Sudan · Metalwork / Blacksmithing
Hafayid (protective disc pendant, meaning 'for protection'); matarig (choker); zumam (nose ring); teela (cylindrical bead); jitti (double cone-shaped gold bead)
Traditional silver jewelry of the Bishariya, a nomadic tribe of the eastern desert south of the Red Sea spanning southern Egypt and northern Sudan, distinguished within regional Muslim tribal jewelry traditions by their notable use of silver — particularly for protective amulets — alongside the gold more typically favored by most other Muslim tribal women of the region. The hafayid, an engraved, incised silver disc pendant whose name directly translates to 'for protection,' is chased with geometric patterns of concentric triangles surrounding a central rosette and traditionally worn suspended from a braided leather strap at the center of a necklace, sometimes paired with lion's-claw amulet forms and dangling protective bells. Documented examples held by the Victoria and Albert Museum date to the 19th century (1850-1899), with the broader Nubian jewelry vocabulary — including the matarig choker of agate teela beads interspersed with gold jitti beads, and the zumam gold nose ring — recorded in detail by the academic study Nubian Dress, Regional Folk Costumes of The Sudan.
Risk level: Endangered · Not independently inscribed
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