TIDBITS 08/15/10

A Nubian Prince or Princess

Nubian: An ancient Egyptian word for gold.

A Nubian tracker squats to peer carefully at the footprints in the desert sand. He can tell if the tracks belong to a man or a woman. He can tell if the woman is pregnant. He can tell if the tracks belong to a child. He can tell if the child is a boy or a girl. The Nubians are the only trackers in the world that can do this. The mysteries of these tracks appear only to him. It is said the Nubians are the best trackers in the world.

And so it is--as with the footprints in the sand that reveal nothing to those that can not see--that I wonder about a pendant of what appears to be a Nubian Prince or Princess ... formed in sculpted onyx mounted in open work yellow and white embossed gold with rubies and diamonds and emeralds. Necklace and earrings of tiny pearls. It's turban set with a dark red cabochon garnet and a carnelian intaglio below which is inscribed--it is said--with the words: J'aime la Liberté. Circa 19th century. Is it a Nubian or is it not?

I digress fractionally for a disclamer. I asked this of someone I know who had visited a Nubian village in Egypt: Did you see any of them wear turbans? I said. She said, no. I said I was not happy to hear that in light of the fact that the person depicted in my golden pendant was definitely wearing a turban. And so she said yes ... yes ... as a matter of fact she did see some of them wearing turbans. She "most definitely" did. This of course was a kind and generous acquiescence on her part to my transparent need to find a definite identity for the star of this tale. She did not want to let me flounder. In return ... I decided to take her statement at face value--I did not want to let her think she had failed in her attempt at soothing what might easily have become a ravaged soul--and I concluded that my pendant is "most defintely" a Nubian. And I had better not hear any contradictions in this matter.

And so I continue ....

It's a fascinating piece ... image too small to show great detail ... as fascinating as the Nubians of Egypt themselves who hold firm to the adherence of preserving the purity of their race by allowing no intermarriage of their children outside of those of common descent.

As to the cost of this pendant ... as of 2002 it was worth around 7000 Euros which is a tad over $9820 U.S. in today's market. Do I see any buyers. Going once. Going twice. Sold!...to the masked wascal on the white horse. Hyo ....

You wanna see?

For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits...may I direct you to my home page at

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where you will scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says Current Tidbits ... click it ... and you will see represented on our pages an image of what might well be the depiction of a Nubian Prince ... or Princess. Hard to tell with all that clothing. And there ya have it. That's it for this week folks. Catch you all next week. Benjamin Mark

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Benjamin Mark
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