Photos

Comments

• 

  Eva Baby November 12, 2012 at 2:08pm

  Wow! So many!  I had two, one fell on the kitchen floor (made of hard plates) and broke... so I have one now. It is very old too. I guess you know that they are worn on the upper arm and considered as "weapons" (in ancient times at least).
• 

  Harald November 12, 2012 at 9:44pm

  I do own a few of those, have you any idea about their age? Is it possible there are old ones and newer ones?

  You see them rather frequent for sale in the Netherlands.

  Some people tell they are very old, some say they are Sahara finds, some say they are presents from girlfriends in Mali to their beloved man.

  One person I know tells me they are old Faraoan-Egyptian, but this is nonsense. 

  Used as weapen? They have much more effective knives on them.
• 

  Harald November 12, 2012 at 9:45pm

  Were does the word hombori come from? Do you know the meaning of this word?
• 

  ait ouakli November 12, 2012 at 11:35pm

  Hombori is the name of a chaine of mountains, all the region arround is called hombori district.

  some of this chaine of mountains has the form of hand,called fatma hand.

  in this region, there is touareg,dogon,songhai,fulani and some another groupes too.

  the region is rich of different stones, one of the is this kind of light marble.

  they are not used as weapon, they brake easy ,so as weapon they are not optimal.

  i know that the touareg men wear them because they believe that this stone give them some power and it is also a symbol that they are engaed with a girl, so, Harald .what you heared about gift from the women is true.

  another cultures in the area wear them too for another aspects .

  homboris have nothing to do with the pharaons, atleast what i know. there is some that are 1000 years old and some are made 30 years ago.

  the verry old ones are archeological found and as i mentioned verry  rare.

  the ones i posted. there is some older than 100 years and some less than 50
• 

  ait ouakli November 12, 2012 at 11:42pm

  Eva, i still have more :-)

  i had offer of one in sodalith. never seen before.estimated more than 150 years old and came as stone and worked ther to a bracelet.

  i liked it a lot but the price was high for my budget.maybe next time
• 

  Eva Baby November 13, 2012 at 7:35am

  This is the "Main de Fatouma", a part of the mountain chain starting in Douentza, leading to the east. The mountain group looking like the Main de Fatouma repeats itself again and again when travelling along the autoroute, once to the right, once to the left of the route. It is most beautiful area. However it always lies a little in the fog mixed with sand in the air, giving it a slightly unclear appearance. After the rainy season there are little lakes near the rocks, if you are lucky you can take a photo with them reflecting in the water. Many ethnies live here, but the one most present are the Fulani (Peul).
• 

  ait ouakli November 13, 2012 at 8:14am

  Thank you Eva. the area is beautiful until magic. i was never there but it is my dream.

  i have a friend who travels a lot in Sahara, he got three times Malaria in 7 years ( his fault, he doesn ´t care ) . his wish, in case he gets malaria again, to go to this mountains and stay there until he dies.

  of course it sounds nice and romantic but i naswered him that i will find him and pull him from his ears ( he has long ones, we call him fennek) to the hospital. later on ,when he gets better, we drive there , build a tent and stay for a while just appreciating this beautiful paradise
• 

  Eva Baby November 13, 2012 at 8:34am

  AIt Ouakli: this is terrible (your friend's wish!!!). I never had Malaria (Palud), although I only took the preventive tablets the first time I was in Mali. The side-effects of the tablets were very strong (I felt sick most of the time). After this first time, I did not take them anymore, but took them with me (they can be used as medicament in case you get Malaria, if taken immediately, it will take the sickness away). Perhaps modern medicine has developed better medicaments the last two years, I don't know. As written under some of the pictures, I got sick too when I was there, but I got a terrible cold with fever, as we slept on the floor of some farms. It was romantic, beautiful, but too cold at night. I got a bronchitis, and had no medicaments until we reached Timbuktu (after having been in Gao first). But I fell in love with these mountains, they are really wonderful.  But also the Bandiagara mountains (Dogonland) which is near Douentza (usually one starts in Mopti) are breathtaking. I think  the Hombouri mountains and Dogonland originate from the same mountain group. Unfortunately my last trip along the Hombouri mountains is years ago........... and with the present difficult political situation and most of my family having left Timbuktu,  we will not go to Mali this winter. (Sad!!!).
• 

  Eva Baby November 13, 2012 at 9:38am

  http://www.mineralienmesse.ch/3401/index.html

  If someone is near Zurich, interested in Minerals and precious / semi precious stones, jewels, curiosities, often they also sell arrow heads from the Sahara, and many more...........
• 

  Harald November 13, 2012 at 4:28pm

  Thanks for the beautiful pictures Eva and Ait for the long mail about these bracelets!