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Also, the beads were described as antique Yemeni and made of black coral. Below are a few more detailed photos, and I would love some help in ID'ing the material, provenance and the meaning of the Arabic words.
These are very beautiful beads. I have never seen a prayer strand with big beads with the writing. I really like them. I don't know how to string them but I am sure someone on the forum will be able to tell you.
The large beads look like damascene work.
amazing piece. the bigger pieces do not look yemeni to me, or maybe they are but so old that we can go back to ottoman time.
it remembers me something i saw but i forgot where and what. it will come sure and if intersting, i ll post about
Thanks everyone.
Anna Garner, in her description of such prayer beads says "The center for fabricating this kind of prayer rope was Istanbul, Turkey, capital of the Ottoman Empire, during the 1800s. The silver used in such work had to be up to the Empire's standards. By the early 1900s, the Empire was gone, the manufacturing of these beads had stopped but these antique prayer ropes have lasted."
Source page: http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/craftsofthepast/380910...
So perhaps it's not surprising that the bead reads Istanbul?
I've included more photos with details of the larger bead here, and hope someone can help interpret the characters and symbols.
I've just realized that one of the characters on the big bead (further below) is an ottoman tughra. Not sure what that means though....
Also, there are 145 small beads, 8 medium sized beads, 1 large bead and a long terminal bead. I was told that prayer bead necklaces either have 33 beads o3 101....So would this mean that some of the beads probably came from another necklace?
Hello Preethi, This looks like a strand of prayer beads name yusr made usually from black coral (but the material is hard to see on your picture because they shine so much). Here by a photo of one of mine (a very old one except the tassel) to see how you can strung them. Hope this helps.
islamic prayer beads are arranged in numbers divisible by 3 which may include beads of different form acting as markers or separators, plus whatever is used at the end.
Buddhist (and Hindu) prayer beads should be 108, christian rosaries may have as many as 150! so that might be what these are with the cross missing, or could they come from more than one string?
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