#mozabite

Pair of traditional Auresian earrings made of silver, 19th/20th century. 

Al Ateuf العطف — Ghardaïa, Algeria 🇩🇿

“The MZab Valley is often seen as the most conservative region in Algeria. Most Mozabite women (from the age of 14/15 year old) are wearing an Ahouli (Hayek or Haïk), basically a large white veil covering their entire body except one single eye. When the girls are not yet married, you can see both of their eyes. A lighter (made out of cotton or poplin) hayek used to be worn in other parts of #Algeria and the Maghreb (Djebel Nafûsa in Libya and Djerba Island in Tunisia), but it has almost totally disappeared. In the #Ghardaia province, nearly every Mozabite woman is wearing a thicker ahouli made out of wool. Beyond religion, Mozabites claim that the ahouli is a distinctive sign of their identity. The permanent separation of the sexes can even be seen in the Mozabite architecture. The houses are designed to prevent contact between the wife and her male in-laws. Codes are instituted to free the passage and avoid any mixed interaction in the same room.”