© Brid Beeler. All rights reserved.
I was delighted recently to be invited by the Zay Initiative to discuss traditional Middle Eastern jewellery as part of their 2022 Speaker Series. The Zay is a UK registered non-profit organization devoted to the Art of Arab dress. I was in conversation with Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli, founder of the Zay, who has been studying and documenting Arab dress and culture for over 40 years. Based in the UAE, her collection of historical clothing represents items worn by all levels of society across the region. The following are some of the points I discussed with Dr. Reem during our webinar.
© Brid Beeler. All rights reserved.
Jewellery was an important part of Bedouin life. As befitted their nomadic existence, everything the Bedouin owned had to be portable. Jewellery was both portable and an ideal form of storing wealth, rather like a savings account. It could be worn or sewn into the lining or pockets for ease of transport. The jewellery a bride received in her dowry was her security blanket in case of divorce. It was hers and hers alone. Jewelry was never handed down within families or reused. When a woman died it was sold in the market and either melted down or purchased by others.
When I first began collecting, Bedouin jewellery could be found easily in the suqs, small shops, and even in the upscale shopping malls. Today, it is much harder to find old traditional pieces. Often the larger items have been broken apart and restrung into smaller, more wearable pieces. Also, tastes have changed, with modern Arab women preferring gold produced in Asian factories.
© Brid Beeler. All rights reserved.
People often ask if Bedouin silver jewellery is ‘real’ silver? Yes, but the silver content varies greatly from piece to piece. Silver does not exist in a pure form naturally and, even if it did, it would be too soft to make into durable jewellery. The inclusion of base metals such as copper, tin, and zinc made the resulting alloy harder and better suited to the rugged demands of Bedouin life. Also, as pieces were melted down and remade, more base metals are added to make the silver go further in the manufacture of new items. While silver was mined on the peninsula, much of the silver in jewellery came from the large Maria Theresa Thaler coins minted in Austria and accepted as currency in the region until the 1960s. Being 83% pure silver, Thalers were either melted down or used as medallions. Even into the 1990s, I frequently saw them used as scale counterweights to determine the value of silver items being purchased.
© Brid Beeler. All rights reserved.
Other materials used by traditional jewellery makers include turquoise, amber, agate, garnet, carnelian, coral, pearl, gold, and red glass. All these materials were available on the Arabian Peninsula or imported via the ancient trade routes. Early travelers also conveyed jewellery making techniques and design motifs. For example, there’s a type of twisted wire bracelet commonly found in the traditional jewellery of central Arabia called a ‘Celtic’ bracelet similar to the Celtic torques worn in England and France in the first century BC. The design is thought to have originated in Arabia and been carried to Europe by Phoenician traders.
© Brid Beeler. All rights reserved.
If you fancy collecting a few pieces of Bedouin jewellery yourself, you would do well to consider design, workmanship, and authenticity over silver content. Higher silver content is nice if you find it but should not be a deciding factor in your purchase. While it’s largely a matter of personal preference, I rarely polish any of my traditional jewellery items (I only clean them with a solution of water and washing-up liquid) so ‘shine’ is not really a consideration. Some smaller items, such as rings, hirz pendants and amber necklaces are quite wearable, but poorly made pieces with rough edges that will snag on clothing should be avoided. Older pieces that show wear are likely to be more authentic and desirable. One element that I like to look for is a cartouche, or signature stamp. Traditional silversmiths did not have the capability of having their silver hallmarked but used a stamp to identify the craftsman and high standard of workmanship. You’ll only find a cartouche on the finest old pieces from Yemen.
Even If you don’t want to wear the jewellery you might consider framing one of the larger pieces; but be sure to use an acid-free backing to avoid getting a heavy, green tarnish behind the glass. It’s also worth considering alternative uses for the jewellery. I have a dozen large silver Bedouin toe rings that I use as napkin rings for special occasions. Practical…and a sure-fire conversation starter!
About the Author: Brid Beeler first went to live in Saudi Arabia in 1989 and stayed for a decade. Her career then led her to live and work in Yemen and Oman and work for some of the world’s top travel companies. She currently heads Brid Beeler Travel (www.bridbeelertravel.com) and travels in and out of the Kingdom regularly on tour or collaborating on programs. She has traversed every corner of Arabia and is never happier than delving into the culture and treasures of the peninsula.
Brid began taking American travelers to Saudi Arabia in 1998 and, in addition to operating tours, she has trained guides, worked on award-winning documentaries, and written extensively on the region. In 2015, she was the Tour Director for the Smithsonian tour to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, which followed their internationally acclaimed Roads of Arabia exhibit.
She has presented papers on eco-tourism in the Middle East region and was one of only a handful of women invited by the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation & Development and the Supreme Commission for Tourism to speak at the first International Conference on Eco-Tourism in Saudi Arabia in 2002. She has written for Foreign Affairs and the Arab British Chamber of Commerce. In addition, she has published travel articles in Middle Eastern newspapers and spoken on Middle Eastern travel at embassy functions in Washington DC. A strong proponent of Middle Eastern art, culture and traditions, she has spoken on the ethnic silver jewelry of the Arabian Peninsula at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle.
Back home in Ireland, Brid enjoys walks on the beach with her latest saluki, Rishan.