Aysar Akrawi, collector of handcrafted niello silver,

July 2024

From Family Heritage to Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage

My entire life has been about tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Rooted in family history and nurtured through family ties, my childhood fascination with cultural heritage developed into a vocation as an adult, including a 22-year run as executive director of the Petra National Trust, Jordan’s oldest national organization for cultural heritage preservation. It focuses on preserving the values and significance of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Petra. I was delighted, therefore, when Nadia Tobia, director and founder of FEEFAA.org, invited me to add part of my collection of Iraqi “nielloware” to the FEEFAA website. What follows is the story about how the collection came into being, along with my double connection to Nadia through our family and a mutual love and respect for cultural heritage.

Long ago, after many years of migration through the Caucasus and Iran, my ancestors settled in the village of Aqra in Kurdistan, hence the family name Akrawi. My ancestors lived in Aqra for over three centuries, when my grandfather, Yousef Akrawi, decided in the late nineteenth century to move to nearby Mosul, where he set up a business. He had five children, four boys and a girl. One of the boys, Fathullah, was my father. Another of the boys was my Uncle Ibrahim, who was also Nadia’s grandfather through his daughter, Afifa. Afifa was a high school geography teacher at Al-Sharqia, who had great interest in Iraqi cultural heritage, art and goldsmith crafts.

Now for my parents, Fathullah and Nazha Akrawi: Back in the early 1940s, parents did not know the sex, much less the number of babies to be expected with any given pregnancy. My parents had prepared only for one name. If it were to be a girl, she would be named Layla. When Layla arrived—lo and behold, and much to the surprise of all—the attending gynecologist announced that there was another baby coming. That was me. A kerfuffle ensued over the name and was only stopped when the gynecologist suggested that my parents use his wife’s name, Aysar.

My mother noticed my early interest in Iraqi crafts and cultural heritage. Fridays were always picnics at archaeological sites picking up shards of brightly glazed ceramic pots and beads on the surface of the mounds that the foreigners, like the Iraqis, called “tells.” And, yes, picking up these objects is a definite no-no, but only the archaeologists knew that at the time!!!

I developed my interest in the centuries-old niello skills and culture of the Sabaeans/Mandaeans.  At about the age of eighteen, I started my collection of their silver. The photos shown on the website are the cigarette boxes, cigarette holders, opium holders, and narghile pipes that are part of my collection.

On weekdays, like Nadia and her mum, my mother and I went to Al Nahir Street (the River Street), where I developed my interest in the centuries-old niello skills and culture of the Sabaeans/Mandaeans. They did their magic with the ancient techniques of soldering, engraving, and making the black metallic alloy, niello, used to fill designs engraved on the surface of objects made of high-quality silver. Very popular at the time were tobacco and cigarette boxes, trays, frames, napkin rings, service plates, cutlery, snake bangles, and coffee pots. The designs represented nature and the environment in which they lived: Amarah, Basra, the Marshes, and, later, Baghdad. At about the age of eighteen, I started my collection of their silver. The photos shown on the website are the cigarette boxes, cigarette holders, opium holders, and narghile pipes that are part of my collection.

After many grueling years for me — and those around me — throughout my formal education, I graduated with a BA in history and political science from the Lebanon American University. I worked for a short period of time in Iraq, until my husband and I decided to move to Jordan in 1974 with our newborn daughter, Zain. Jordan became our home away from home for 42 years.

I’m grateful to my family and feel fortunate that a good deal of my career was directly involved with maintaining and promoting cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. Although I’m now retired and residing in the US near my daughter and her family, my engagement with matters of cultural heritage continues to be a core part of my life. It also means a great deal that there is broader interest and a website like FEEFAA.org to keep this heritage alive.

Neillo Silver 

One of the best references on the subject of niello silver is Mohammed Al Baghdadi’s book; – History of Iraqi Silver – Its major craftsmen and their work – published in 2017. It captures the history and culture behind Iraqi silver and includes beautiful photography of remarkable pieces.
“The majority of silver craftsmen in Iraq in the past two centuries were Jews, Sabean Mandaeans, and some Muslim and Christian artisans in Basra, Amarah, Nasiriyah, Karbala, Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Mosul, and Kurdistan (Aqra, Dahouk, and Quisinjiq).” (1)
The majority of the collection in this article is made by the Sabean Mandaean, below is exerts from Al Baghdadi book about the Sabean Mandaean and their niello silver craft.

About the Mandaean

“Mandaeans are the only community in Iraq of which most members work in gold and silver craftsmanship, even those with higher education and in different science, and which are still holding and maintaining its existence despite the many harsh ordeals and crises that fell upon the homeland.” (1)

“Mandaeans are an ethno-religious community originating from southern Iraq, practicing an ancient Gnostic religion that reveres John the Baptist (the prophet Yahya) that is known to them as Yahya Yohanah. It is most likely that Mandaeans originally descend from Harran (upper Mesopotamia) and migrated south to reside in river valleys in south of Iraq, especially in Amarah, Basra and Nasiriyah, near the Iraqi, Irani border in Mandalia, or in Ahvaz, Khorramshahr and Dezful in Iran. Most of them moved to Baghdad and other large cities to earn living. Mandaean homes tend to be in proximity to rivers and streams due to the frequent ritual use of running water (for baptism and ritual purifications). The Mandaean speaks Arabic but were originally native speaker of Mandiac a sematic language that is similar to Syriac with a mix of Arabic and Persian words.” (1)

Mandaean Silver Crafting

“Over the past two centuries, Mandaean silver crafting was done through remelting old silver pieces, determining the purity, the manually hammering and preparing the silver to be reformed as desired. The material was sent to one who is known as the Assembler or Shaping Master, who hammered and shaped the metal using hammers and anvils of different shapes and sizes. However, if the shop owner himself was a professional, he would perform all these steps from acquiring the silver to the melting and re-working, as was the case for most Mandaean silversmiths.” (1)

“The next step after creating the desired piece was sending it to a skillful cleaner to erase hammering marks of the shaping process, where he used files of different sizes then sandpaper starting from coarse to fine paper to polish the piece. Next the piece was handed to the engraver, who planned and marked the desired pattern using a pencil or started directly if he was skillful enough, and he engraved with his iron graver that is usually made by himself, using different shapes and grain sizes. If the piece on which the work was being done was to have enamel inlay / niello, then the cuts would be a time and a half deeper than the piece without inlays to make space for the enamel to get in and sit in the cuts.” (1)

“The niello (black enamel) up to the end of the twentieth century had been had made from a mix of silver, lead and sulpher in specific proportions that got melted and cooled down then crushed using pestle and mortar to create a fine powder ready to be placed over the engraving. The niello inlayer was responsible for cleaning the engraved piece and sprinkling the black (sometimes blush) powder on the engravings.” (1)

“Then the piece would be firmly positioned on sand and soft pebbles for support and then blazed with fire to melt the powder (it is a quickly accomplished due to the lead in the niello’s composition). The piece was then cooled after being covered from all sides, if it had multiple enameled sides (for which it would have been considered a difficult piece due to the need to flip over multiple times), and the process was not done until the whole piece was properly saturated with enamel. Finally, a skilled cleaner would start cleaning the piece starting his coarsest file down to the finest. The he will clean the whole surface area accurately to not affect he engraved lines. The piece would then be polished with sand paper using coarse grit and gradually using the finest paper. Finally, he would rub that piece with his hands until it feels like the surface of a mirror, and polishing agent would be applied with a cloth until it looks like areal mirror.” (1)

Mendaean Master Craftsmen 

“Most of these master craftsmen, God bless them, used to perform all these processes singlehandedly to ensure the highest level of accuracy, aiming at reflecting their imagination and creativity through such crafted pieces.” (1)

“The most famous of their craftsmen is Mulla Khidir, who along with his son Zahroon, carried the secrets of enamel crafting from the Caucasus to his peers in Iraq in the mid nineteenth century. His son Zahroon Mulla Khadir also excelled in his unique work during the quarter of the nineteenth and the first quarter of the twentieth century all over Caucasus, Turkey, Iran and Iraq.”(1).

Today, Hamid Royed stands out as one of the distinguished artists specializing in niello silverwork. His work is celebrated for its precision and creativity, making him a prominent figure in this traditional craft. Hamid’s expertise spans both the technical and artistic aspects of niello, and his pieces are highly regarded for their detailed craftsmanship. Interestingly, Hamid is also a family relative of Zahroon Mulla Khadir.

Aysar collection 

The tobacco collection of Aysar Akrawi comprises approximately of 30 cigarette boxes and 50 pieces of tobacco accessories, such as cigarette holders (amzek), opium holders, and narghile pipes, gathered over the years during her time in Iraq and Jordan. Most of the pieces originated in Iraq, created by the Sabaeans/Mandaeans, and are primarily crafted in silver niello work. A few of the boxes featured in this article from Aysar collection are from Turkey and Persia, with a couple of unknown origin.

Each piece is categorized by the collection ID number, followed by its place of origin, date, artist, and a brief description.

Niello decorations on cigarette boxes showcase a diverse array of designs, often featuring floral patterns, famous buildings, river scenes with boats, tughra and flags, as well as camels, palm trees, and livestock. Custom-ordered boxes might include maps, ships, and the names of the owners. Almost all boxes have decorative boundaries, which can range from simple parallel niello lines to elaborate floral borders and checkered surroundings.

The signature of the silversmith or artist is important and adds value to the piece. It is usually located on the back, front, or inside of the box. However, some boxes are unsigned or have unreadable signatures. Sometimes, dates and the names of the city or country where the pieces were crafted are also included.

Acknowledgment

Thank you to Ghadeer Khayat for her unwavering support over the past 20 years in research, data collection, and organization.

Bibliography

(1) Mohammed S. J. Al Baghdadi “History of Iraqi Silver. Its major craftsmen and their work”, 2017.

Notes

All items illustrated in this article are from the “Aysar Akrawi Private Collection.” Copyright reserved.

About Aysar Akrawi,

Aysar is now retired, but her engagement with matters of cultural heritage continues to be a core part of her life. Prior to her role as Executive Director at Petra National Trust, she held several positions in Amman, Jordan, including Managing Director for Administration and Airport Services at Arab Wings Executive Jet Services, Director at Queen Noor Civil Aviation Training College, and Project Director for the Marfaq Project (a joint initiative by USAID, Catholic Relief Services, and Jordan’s Ministry of Social Development to establish small income-generating businesses for rural women). She also authored an English-language guidebook on Jordan and Syria, commissioned by the Touring Club Italiano.