pendant (neck ornament (personal adornment))

Glass pendant in the form of a turquoise blue, oval disc with a hole at the top with a brown, cotton thread looped through. On one side is the Basmala written in Arabic script, highlighted in gold, and on the other side is imprinted 'Made in Austria' and a maker's mark.

The person who wore this amulet would have understood it to have protective powers. They would also have worn it as a demonstration of their faith. The verse on it is the Basmala, which reads, "bismillah-alrahman-alrahim" or "In the name of God (Allah), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful". The Basmala occurs before most of the 'sura' or chapters in the Quran. It is also used in daily life, for example the recital of the Basmala is a prerequisite for the preparation of halal food.

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk