in Late Antiquity: the Persians had access to the trade with Central Asia. [2] This is where the musk deer lived, from whose glands the scent was first extracted.

Through the association with the Prophet, musk became extremely popular and was imported on a massive scale. That popularity continues until today. Musk is now largely synthetically produced, and you will find it in many shapes and forms throughout the Islamic world.

Style and execution: Ottoman luxury

The opulence of the meskia reflects its origin in the Ottoman period. The Ottoman Empire stretched across the Mediterranean, and included large parts of what is now Algeria and Tunisia. The splendour of the Ottoman court in current-day Istanbul traveled with Ottoman dignitaries, merchants and craftspeople to all corners of the empire. Here, it continued to inspire both the local elite and craftsmen who catered to a wealthy clientele.

" The meskia is a sign of status: both the container and its contents are precious and expensive"

Differences in meskia styles

Not all meskia-pendants are the same: their shape is similar, but there are differences in their execution that are particular to the regions where they have been made and worn. [3]

The Algerian meskia shown above (click to enlarge it) is made of ajour-cut sheet gold. The box itself is decorated with a rim of pearls. Its lid has been set with a border of rubies around a large central emerald. The floral design of the lid shows accents of small rubies and emeralds, and a few diamonds set in the silver leaves.

The Tunisian meskia (click to enlarge it) is made in a different technique: its lid is executed in fine filigree. The dangles of pearls and irregularly shaped precious stones serve to convey that same luxurious status.

Meskia: an urban jewel

Wearing a meskia has long been an urban tradition. [4] This is where the wealthier people lived: rich merchants, affluent families and of course the administrative and military Ottoman elite. They had access to the best craftsmen, as well as to precious stones used to decorated these perfume containers. The content of these containers was expensive as well. Wearing a meskia was a sign of wealth: not only because of the container, but because of the expensive perfume in it, too.

Outside of the main urban centres, fragrance was worn as well, but it took other forms such as the scented paste beads and silver perfume containers.

See more about those scented paste beads from North Africa in this article!

The meskia today: an important wedding jewel

The meskia is still part and parcel of wedding attire. Algerian and Tunisian brides wear elaborate necklaces made of scented paste beads, rows of pearls and a meskia container. As these jewels are quite costly, they can be rented for the day from the wedding planner. Through their combination of heritage, identity and faith, they add an important level of festivity to the wedding. It’s a small, but highly significant piece of jewellery!

Collage of a smiling woman from Egypt, wearing gold earrings, with dewy rose petals, jasmine and lilies. A bright yellow text box reads 'Scents of the Middle East'

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Explore the world of fragrance in the course Scents of the Middle East!

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References

[1] Eudel, Dictionnaire des Bijoux de l‘Afrique du Nord, under ‘meskia’, notes that ‘mesk’ is also a word used to indicate a leather pouch in which jewellery was stored. This shares the significance of a container designed to hold precious content.

[2] King, A.H. 2007. The musk trade and the Near East in the Early Medieval Period. PhD-thesis Indiana University, p. 239.

[3] As already noted by Eudel in his Dictionnaire des Bijoux de l‘Afrique du Nord, under ‘meskia’.

[4] Akam, F & A. Hanafi, 2003. La mode Ottomane dans les bijoux citadins, in: Bijoux & parures de’Algèrie, Somogy Editions d’Art, p. 37-41.

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].

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.

Eastern Treasures

Eastern Treasures

by | Reviews

a visual treasure

Eastern Treasures

Private collections are incredibly important. They add to our understanding of jewellery as heritage in all aspects imaginable, but are often hidden away in drawers and boxes, waiting to be pulled out and shared. Seeing a private collection is always an honour, and the book Eastern Treasures presents us with such an opportunity. It shares the collection of jewellery designer Oytun Evliyazade Camcigil, and is an absolute visual feast!

The collection has been put together by Oytun over three decades, and consists of pieces from the Ottoman world, Oman, Yemen and Turkmenistan. Eastern Treasures is a large volume of well over 300 full-colour pages filled with many marvelous pieces. As a jewellery designer, these pieces have inspired her in her own creations and the purpose of the book is to share photographs of the collection and her knowledge of these original jewellery pieces (p. XII).

Overview

The book starts with a preface and introduction that both serve to introduce Oytun’s love for jewellery and her appreciation of how jewellery functioned as more than just adornment. After that, the first chapter explores the use of jewellery as amulet and talisman in a selection of materials and forms. The main body of the book is formed by the four chapters on Ottoman, Omani, Yemeni and Turkmen jewellery, of which the Omani chapter is the largest. Each chapter is introduced with a brief description of the area presented (with maps! I love maps, they make it so much easier to visualize where we should picture the jewellery coming from), and then a wide variety of jewellery is shown in large photographs. After these four chapters follows a section on Oytun’s own creations, and the final chapter is on jewellery making techniques.

Ottoman jewellery

The Ottoman section contains examples of a variety of jewellery. Here, we see how jewellery is not limited to individual countries, such as in a niello bracelet from Diyarbakir that was also worn and produced in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, some 300 kilometers further (p. 59).

Omani jewellery

The focus of attention in the book is definitely the chapter on Omani jewellery, which is by far the largest: with 113 pages, it takes up about one third of the entire book. Here, we see the length and width of Omani silversmithing in a wide array of techniques, forms and decorations. You will not simply see a single sample piece, but a multitude of similar pieces within a type which, upon closer inspection, all are unique. As Oytun writes for example in the caption of a collection of bracelets: ‘Although similar in appearance, each has a different motif and is therefore unique’ (p. 110). In this chapter most of the pieces shown are also listed with their vernacular name. Zooming in further, close up photos show details such as the opening and closing of an amulet container (p. 136) or the opening mechanism of anklets (p. 118). The collection itself is of excellent quality, with several rare items such as a piece of hair decoration (p. 188) or amulet bottle stoppers (p. 159). Very rare and informative is the detail of an original Maria Theresia Thaler, struck in 1763 (p. 154-155).

Yemeni and Turkmen jewellery

I enjoyed reading the section on Yemeni jewellery in tandem with Marjorie Ransom’s book Silver Treasures from the Land of Sheba: Oytun’s pieces add to those depicted in Marjorie’s book and going through both of them was a real pleasure as they amplify one another. The section on Turkmen jewellery at the end is brief, but contains a beautiful example of a child’s dress that is showed front and back on two individual pages, which provides the opportunity to admire it in detail.

Creations

Having read all these chapters, the next section on Oytun’s own creations is wonderfully put into context. The love she has for the style and aesthetic of traditional jewellery is clearly visible in her designs, and as she writes herself, using old components in new designs extends their lifespan (p. 263). The way Eastern Treasures is written from the point of view of a designer inspired by these heritage pieces, is yet another angle from which to appreciate and value the long life of jewellery and to have a perspective on that longevity. When the author writes ‘For us to be able to enjoy our future, we need to treasure and value our past’, I could not agree more.

Layout and photography

This is very much a photographic book, with most of the available space devoted to photography.* Jewellery pieces have been carefully arranged against backdrops such as old doors, wooden print blocks, pieces of coral and shell, a variety of fabrics and even rice and lentils (which work really well), but in the Omani section also worn on models, which really brings them to life. The large format of the book and the generous size of the photographs make for hours of gazing and enjoying the many stunning pieces. Each caption contains a description of the jewellery piece presented and points out particular details. Often additional information is added as briefly well, such as who would wear the piece or what its significance was. The text and captions are not referenced, so there is no telling whether the information shared is based on literature research or from Oytun’s many conversations with women and jewellery dealers (p. XVI) or both, but there is a helpful overview for further reading at the end of the book. An index at the end makes for easy searching within the volume.

An important resource for Omani jewellery

The power of this book is in its careful selection of jewellery pieces from a clearly defined geographical area, and notably in its splendid collection of Omani jewellery. With many books on Omani jewellery out of print or difficult to obtain, Eastern Treasures provides an important visual reference collection for Omani jewellery. It’s safe to say you will not find a comparable collection of Omani jewellery in another book that is currently available. Eastern Treasures is an absolutely beautiful photographic book that will add to your understanding of the variety within silver jewellery, and above all, will bring you much joy!

Eastern Treasures. Ottoman Oman Yemen Turkmen Jewellery (2017). By Oytun Evliyazade Camcigil.

316 pp, full colour, in English.

Available through publisher Gilgamesh through Amazon or with the author.

The book was purchased from Oytun directly.

*Three images have their colour balance off and appear more yellow, however, these do not make the book any less spectacular.