Small handcrafted brass heishi spacer beads from Ethiopia. Africa has been home to an active metalworking industry for 6,000 years, reaching back to the ancient Nubians and Egyptians who crafted artifacts in gold and copper. Ironworking was introduced by the Phoenicians around 800 BCE and spread gradually across the continent to the Kingdom of Axum, then west to the Nok civilization and along the Atlantic coast. Metal was used to produce weapons, tools, amulets, and other magical objects, and blacksmiths came to occupy a special position in society, being respected and feared for their powers of metamorphosis. Many West Africans will not look a blacksmith directly in the eye today.
Beads are 3mm diameter. The strand is 28", including string.
