UA-61727837-1
Omani antique silver earrings
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Already after two weeks a new born baby´s ears are pierced in Oman. In the book "travels of Arabia" by Lieut Wellsted 1838 he gives a detailed description of his travels in Oman, on page 351 he states " Among the lower classes , their dress otherwise consists of a loose pair of trousers, with a running girdle, and a large gown or skirt of blue cotton; their arms and ankles are decorated with bracelets and ankle-rings of silver or amber (?); and in their ears they wear a variety of rings and other ornaments "Wellsted also writes in 1838: "Considerable sums are lavished by the females in the purchase of various silver ornaments, and their children are literally burdened with them. I have counted as many as fifteen ear-rings on either side" ! Clearly referring to the Dufuf / Nisa earrings. In the photo in Bibi Salme´s Memoirs to an Arabian princess 1886 she also wears Dufuf / Nisa earrings, but these may have been of gold.
Emily Ruete in Memoirs of an Arabian Princess (1888 Ward & Downey London edition page 62) writes: "if it be a girl, she has holes pricked in her ears on the seventh day (after birth) with a needle and thread of red silk, generally six holes in each ear, to which heavy gold rings are attached for ever when she is two months old. I say "for ever" because females who do not wear earrings either mourn a deceased relation or they have no holes pierced"
Omani antique silver Nisa earrings