Name of Object:

Headdress

Name in original language:

Saffeh

Location:

Amman, Jordan

Holding Institution:

Jordan Museum for Costumes and Jewellery, Department of Antiquities

 About Jordan Museum for Costumes and Jewellery, Amman

Date of Object:

Late 19th century – early 20th century

Inventory Number:

76,244

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Coins; weaving

Dimensions:

Height 24 cm

Provenance:

Jordan, Kerak, South Jordan

Description:

Line of silver Ottoman coins sewn together on a piece of fabric, part of a headdress. This kind of jewellery was part of the dowry the groom gave to the bride. Dowries consisted mostly of silver jewellery because only the rich could afford gold jewellery. The use of coins as pieces of jewellery in particular was an indirect statement of the financial status of the groom, as brides wore those pieces of jewellery in front of relatives and friends.

Type of Object

Clothing; ornament; costume; dress

Citation of this web page:

Huda Kilani "Headdress" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;jo;24;en

Prepared by: Huda Kilani
Copyedited by: Daniel de la VegaDaniel de la Vega

Daniel de la Vega is a copy editor based in Portland, Oregon. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in linguistics from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2014 and has since done editing and localization work on everything from college applications to magazines to video game dialogue.

MWNF Working Number: JO 024