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The Collector(s) / Donor(s) Robert Glew recently received his Ph.D. in cultural anthropology at Michigan State University. He is currently working in the Office of International Studies in Education at MSU. Having spent several years in the West African country of Niger as a Peace Corps Volunteer, he returned to the city of Zinder (Niger) in 1995 to study issues of Muslim identity for his dissertation. While living in Zinder in 1995 he examined the use of writing by Muslim clerics and made a fine collection of over 65 objects related to this subject for Michigan State University Museum. Collector(s) / Donor(s) Statement The Object(s) The Tuareg are nomads living in the desert and sahel regions of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Algeria, and Libya. Tuareg blacksmiths (inadan) are famous for their fine silverwork. Like many smiths in this part of the world, the inadan belong to an exclusive social group who only marry among themselves. The male members of this group carve wood implements and forge metal, the female members are leatherworkers and weavers. Among the many types of silver jewelry they fabricate are special rings called tazbit. The exterior surface of these rings usually are engraved with a design commonly referred to as a magic square. The interior is engraved with an inscription taken from a Muslim religious text. The two work together as a means for eliciting spiritual assistance from Allah (God). The ring functions as a type of amulet that can provide spiritual protection and good fortune for its wearer. This particular ring was commissioned by Glew from Abdoulaye Alhadi, a well-known silversmith in Zinder. Further Information Books and Articles René Bravmann. African Islam. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1983. Kristyne Loughran. Art from the Forge. Washington, DC: National Museum of African Art, 1995. Johannes Nicolaisen and Ida Nicolaisen. The Pastoral Tuareg: Ecology, Culture, and Society. 2 vols. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997. Internet Resourcesnone
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