Meet The Beautiful East African 'Afar' Women And Their Unique Jewelry Adornment Style For Special Occassions

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The Afar is a population-based north of Ethiopia and is about one million divided into different opposing clans. They occupy the territory called “afar”, a triangle of about 150 000 km2 in which the southern angle is marked by the city of Awash, the eastern angle by the city of Djibouti, and the northeastern angle by Dahlak Islands in Eritrea.

The history of the Afar people has been lost in the mists of the time due to the indoctrination of Arab Islamists. Before Islamization, the Afar’s apparently already believed in a single God who could not have material representation. The Afar people speak Afar-Af, a language of Cushitic origin. They wear amulets with qur’anic verses to protect themselves from demons and evil spirits.

The stylish Afar women also wear their jewelry both as a display of their wealth and as adornments of beauty, most notably on special occasions such as their wedding day.

Wedding ceremonies take place in the house of the bride’s family where friends and relatives enjoy their porridge. Upon marriage, residence is normally patrilocal and the couple may stay there until the bride gives birth to a child.

As a result of trade, some of the jewelry worn by Afar women comes from as far away as Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, and India.

Additionally, these highly prized items are sometimes used as commodities for bartering purposes.

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