Siwa : jewelry, costume, and life in an Egyptian oasis / Margaret Vale.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vale, Margaret Mary, author.

Contributor:

Phi Beta Kappa Library Trust Fund.

Standardized Title:

Sand and silver

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Costume--Egypt--Sīwah Oasis.

Costume.

Jewelry--Egypt--Sīwah Oasis.

Jewelry.

Sīwah Oasis (Egypt)--Social life and customs.

Sīwah Oasis (Egypt).

Egypt--Sīwah Oasis.

Physical Description:

x, 231 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cairo ; New York : The American University in Cairo Press, 2014.

Summary:

Siwa is a remote oasis deep in the heart of the Egyptian desert near the border with Libya. Until an asphalt road was built to the Mediter-ranean coast in the 1980s, its only links to the outside world were by arduous camel tracks. As a result of this isolation, Siwa developed a unique culture manifested in its crafts of basketry, pottery, and embroidery and in its styles of costume and silverwork. The most visible and celebrated example of this was the silver jewelry that was worn by women in abundance at weddings and other ceremonies. Based on conversations with women and men in the oasis and with reference to old texts, this book describes the jewelry and costume at this highpoint of Siwan culture against the backdrop of its date gardens and springs, social life, and dramatic history. It places the women's jewelry, costume, and embroidery into social perspective, and describes how they were used in ceremonies and everyday life and how they were related to their beliefs and attitudes to the world. The book also describes how, in the second half of the twentieth century, the arrival of the road and of television brought drastic change and the oasis was exposed to the styles and fashions of the outside world, and how the traditional silver ornaments were gradually replaced by gold. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 North African Jewelry and Textiles 5

The Oasis 13

2 History and Tradition 13

3 The Oasis of Siwa 21

4 Camels and Cargoes 37

5 Siwa Town 45

6 The World of Women 57

Yesterday

7 Motifs and Magic 79

8 Marriage Yesterday 89

9 The Jewelry of Siwa 99

10 Silver Ornaments and Colored Beads 109

11 The Silversmiths 127

12 From Silver to Gold 139

Today

13 Everyday and Festive Dress 147

14 Wedding Costumes 163

15 The Wedding: Betrothal, Trousseau, and Marriage Payment 171

16 The Wedding: Preparations 179

17 The Wedding: Ceremonies 187

18 Winds of Change 197.

Notes:

Originally published: [S.I.] : Kelim Press, c2011.

"First published in 2011 as Sand and Silver : Jewellery, Costume, and Life in Siwa Oasis by Kelim Press. -- t.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Phi Beta Kappa Library Trust Fund.

ISBN:

9774166817

9789774166815

OCLC:

887850989

Publisher Number:

99965188747