Tuareg Crosses – TAHOUA – Niger

Mid 20th century. Silver, wool. Each cross is cm. 7,7 x 4,5 (3.03” x 1.77”); gr 32,9 (1.16 oz). The Tuareg people, is divided into 21 tribes (kel), and each tribe has a relevant territory and its own cross.The Tuareg crosses are worn by men or women alike: they have magical significance (value protection). The Tuareg live in one of the most inhospitable areas of the planet: their whole existence, difficult and precarious, is dominated by an overriding concern to protect and defend themselves from supernatural forces that inhabit the hostile environment – the “Jinn” (evil spirits, from the terrible Ghul, to Ifrit, no less cruel in tending traps to travelers) – and gain the protection of beneficial genes. Sold