Gambia · Sacred / Ritual / Religious Craft Objects
Lip and Gum Tattooing (as formally named in The Gambia's National ICH Inventory); the related Fulani-tradition term documented regionally is tchoodi (also tunpungalle, socou-gol)
The permanent tattooing of the lips and gums with soot-based dye, historically practiced among the Serer, Wolof, and Fula ethnic groups of The Gambia as a beautification ritual and coming-of-age rite of passage performed on adolescent girls, formally documented in The Gambia's National Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory (2023, Central River Region). The ceremony traditionally took place during the dry season; the girl lay on her back with her head resting in the tattooist's lap while a dye made from black soot was applied using a small bundle of thorns or needles to puncture the skin around the lips and, in the wider regional tradition documented among related Fulani communities, the inner gums. Enduring the pain was understood as a public testament to the young woman's strength and maturity, marking her transition into marriageable womanhood; the resulting dark, permanent lip and gum coloration was considered a mark of lasting beauty, contrasting strikingly with reddish skin tones and white teeth.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not independently inscribed on a UNESCO international list; formally documented as one of the six inventoried elements from The Gambia's Central River Region in the country's own National Intangible Cultural Heritage Register (2023)
The molding and open-firing of swamp clay into household pottery by women of the Nyenno clan across The Gambia's Upper and Central River Regions, formally documented in the country's own National Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory…
The hand-spinning and loom-weaving of locally grown cotton into cloth, historically practiced across most communities of The Gambia's Upper River Region, where cotton served as the principal regional cash crop.
The collection and stitch-knitting of bamboo sticks into beds, chairs, stools, and brooms, practiced in the community of Majumba, The Gambia, and formally documented as one of six inventoried elements from the Central River Region in The…
The pounding of rice grains into paste and baking of the paste into cake, performed as a multi-stage communal food craft central to a rice cake festival held at the start of the farming season in The Gambia, formally documented in the…
The combined leatherwork, weaving, dyeing, embroidery, and blacksmithing craft producing the elaborate horse trappings and rider regalia of the Durbar festival, a cavalry procession and royal-homage tradition held during Eid celebrations…
A distinctive bridal henna tradition specific to Misrata, Libya's coastal city, in which a wool rope (nira) is used instead of a cone applicator to wrap the bride's hands and feet in a fishnet pattern, directly reflecting the city's deep…
A distinctive Nubian bridal henna tradition practiced in Aswan-area villages resettled after the Aswan Dam displacements, historically maintained through Nubia's kinship ties with Sudan and reflected in specifically Sudanese-influenced…
The transformation of a ram's or other kosher animal's horn into a shofar, the ceremonial trumpet blown during Jewish High Holiday services, particularly Rosh Hashanah, when one hundred blasts punctuate the synagogue liturgy as a call to…
The hand-weaving of the tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, on traditional looms in Jerusalem's Old City, a craft with roots reaching back to antiquity in the Holy Land, where Jewish artisans historically dominated the weaving and dyeing…
The painting of religious icons and monastery wall paintings within Syria's Syriac Christian communities, a tradition with continuous documented evidence spanning the seventh through thirteenth centuries CE and continuing as a living…