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Iraq Middle Eastern or Saudi Arabian Syrian, Iraq Syria

Man's head cloth (keffiyeh), 1800s

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Iraq

Title

Man's head cloth (keffiyeh)

Year

1800s

Medium

Silk; plain weave

Dimensions

99.1 x 99.1 cm (39 x 39 inches)

Place

Iraq; Syria

Type

  • Fashion,
  • Costume Accessories

Credit

Gift of Edward and Casandra Stone

Object Number

1992.118.3

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Sartorial Sanctuary

December 19, 2008 - April 26, 2009

The custom of covering one’s head as a gesture of modesty and respect existed in the Arabian Peninsula and the Mediterranean well before the advent of Islam. During Muhammad’s lifetime, Arab men wore turbans, hats, caps, and head cloths (keffiyeh), often in combination with one another. Turbans, however, dominated until the mid-19th century, when the keffiyeh and head rope (agal) came into widespread popularity, evolving in the 20th century into badges of national identity in many countries of the Middle East. The checked pattern of the red-and-white cotton keffiyeh shown here is said to derive from ancient Mesopotamian symbols for wheat or fishing nets.

Men generally fold the square keffiyeh into a triangle, arranging the long edge over the forehead and leaving the points to fall at each shoulder and down the back. The agal, once a simple rope that doubled as a camel hobble among Arab Bedouin, now functions to hold the keffiyeh in place on the head. The gold and silk wrapped around strands of wool (originally camel hair) indicate wealth and elite status.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Man's head cloth (keffiyeh) with the accession number of 1992.118.3. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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