Tuareg Earrings – Tanit – Mali

1960′-1970′ – Silver gr. 7,7 (0.27 oz); cm. 5,8 (2.28”) high x cm. 2,9 (1.14”) width.

In these earrings, the sign of the goddess Tanit, very ancient apotropaic symbol against misfortune and the evil eye. For the Carthaginians, Tanit was the goddess of fertility, love and pleasure, associated with good luck, the Moon and harvest. 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, they 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).