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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