Salhayat

We have a vast collection of images here which have been shared over the years ...

Click on an image to see the discussions around the piece.

Enjoy!

Posted by Sigrid van Roode on March 8, 2011 at 4:32pm

A salhat or salhayat necklace from Libya. These necklaces are worn in Libya and in the Siwa Oasis in Egypt as a sign of motherhood.

SARAH CORBETT March 8, 2011 at 5:52pm

I love this piece. so wearable....

I recently picked up some very nice hallmarked pendants from one of these necklaces, I was wrongly advised that they were Tunisian, I shall no redress my ideas thank you Sigrid. I was also told that the pendants are often found with one piece of the fork snapped off as this shows the amount of children the wearer has....do you have any opinion on that?

Warm wishes

Sarah
Sigrid van Roode March 9, 2011 at 7:10am

Hi Sarah,

Yes, sometimes one of the ends has been broken off, in Egypt is said to be a sign that the mother bore a son. However, the practise of wearing this necklace is not the same everywhere: in some areas the number of pendants actually indicates the number of children, sometimes they are worn in larger quantities, but in general they all indicate the same status i.e. a mother. Weissenberger (1998) offers more information on these pendants in the publication of Frank Bliss, partially based on earlier research by Peter Schienerl.

I had a look at the pendant on your website and the stamp appears to be Libyan in fact! So it fits nicely into the region!
Alaa eddine SAGID August 2, 2011 at 7:54pm

Sarah, these are also popular pendants in south Tunisia

Photos