Unique Tuareg Sugar Hammer (44109)

Tuareg sugar hammer in very good condition.

The Tuareg are Berber-speaking peoples who originally lived mainly in the western part of the Sahara Desert and the northern parts of the Western Sudan region. Forced by the drought of 1973-74, groups of Tuareg moved to Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea. Tuareg groups are subdivided into classes of nobles, vassals, freemen and slaves. The Iwellemmeden Kel Ataram or western Iwellemmeden group of Niger and Mali from whom these objects were acquired are counted among the nobility.
Artists who create objects for all Tuareg groups are known collectively as the inadan. Classified as freemen, they travel and live among various Tuareg groups during the year and fashion objects for both ceremonial and daily use. Inadan men are blacksmiths, jewelry makers and woodcarvers; the women are leather workers. Inadan are both feared and respected for their abilities. Other Tuareg believe that the inadan possess a mystical power called ettama, which allows them to inflict harm or ward off evil.
The Tuareg used a hammer of special, often ornate form to break up pieces of sugar which they put in their tea.