The Silver Crosses of the Tuareg: Jewellery of the Sahara
The Agadez cross is the best-known of the Tuareg's silver pendants, each named after a town or oasis in the Sahara. Here is what they are, who makes them, and what they mean.
It fits in the palm of a hand: a flat silver pendant shaped like a cross with a ring at the top, its arms flaring outward, its surface engraved with tiny lines and triangles. In the markets of Agadez, in the Sahara of northern Niger, you will see hundreds of them laid out on cloth — and if you ask about them, you will hear many different stories. This is the Agadez cross, the most famous piece of jewellery of the Tuareg people.
The people of the Sahara
The Tuareg are an Amazigh (Berber) people who have lived in the central Sahara and the Sahel for many centuries, in what is now Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso. They call themselves by names such as Kel Tamasheq ("those who speak Tamasheq") or Imuhagh/Imajeghen, depending on dialect. Historically many were nomadic herders and caravan traders, crossing the desert with camels laden with salt, dates and other goods.
They are famous for a few things: their indigo-dyed clothing, the veils worn by men (rather than women), their own script, Tifinagh, and their remarkable silver jewellery.
Who makes the crosses
Tuareg jewellery is made by specialist craftspeople called inadan (singular enad), a hereditary group of smiths who work silver, iron, wood and leather. They have a special status in Tuareg society — sometimes feared, sometimes respected — and have historically served as advisers, mediators and keepers of knowledge as well as craftsmen.
Many crosses are made by the lost-wax method. The smith carves a model in wax, encases it in clay, melts the wax out and pours molten silver into the mould. The piece is then filed, polished and engraved by hand. Silver is preferred to gold among the Tuareg, partly for reasons of tradition and belief.
Twenty-one crosses — and more
The pendants are often called "crosses," but they are not Christian symbols — the Tuareg are Muslim, and the origins of the shape are debated. Each design is traditionally linked to a town, oasis or region. A widely circulated list names 21 classic designs, including those of:
- Agadez — the archetype, with a ring above a flaring cross;
- Iferouane — a town in the Aïr mountains;
- In-Gall — the oasis famous for the Cure Salée gathering;
- Tahoua and Zinder — towns in southern Niger.
Some sources consider only a handful of these to be the original designs, with others developed later — partly for the growing market of visitors and collectors.
What do the crosses mean?
There is no single answer, and the Tuareg themselves tell different stories. Commonly mentioned interpretations include:
- The four directions. The arms point to the four corners of the earth. A frequently quoted explanation says a father gives his son the cross with the words, "I give you the four corners of the world, because one cannot know where one will die."
- Protection. The crosses are worn as amulets to protect against misfortune and the evil eye.
- Fertility and identity. Some scholars see links to symbols of fertility, to the camel saddle pommel, or to a star or the eye.
What is clear is that the crosses are tied to identity and place. In recent decades, the Agadez cross has become a symbol of Tuareg identity as a whole, worn by Tuareg people everywhere and recognised around the world.
Jewellery and life
Tuareg women traditionally own and wear much of a family's silver — bracelets, rings, earrings and elaborate necklaces — and jewellery is part of a woman's wealth. Men also wear silver, including crosses and protective amulets in leather cases. Jewellery is given at weddings and important moments of life.
The Tuareg share the Sahel with other nomadic peoples, including the Wodaabe, whose Gerewol festival is sometimes held alongside Tuareg gatherings at In-Gall.
Why it matters
The Tuareg cross shows how a small object can carry a whole world: craft passed down through generations of smiths, the geography of a desert people, and a parting gift from parent to child. Life in the Sahara is changing fast, under pressure from drought, conflict and modern borders. But in the markets of Agadez, the inadan are still at work, and the silver crosses still shine.
Further reading
- Native — The 21 Tuareg crosses of Niger
- Anja Fischer — Imuhar (Tuareg) jewellery
- Kristyne Loughran and Thomas K. Seligman (eds.), Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World (Cantor Arts Center / UCLA Fowler Museum, 2006)
