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The Cross of Agadez
The "Cross of Agadez" (or Croix d'Agadez) is tribal jewelry of the nomadic Touareg people in the Northern Niger area of the Sahara Desert. They are usually composed of an upper ring and a lower body. The ring is distinguished by the number, shape and location of the appendages or "horns." It is a South Saharan jewelry made especially by the Touareg Kel Aïr and Kel Geress, in silver, less noble metal, or soft stone. The flat surfaces are always decorated with patterns typical of Tuareg jewelry.
Touareg blacksmiths (inaden) make these silver (ta-ilt) using the process known as "lost wax" (never hammer the metal!) and also call them tasagalt, which means "cast in a mold".
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