Photos

Comments

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  Betty December 7, 2014 at 1:28pm

  Lovely piece, Mustafa. I like it very much - red and silver is always a great combination.
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  Mustafa J. Salem December 7, 2014 at 1:45pm

  Thanks Betty. I am pleased that you've liked this piece. I could still be cleaned for silver shine.
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  ait ouakli December 8, 2014 at 9:05am

  this is nice Mustafa, how you call them, salhat or salhiyat  ??
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  Mustafa J. Salem December 8, 2014 at 2:33pm

  Thanks Ait:

  The ones on the sides are called ' Huafer- for a horse shoe' while the one in the middle is a type of 'khmesa or khamsa'. The salha is usually rounded and closed not open is the 'Huafer'. Needless to say that this is as far as I kow from my humble knowledge.
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  ait ouakli December 8, 2014 at 4:59pm

  mustafa

  thank you so much, yes we call them hawafir and sfayeh too ( sfihat in some regions )

  the khamssa in the middle is wide in northafrica, the north of sahara, aures mountains until lybia. they represent the 2 protective elements : khamssa and salamder. this is a khamssa with salamander paw form
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  Betty December 8, 2014 at 5:26pm

  Thanks for the interesting info Mustafa and Rabah. This is the first time I hear about this type of Khamsa being made to represent a salamander paw!

  I love the Hawafir - I own a large own from Lybia stamped with a Tripolis hallmark which I love wearing.
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  ait ouakli December 8, 2014 at 7:45pm

  The salamander is high seen in many ethn8c groupes, in N Africa,its the same too. People have heritated the patternsand symbols that were trasmeted throw the time but the meanings of were lost in many cases.

  If you see some khamssas in matokko,specialy essaouira ones, they have salamanders complet ,some of djerbas too. Another ones have just an abstract touch of a salamander.

  The hardly one to understand and see is the tuareg one

  This, i leave it to you to find ( dont forget,abstract and hard to recognise,it is more the salamander way than itself ) good luck
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  Mustafa J. Salem December 8, 2014 at 8:09pm

  Thanks everybody for the contribution. Ait and Betty I learned  from you about the salamander, and I appreciate the contribution from both of you. In Tripoli I see that some mastersmiths do make the small salamanders even today. Apparently, the small ones are in demand  even if they are modern .
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  Lynn Ardent December 9, 2014 at 2:40am

  Gorgeous necklace and a great discussion.