Context (Acquisition Details)
(bio): Mrs. Barbara Spalding. Mrs. Spalding and her husband Michael worked as English teachers in Taiz, Yemen, from 1997-98 during which time she collected silver and talked to the men in the market silver shops.
Event Date 3/11/2004
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Brown wooden prayer beads with decorated with silver dots in a circular pattern, interspersed with smaller three ?coral or ?stone beads. The dots are formed by small pieces of metal, a few of which are missing, inserted into the wood. The beads are strung on thread. The necklace terminates in a similarly painted, but more conical-shaped bead and four silver spherical pendants on short silver chains.
Event Date 3/11/2004
Author: maa

Context (Production / use)
Used to count the repetition of prayers - in this case 33 beads would be cycled through three times to complete 99 recitations of a prayer or prayers. See Bosworth C.E. et al, 'The Encyclopedia of Islam', Vol IX, Leiden, Brill, 1997, pp742-743
Event Date 9/6/2023
Author: Stephanie Chinneck

Description (Physical description)
String of prayer beads, ‘misbaha’ or ’subhah’. A set of 33 spherical wooden beads decorated with silver dots, interrupted every 11 beads with; one set of two smaller ?coral beads on either side of a cylindrical wooden bead, one set of one ?coral and one cylindrical wooden bead, and one long cone shaped bead (yad) ending in a silver ball from which three chains ending in a silver ball hang which acts as a handle. It is possible that one ?coral bead is missing. The wooden balls are inlaid with silver dot decoration.

Event Date 9/6/2023
Author: Stephanie Chinneck