Middle Eastern weddings

What is dowry jewellery?

Published Feb 09, 2024

Dowry jewellery is hugely important in North Africa and Southwest Asia. Why is that, and what is dowry jewellery?

Dowry jewellery in the Middle East and North Africa

The custom of giving jewellery to a woman on her marriage – the largest gift of jewellery she will ever receive on a single occasion – has a long history in the region.

The dowry gift is generally known as mahr, a term that varies in different languages and dialects. In Morocco for example is it known as sadaq, and in Nubia aba, but the Arabic mahr is understood everywhere.

Dowry jewellery in the Middle East: more than just jewels

The jewellery given to the bride carries far more meaning than your average sentimental wedding gift. This is because the dowry represents a woman’s personal assets, which she retains in the event of a divorce.

And that is tied directly to the value of the precious metal in the jewellery: long before the gold standard, banks and credit cards, wealth was derived from the precious metal content in coins and other valuable objects 0 like jewellery.

The particular gift of jewellery that forms part of the entire mahr is known as shabka in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, the Arab Peninsula and Jordan. Since the word shabka denotes jewellery, it has also become the general name for jewellery items that were traditionally given to a bride: a silver necklace, earrings, head ornaments and bracelets – or as much as the groom’s family could afford.

And that is also where the lines begin to get blurry, because there is no such thing as a ‘standard’ dowry.

What does a dowry jewellery set consist of?

So, what would be considered a decent dowry? The amount and value of the jewellery presented to brides varies from country to country; it even differs between regions and villages within particular countries. But it is equally important to brides throughout the region and is everywhere the subject of thorough negotiations between two families.

It’s easy to see how here, a conflict of interests may arise: the bride’s family desires her to be financially secure, while the groom’s family may have additional sons to marry, resulting in a greater financial obligation.

So, there is no standard or minimum value for a mahr, although sometimes the mahr of Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, is used as a measure. The amount of silver dirhams her husband Ali gave her upon their wedding is sometimes converted into the value they would have today, and used as an indication for the size of a dowry.

But in general, much depends on the outcome of the negotiations between the two families and the financial means of the groom and his family.

Providing the dowry jewellery

Having agreed upon a dowry is one thing, but actually providing it is another. The promptness of the dowry presentation differed throughout the region. Frequently, the presentation was divided between the engagement and the actual marriage.

This division can be according to local tradition. In some communities the groom is expected to present his bride to be with jewellery on every milestone event towards their wedding.

But providing the dowry in terms instead of all at once could also be for very practical reasons. Often, the amount of jewellery agreed upon could simply not be acquired because the groom and his family lacked the means to purchase it all.

And so, this would result in more of a commitment than in actual jewellery. In fact, in many instances, the mahr was never fully paid.

In such situations, the marriage contract would include a provision stating that the outstanding amount must be paid in the event of a divorce or the husband’s death. Essentially, this meant that the husband and his family would be in debt to his wife: she would always be entitled to her dowry jewellery.

Interestingly, the failure to fulfill the agreed-upon payment had a silver lining, as it served as a deterrent to future attempts by the husband to take on a second wife. If he could not afford the dowry jewellery of his first wife, how would he be able to offer a decent dowry to anyone else?

Showing the dowry jewellery

Although the size of the dowry varied, it was as a rule always shown publicly during the wedding festivities. A bride would be wearing all her new jewellery, which sometimes resulted in her carrying several kilos of silver. An example is the Yemeni bride shown above (click the image to enlarge it) – she is wearing so much jewellery that she can hardly move.

In other cases, the jewellery was displayed on its own, so everyone could inspect the pieces.

This practice of showing the jewellery served multiple purposes. Clearly, showcasing the successful agreement was a major reason. Showing off the jewellery literally communicates how both families has reached a good deal.

But it also served a practical objective. Displaying the jewellery at the wedding ensured that everyone in the community had witnessed the assets involved. This had a strategic aspect: if there was a need to sell some of the jewellery in the future to address household emergencies, the husband would be indebted to his wife for that portion of her personal capital.

And as everyone in the community had seen the jewellery with their own eyes, there would be no mistakes in keeping track of who was indebted to whom!

In some communities, the dowry jewellery would be marked with a red dot: this would not only keep evil away and add to the festivities, but would also clearly mark the jewellery as dowry jewellery: the unalienable assets of the woman.

After her wedding, the bride would continue to wear her wealth visibly. That includes the use of coins and other silver on dress, veils and headdresses, like the two examples in the gallery above.

Wedding jewellery: relatives and guests

In addition to the jewellery given by the groom, relatives and other wedding guests are often expected to present the bride with items of jewellery as well. These are often smaller than the groom’s gift, but contribute to the bride’s financial independence nonetheless. In the region around Hebron, the bride traditionally wore a miqlab, a piece of cloth that was decorated on the eve of her wedding by her aunts. On it, various silver pendants, amulets, coins and beads were sewn, all of which would later form part of her jewellery. [2]

Middle Eastern dowry jewellery: a complex world

The importance of jewellery as wedding gift is still hard to overestimate. If you have been invited to a wedding, you may have experienced that presenting the bride with jewellery is customary.

There is a world of clever uses of jewellery as a financial asset, inside views on dowry negotiations and its lasting effect in today’s world in the e-course on Dowry & Status: have a look and discover this aspect of Middle Eastern jewellery!

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References

[1] For an overview of the dowry in Palestine during several decennia, see Weir, S. 1989. Palestinian Costume. The Trustees of the British Museum, London, p. 230 – 240.

[2] Shelagh Weir relates that the miqlab was worn on the back of the bride during the first wedding-day procession, and on their chests for the final ‘going out’-procession. See Weir, S. 1989. Palestinian Costume. The Trustees of the British Museum, London, p. 184.

 

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