Desert Silver: Nomadic and Traditional Silver Jewellery from the Middle East and North Africa. Some of the oldest civilizations in the world originated along the fertile banks of the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and the countries of the Middle East and North Africa have been cultural melting pots ever since. The trade routes adopted by the region's nomads linked colorful cultures and time-long traditions like so many beads on a string. And indeed it is in the region's jewelery that its many-layered history of tribes and empires, nomads and villagers is perhaps best seen. From an archaeological point of view, decorative details and motifs can be traced back centuries, sometimes even millennia. This book, Desert Silver, explores the social, economic and religious background of this jewelery.