Bedouin Silver

Gemstones in general are not selected solely for their natural beauty but also for their symbolic significance, often rooted deep in the dawn of civilization.
The precise use for each individual gemstone varies according to time and place; the attributed significance having been carried by the tide of exchange and change that has washed over this region for millennia. In general, they are all said to ward off the evil eye, the mother of all misfortune.

Coral is said to prevent insanity and fits, and to install wisdom. Necklace with coral, faux amber and glass beads, Palestine

Softer natural elements, such as cloves and hair, are occasionally combined with harder materials; strings of clove are used to add olefactory charm to a necklace and are said to have a beneficial effect on the wearer. In Morocco, hollow silver ornaments worn in the hair are filled with perfumed sheep’s wool, a use seen in Mauritania as well. As the ornament sways, a gentle fragrance surrounds the wearer. In Syria, Palestine, Jordan and Egypt alum is used in jewelry for its apotropeic value; it is usually either encased in a metal frame or decorated with a net of beads.

Amber is said to hold the warmth of the sun and its rejuvenating powers. Detail of a necklace of coral, amber and silver amulets, Morocco

Amber has always been greatly coveted by women from the Middle East. The hardened resin is said to hold the rejuvenating warmth of sunlight and, when worn on a necklace, would cure throat-aches. As it was imported from as far away as the Baltic region, its price was high and varieties like copal amber or even imitations like celluloid amber or reconstructed amber were widely available. The difference is sometimes very hard to tell, and the magical properties attributed to the material justifies the use material that only resembles amber.

Detail of a Palestinian wedding necklace of clove, coral and glass beads, and camel bone

In Palestine, a bride would wear a necklace strung with fragrant cloves. On the morning of her wedding, she would bathe herself in the water used to soak the clove; the fragrant water as well was said to have beneficient effects on the woman that would wash herself with it. In Kabylia, Algeria, wedding necklaces with pieces of clove are used as well. As brides are especially vulnerable for the Evil Eye, no method to protect them are left unused.

Agate beads

Beads of agate are widely used as well due to their magical properties. White agate is said to stimulate milk production for young mothers, brown agate is a good remedy against neck pains and yellow agate helps with intestinal diseases.