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Islamic World · c. 700 – today

Nazar evil-eye beads

Meaning

The nazar (Arabic 'sight') is a glass bead of concentric circles, dark blue, white, light blue and black: an eye that looks back. The envious glance meets another eye instead of its target.

Intent

It absorbs or deflects the evil eye, the harm that envy does, even unintentionally. It is pinned on babies, hung in houses, cars and workplaces, and built into new buildings. A cracked nazar is thought to have done its job and must be replaced.

Significance

It is the world's most mass-produced protective object and a national symbol of Turkey and Greece (mati). It has its own emoji (🧿, added in 2018) and continues an eye-bead tradition over 3,000 years old.

History

Eye beads appear in Egypt and Mesopotamia by the 15th century BCE and were spread by Phoenicians. The Turkish nazar boncuğu tradition centres on glassmakers of İzmir (Görece and Kurudere villages) and dates back at least to the Ottoman period.

Making yours
Flame-worked or furnace-wound glass. Cobalt disc, white ring, pale blue ring, black pupil. 1–20 cm.
Islamic World: the tradition

Islamic theology distinguishes forbidden amulets (tama'im, charms trusted in themselves) from permitted protection by God's word, so the characteristic Islamic amulet is textual: Qur'anic verses, especially the Throne Verse (2:255) and the last two suras, the Mu'awwidhatayn, along with the Ninety-Nine Names of God, magic squares (wafq) and the Seal of Solomon. Scholars such as al-Buni (d. 1225) wrote manuals of letter and number magic. The hand of Fatima and the blue eye bead came from pre-Islamic Mediterranean practice and remained hugely popular. Talismanic art reached a peak at the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal courts in shirts, armour, bowls and seals.

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Glazen Turks oog, nazar bonjuk, hangend in goudkleurig hartmotiefGlazen Turks oog, nazar bonjuk, hangend in goudkleurig hartmotiefNetherlands · 2000[Dignatarios nazaríes de la Sala de los Reyes del Palacio de la Alhambra] [Material gráfico no proyectable][Dignatarios nazaríes de la Sala de los Reyes del Palacio de la Alhambra] [Material gráfico no proyectable]Spain · 1766Glass eye beadGlass eye bead4th century B.C.o.T. [Nazar Boncuk]o.T. [Nazar Boncuk]GermanyIesus Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum.Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum.GermanyProtect from evil eyeProtect from evil eyeGroningenNazar Prokofjevitsj Sjirin (1904–1943), sovjetisk krigsfange. Gravminne på Aukra kirkegård.Nazar Prokofjevitsj Sjirin (1904–1943), sovjetisk krigsfange. Gravminne på Aukra kirkegård.NorwayGlass eye beadsGlass eye beadscirca 330–70 B.C.Glass eye beadGlass eye beadca. 4th century B.C.Glass eye beadsGlass eye beads4th–3rd century B.C.Iron Age or Roman BeadIron Age or Roman Beadbetween 100 BC and 200String of 10 BeadsString of 10 Beads400–200 BC Period: Late Period–Ptolemaic PeriodString of 12 Eye BeadsString of 12 Eye Beads600–200 BC Period: Late Period–Ptolemaic PeriodString of 22 eyed beadsString of 22 eyed beadscirca 1295 date QS:P571,+1295-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 –1186 B.C. Period: New Kingdom Dynasty: Dynasty 19String of 32 Eyed BeadsString of 32 Eyed Beadsmid 10th–late 8th century BC Period: Third Intermediate PeriodString of 5 eyed beadsString of 5 eyed beads525–332 B.C.? Period: Persian Period to Late Period ?Turecko Nazar amuletTurecko Nazar amuletan Iron age or Roman glass beadan Iron age or Roman glass beadbetween 300 BC and 400Composite eye beadComposite eye bead5th Century B.C. to 1st Century A.D. Period: Late Period or Roman PeriodGlass compound eye beadGlass compound eye beadca. 4th century B.C.Glass eye beadsGlass eye beads6th–4th century B.C.Iron age beadIron age beadbetween 50 BC and 410String of 11 Eye BeadsString of 11 Eye Beads6th–3rd century BC Period: Late Period–Ptolemaic PeriodString of 12 Eyed BeadsString of 12 Eyed Beads7th–10th century Period: IslamicString of 26 Eyed BeadsString of 26 Eyed Beadsmid 10th–late 8th century BC Period: Third Intermediate PeriodString of 4 Eyed BeadsString of 4 Eyed Beads1200–1070 BC Period: New KingdomGlass eye beadGlass eye bead4th–3rd century B.C.NazarNazarNazar BoncuğuNazar BoncuğuString of 11 Eyed BeadsString of 11 Eyed Beadscirca 1300 date QS:P571,+1300-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 –1200 B.C. Period: New Kingdom Dynasty: Late Dynasty 19String of 17 eyed beadsString of 17 eyed beadscirca 1186 date QS:P571,+1186-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 –525 B.C. Period: New Kingdom to Late PeriodString of 27 Eyed BeadsString of 27 Eyed Beads1st–mid 4th century or later Period: Roman Period or laterString of 5 Eyed BeadsString of 5 Eyed Beads600–1000 Period: Islamic perhapsString of 7 Eyed BeadsString of 7 Eyed Beads1st Millennium BC–1st Millennium AD Period: Third Intermediate Period–Islamic PeriodString of ninety-seven glass eye beadsString of ninety-seven glass eye beads6th–4th century B.C.Celtic glass bead (MAK-LRCeltic glass bead (MAK-LR120 B.C.–20 A.D.Composite eye beadComposite eye bead5th Century B.C. to 1st Century A.D. Period: Late Period to Roman PeriodGlass beadsGlass beads4 th century AD date QS:P571,+350-00-00T00:00:00Z/7Glass eye beadGlass eye beadca. 4th century B.C.Iron Age to Roman : BeadIron Age to Roman : Beadbetween 150 BC and 100LVPL-26BA21LVPL-26BA21between 150 BC and 100String of 10 Eye BeadsString of 10 Eye Beads5th–4th Century B.C. Period: Late Period: PersianString of 12 Eyed BeadsString of 12 Eyed Beadsmid 10th–late 8th century BC Period: Third Intermediate PeriodString of 26 Eyed BeadsString of 26 Eyed Beadsmid 10th–late 8th century BC Period: Third Intermediate PeriodString of 9 Eyed BeadsString of 9 Eyed Beads9th–15th century Period: Islamic PeriodAmasra, 2016Amasra, 2016Glass eye beadGlass eye bead4th–3rd century B.C.Iron Age glass beadIron Age glass beadbetween 800 BC and 100String of 12 Eye BeadsString of 12 Eye Beads6th–3rd century BC Period: Late Period–Ptolemaic PeriodString of 21 Eye BeadsString of 21 Eye Beads6th–3rd century BC Period: Late Period–Ptolemaic PeriodString of 32 Eyed BeadsString of 32 Eyed Beadsmid 10th–late 8th century BC Period: Third Intermediate PeriodString of 5 Eyed BeadsString of 5 Eyed Beads12th century ? Period: IslamicGlass mosaic beadGlass mosaic bead1 st century AD date QS:P571,+050-00-00T00:00:00Z/7Iron age beadIron age beadbetween 50 BC and 410String of 11 Eyed BeadsString of 11 Eyed Beadscirca 1300 date QS:P571,+1300-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 –1200 B.C. Period: New Kingdom Dynasty: Late Dynasty 19String of 12 Eyed BeadsString of 12 Eyed Beads3rd to 4th Century A.D. or later Period: Roman Period or laterString of 27 Eye BeadsString of 27 Eye Beads6th–3rd century BC Period: Late Period–Ptolemaic PeriodString of 4 Eyed BeadsString of 4 Eyed Beads1200–1070 BC Period: New KingdomString of 7 Eyed BeadsString of 7 Eyed Beadscirca 1000 date QS:P571,+1000-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 B.C. or later Period: Late New Kingdom or laterAnkara, Turkey - panoramio - Robert Helvie (7)Ankara, Turkey - panoramio - Robert Helvie (7)

More from Islamic World: Khamsa / Hand of Fatima · Qur’an & amulet cases (hirz, ta’wiz) · Talismanic scrolls & sheets · Talismanic shirts & textiles · Talismanic seals & engraved stones · Maghreb & Tuareg silver · Other & unsorted Islamic World
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