Tuareg Talisman – Bella Amulet on Leather Gris-Gris – Niger

Metal on leather grams 21,0 (0.74 oz.); cm. 9,0 high x cm. 7,2 width (3.54″ x 2.83″) .

Bella live Niger and Mali but are of Sudanese origin in Africa. The Bella tribe was formerly held in slavery by the Tuareg.

The Tuareg people inhabit a large area, covering almost all the middle and western Sahara and the north-central Sahel. They are probably descended from the ancient Libyan people of the kingdom of the Garamantes, described by Herodotus. Tuareg are mostly nomads. For over two millennia, the Tuareg operated the trans-Saharan caravan trade connecting the great cities on the southern edge of the Sahara via five desert trade routes to the northern coast of Africa (Mediterranean).

For more information and similar examples: “Silberschmuck aus der Sahara – Tuareg und Mauren”, Katalog zur Ausstellung der Galerie Exler& Co. Vom 27. November-23. Dezember 1982.

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