The silver of Yemen

I have had a weekend indulging very happy memories with three visitors from my time in the Arabian Gulf. One was my former boss and longtime friend. The other two guests a fantastic couple that were friends, confidantes and the “guardians of my sanity” during my years in the desert. This morning, I cried when they left – thankfully they didn’t see me.
Later in the afternoon my husband and I took advantage of the good weather and had a wander in town. I dragged him into a new shop in the waterfront, which to my surprise was filled with jewellery from Israel. I had fun trying on the silver rings and giving a short lesson in the history of Jewish silversmiths to the young shop assistant. My day had came full circle; I had learned these snippets of jewellery history in Yemen, meandering through the labyrinth that is the Old City of Sana’a. The unique designs belonged to dynasties of silversmiths, each craftsman known by his particular pattern. When the Jews left Yemen, they took their craft with them to Israel, where the marks of Beit Badihi (“The House of Badihi”) and Beit Bawsani, now adorn the fingers of trendy sabra girls in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
And just for fun, here is a picture of me 11 years ago, adorned with wedding jewellery made by some of the old Yemenite silversmiths.