Large Tuareg Cross – TAHOUA - Niger

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Large Tuareg Cross – TAHOUA – Niger 20 th century. Silver alloy, gr 82,1 ( 2.89 oz ) - cm. 17,3 x 11,2 (6.81 ” x 4 .40” ). Piece decorated on both sides. This elaborate cross is often worn by wealthier women as a counterweight to keep their head-cloths or robes from being blown away by the Sahara's winds. 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). The Tuareg people, is divided into 21 tribes (kel), and each tribe has a relevant territory and its own cross. 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. Visit our website: http://www.amazigh.it/

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