Antique Tuareg Tribal Leather and Silver Tcherot Amulet, Morocco or Mauritania
A very old Tuareg Tcherot Box Amulet or Talisman, used hold a Koranic or protective verse.
This lovely leather and silver amulet is decorated with etching.
Amulet measures 3.5" tall and and 1.4" at narrowest width.
1940's or earlier.
Pendant Item 641
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The Tcherot are talismans, worn by the Tuareg in the Sahara and by other Berber people in the extreme south of Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania.
They are supposed to bring luck and blessings and drive away evil. The effectiveness of the talismans lies in the belief in their intrinsic power that is believed to come from the metal of which they are made (silver, iron, copper, brass), from their content and from their shape.
In the Tuareg language (Tamahaq), the literal sense of the word ?ǣTcherot?ǥ means ?ǣletter?ǥ, ?ǣmessage?ǥ or ?ǣpaper on which something is written?ǥ. The word Tcherot is used in Niger, while these talismans are called ?ǣTaraout?ǥ in Algeria, ?ǣTakard???ǥ in Mali and ?ǣKitab?ǥ in Mauritania.
The Tcherot often has the form of a metal or leather box and holds a sheet of paper on which is written magic letters, numbers, names of days, names of the stars and planet, or signs representing the eye.
