Strand of Beads

Unknown

9th–12th century · Carnelian · Islamic Art

These beads, found together but restrung in a modern setting, may have formed a strand of prayer beads, which in Islamic practice have either thirty-three or ninety-nine beads to facilitate the recitation of the ninety-nine names of God. The pendant bead here is of the size and form commonly used as the chief spacer and "handle," which the person praying could use to keep track of a circuit.

Artist

Unknown

Date

9th–12th century

Medium

Carnelian

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1948