African Versus Islamic Artifact Comparison

Artifact Comparison: An Islamic Rosary versus an African Bracelet One of the challenges of artifact comparison from the perspective of a cultural outsider is to locate the objects in their appropriate context, versus imposing the observer's Western or contemporary ideals upon them. This can be seen when gazing upon the pottery bead rosary necklace from the Asian ethnographic collection in the Museum of Natural History.

The artifact was found in Messhad, Iran and is made of multicolored clay, dyed with pigment, and strung together with thread.[footnoteRef:1] From an outsider's perspective it might look like a Christian rosary even though that is not the case upon closer and more educated observation. [1: Pottery bead rosary necklace. Museum of Natural History. Catalog No: 70.2 / 2557.

] According to the Museum of Natural History's website, artifacts classified as costumes may include artifacts "carried for warmth, protection, embellishment, or for symbolic purposes," of which this is clearly the latter.[footnoteRef:2] However, rosaries also have a functional as well as a decorative purpose, given that they are used for a practical reason in devotion. Rosary beads are common in many cultures, including Western cultures, as a way of counting prayers that need to be said a specific number of times.

Of course, both Christianity and Islam originated in the Middle East and it is possible that the rosary beads reflect a symbiotic relationships between the two faiths. In other words, although the religions are different and to some extent competing traditions, they may reflect the fact that one tradition adopted the practices of the other.

In Christianity, however, a rosary always "has 59 beads, six of them larger than the others," while in Islam, rosaries have "33 or 99 beads, with a single, elongated marker bead at the end," separated into sets of 33.[footnoteRef:3] The material and design of this rosary is relatively simple and functional, although care has been clearly taken to create contrasting pigments and do homage to the religion through its beauty.

[2: "Costume," The Museum of Natural History, https://anthro.amnh.org/africa (accessed April 15, 2016).] [3: Jennifer Spirko, "The Difference Between a Rosary and Islamic Prayer Beads," Synonym.com, http://classroom.synonym.com/difference-between-rosary-islamic-prayer-beads-5660.html (accessed April 15, 2016)] In contrast, this bracelet from Malawi, Africa, has a less obviously religious purpose.[footnoteRef:4] It is made of brass and iron and strung together with plant fibers. The ethnic tribe that this bracelet is associated with is that of the Ngoni people of Malawi. The object was acquired in 1901 by the Museum.

Although its use is not immediately obvious it reflects the fact that the culture was willing to take the time to create objects that might be classified as art, versus objects that were purely functional or only had significance in a religious context. The bracelet seems to be used primarily for adornment purposes. The tribe had some access to and knowledge of how to fashion things out of metal.

This may indicate the fact that they did engage in hunting and used metal for the purposes of manufacturing spears although they were stationary enough to create jewelry. (Just like the manufacturer of the rosary beads had access to an oven to bake clay). The vegetable fibers used to string the beads together could have been found anywhere along the tribe's travels. [4: Bracelet, African Ethnographic Collection, Museum of Natural History,.