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SULEMANI
& SOLOMON
BEADS
A Journey Through Time, Belief, and Beauty
THE NAMES WE GIVE TO BEADS
In the vibrant world of ancient beads, names matter.
They carry with them entire histories, beliefs, and
worldviews. One such pair of names—Sulemani and
Babagoria—invites us into the layered world of agate
beads originating in Central India. While both terms
describe the same category of black or brownish agate
beads with white stripes, each name tells a very
different story.
Babagoria Beads
Bead historian Jamey Allen argues that
the most
historically accurate name might be Babagoria, a term
rooted in the local dialects near Central Indian
excavation sites. In this context,
'Baba'
means holy man and 'Goria' (a dialectical variant of goriya) means bead
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thus, Babagoria -
Holy Man’s Bead.
Interestingly, the ancient agate mines of Ratanpur,
Gujarat, were once called Baba Ghori, echoing this dual
sacred-commercial identity. These beads were worn by
saints, and their holiness was thought to be reciprocal:
the beads conferred spiritual status on the wearer, and
the sanctity of the wearer blessed the bead.
Yet, the term Babagoria may no longer be culturally
appropriate. With 'goria'
also meaning white-skinned in some South Asian contexts,
the term carries potential racial or colonial
undertones.
Sulemani Beads
Sulemani is the more globally recognized name today. It
refers to a particular kind of black or brown
agate—often with one or more white stripes—that gained
prominence in Islamic India, especially among the Sufis
from the 12th century onward.
Sulemani agate, also known locally as Sulemani Hakik, is
revered across Indic and Islamic traditions for its
spiritual properties - believed to offer grounding,
clarity, and protection from negativity.
It furthermore
connects the
beads to the legendary King Solomon (Suleman), who in
Islamic lore was a master of wisdom and spiritual
forces.
Before these beads
became Sufi prayer tools, Sulemani beads had already
lived long, complex lives. They
were in circulation centuries—perhaps millennia—before
the rise of Islam in India. Archaeological evidence and
burial contexts suggest that many of the beads were
originally created as funerary objects,
religious
amulets, or high-status trade items in pre-Islamic
India.
What the Sufis encountered were not newly fashioned
talismans, but ancient relics infused with earlier
layers of spiritual and social meaning. By incorporating
them into tasbih (prayer beads), they layered Islamic
mysticism over an older sacred grammar. This
recontextualization didn’t erase the beads’ origins—it
deepened them. The Sulemani bead thus became a vessel of
multiple spiritual inheritances, carrying echoes of the
distant dead and the prayers of the living.
Bhaisajya Guru Beads
Long before the arrival of Islam,
these beads were used in Buddhist malas,
especially in Afghanistan, a predominantly Buddhist
region until around 1000 AD. In Mahayana Buddhism, these
are known as Bhaisajyaguru beads, named after the
Medicine Buddha. These beads are believed to remove
disease, prolong life, and carry blessings of previous
enlightened beings who may have worn them.
If a spiritually resonant name were to be applied
retrospectively, 'Bhaisajya
Guru beads'
— in reference to the Medicine Buddha, protector and
healer — might capture the contemplative and protective
nature these beads have come to represent.
WHY WE PREFER 'SULEMANI'
In
recognition of the
current global discourse
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we prefer the
name Sulemani. This choice
avoids confusion or misinterpretation.
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The beads in
my collection
are now for sale
Inquire
through bead ID
for price
Write to me and
get my whatsapp
number for more
info and detailed
fotos and videos
of particular beads.
gunnars@mail.com
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Typical Sulemani Beads - black or
brownish base color

Sulemani Beads Lot 1 - 6 to 9 mm - average 7,5
mm
Click on picture for a larger resolution
This collection of ancient Sulemani agate
beads, ranging from 6 to 10 mm in size, originates from the Jabalpur
region in Central India - a landscape steeped in geological wonder and
sacred history. Known for its proximity to the Narmada River and
surrounded by ancient Hindu and Buddhist sites, Jabalpur has long been a
center of spiritual and material culture. These beads, shaped from
banded chalcedony agate, carry both the marks of the earth and the hand
of the artisan.
Each bead features the classic Sulemani banding - elegant layers of
black, white, brown, and translucent cream. Some bear concentric
eye-like formations, long believed to offer protection, while others
ripple with subtle, rhythmic lines. Their smooth polish and central
perforations suggest traditional hand-drilling techniques, likely passed
down through generations of craftspeople who have worked these stones
since ancient times.
Given Jabalpur's proximity to sacred Buddhist stupas and Hindu
pilgrimage centers, these beads may have once moved through hands that
offered prayers at Amaravati, Bharhut, or the hill temples of the
Vindhyas. They are not merely ornaments but silent witnesses to
centuries of devotion, trade, and transformation.
To hold one is to touch a thread of India’s ancient heart - a stone
shaped by fire and oil, worn smooth by human intent, and imbued with a
timeless sense of presence.
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Light Colored Sulemanis

Sulemani Beads Lot
2 - 6 to 11 mm - average 8
mm
Click on picture for a larger resolution
This luminous collection of light-colored
Sulemani agate beads, sourced from the ancient lands around Jabalpur,
Central India, offers a quiet, earthy elegance. Ranging from creamy
white to warm beige, honey, and soft gray, these beads are shaped from
dense, fine-grained agate — a material with fewer internal cavities,
which resists darkening during the traditional oil-heating process used
to enhance banding in agates. As a result, these stones retain a pale,
subtle beauty that feels closer to raw geological memory.
Though often overlooked by eastern collectors in favor of their darker,
more dramatically banded cousins, these lighter Sulemanis have their own
quiet power. Many display fine concentric rings, soft clouding, or
delicate linear banding, echoing the meditative calm of river stones and
temple ash. Each bead is hand-drilled and polished, showing signs of the
traditional craftsmanship that links them to Jabalpur’s deep spiritual
roots — a region surrounded by sacred Buddhist stupas and Hindu shrines.
They may be softer in tone, but not in presence. These beads carry the
same ancient legacy — shaped by earth, refined by ritual, and worthy of
deep appreciation.
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ANCIENT USAGE: FROM RITUAL TO CURRENCY
Beads like these were originally not just adornments or
religious items -
they were status symbols, amulets, and eventually
currency. In tribal cultures, like the Konyak of
Nagaland, a bead necklace once equaled the value of a
Nepali slave. Shocking as that sounds today, it speaks
to the intrinsic and societal value placed on beads.
During the Indus Valley Civilization, beads were more
likely markers of social class than currency. But
post-Indus, as societies grew more complex and trade
expanded, beads transitioned into
'Niksha'
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a form of circulating money. To fulfill their new
economic role, beads needed to be portable, attractive,
and rare. And as with all currency, this necessitated a
shift toward uniformity.
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Sulemani Bead 27 * 17 mm
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FROM UNIQUENESS TO UNIFORMITY
As beads evolved into currency, artistry gave way to
standardization. Like Ford’s assembly-line cars, the
spiritual and aesthetic individuality of earlier beads
was gradually replaced by the economic logic of mass
production. Once beads functioned as cash, they needed
to be recognizable and trusted across vast trade
networks. This meant adhering to shared visual
features—shapes, finishes, colors—that could serve as a
common denominator for traders separated by geography,
culture, and language.
This shift helps explain the stark transition from the
intricate, handcrafted beads of the Indus Valley to the
more uniform, oil-cooked Sulemani beads of later
periods.
That said, Sulemani beads were never fully homogenous.
Variations in heat treatment, regional style, and
cultural purpose still left room for diversity within
the emerging standard.
The Evolution of the Single
Line Sulemani bead
Here comes an
example of how commodification shapes
beads - even today. Among contemporary collectors, one of
the most sought-after types is the so-called single-line Sulemani bead.

The obsession with this bead’s specific form and design
has grown in parallel with the demand for alternative
currency-like assets in China. Today, these beads are
among the most expensive in the Far East, sometimes
selling for more than three times their weight in gold.
However, there is no strong archaeological or textual
evidence to suggest that single-line agate beads were
recognized as a distinct or especially venerated
category in ancient India. Beads from that period were
valued primarily for their material quality, skilled
craftsmanship, and symbolic form. While Hindu and
Buddhist traditions deeply embraced sacred
geometry—including motifs echoing the lingam and yoni,
Shiva–Shakti dualities, mandalas, and protective eye
patterns—there is no indication that the single white
line motif held particular spiritual significance in
that early context.
These older traditions often embedded cosmic and
metaphysical ideas into shapes and patterns, and such
meanings may have subtly informed how certain beads were
perceived.
Even as early as
the 8th century onward, Islamic
influence slowly
introduced new
symbolic meanings to beads across South Asia and the
Middle East. The single-line Sulemani gradually came to
represent:
Spiritual protection -
Focus during prayer (dhikr) -
The oneness of God
These associations likely retroactively elevated the
single-line bead’s spiritual status—especially given
their documented presence in Sufi prayer chains. But
their evolution wasn’t driven by symbolism alone. One
practical factor was the need for a universally
recognized form of currency along the pilgrimage routes
from India to Mecca. During these long journeys, a
strand of Sulemani beads worn around the neck often
functioned like an early credit system.
In such a chain, only a few beads might feature the
coveted single white line—these held the highest value.
Beads with two or more lines, or simpler patterns,
served more transactional purposes: paying for food,
shelter, or a night’s rest in a caravanserai. In this
context, the single-line Sulemani wasn’t just a
spiritual token—it was a high-denomination bead in a
mobile, wearable economy.
A Story From Persia - History is Always Complex
Still, compelling anecdotal evidence suggests a deeper
and more complex
history. One of the most respected bead collectors I
know — who prefers to remain unnamed — shared that in
Iran, a substantial cache of large, locally-made
single-line Sulemani beads was unearthed, dating back
over 1,500 years, to the Sassanian period. This may
point to a pre-Islamic Persian commercial, aesthetic
and/or spiritual
preference for the black bead with a single white line.
Given that many of the Sufis who later traveled to and
settled in India hailed from Persia, it is possible that
they carried with them not only spiritual teachings but
also a reverence for this specific bead form — which
then took root and evolved within Indian devotional
culture.
The Chinese Take-Over
Now, there's a huge leap from the
Islamic use of
single-line Sulemanis to the average contemporary
Chinese collector, who typically has no understanding of
bead history whatsoever. For them, these beads function
purely as investment objects—assets to be traded like
rising stocks.
What began as objects of spiritual,
artistic, and
communal meaning have become speculative assets, bought
and sold by people with no real connection to the
traditions that created them.
Yet it's too simple and one-sided to mock a society that
has, in just one generation, risen from widespread
poverty and illiteracy to a relatively stable middle
class. The scale of what Communist China has achieved is
often underestimated in the West.
I would call it a miracle.
The West Copies China
What deserves more critique, frankly, is the generation
of Western collectors who blindly adopt this
stripped-down, commercial narrative. Western
collectors should know better. They often have the
resources, the access to scholarship, and the time to
investigate deeper histories. But many don’t. Instead,
they adopt the most simplistic, market-friendly
narrative, swallowing it whole because it fits into a
neat story of rarity and rising value. It’s lazy
collecting disguised as connoisseurship.
But now, the tide appears to be turning—and it’s the
West that’s becoming the copycat, adopting not just the
beads, but the market-driven mindset once critiqued in
the East.
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Barrel Shaped Sulemani
Beads

Sulemani Bead 9 * 8 mm
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TWO TYPES OF SULEMANI BEADS
Bead expert Malik Hakila,
a true 'hands on' expert in the world
of ancient beads and a longtime practitioner with a bead
factory in Cambay, Gujarat, offers a striking
perspective: that the oldest so-called Sulemani
beads—particularly those that appear heated without oil
or sugar might not be Sulemani at all.
The
two
techniques
even for some time
coexisted.
According to Hakila, these beads may have been crafted
from an entirely different and now-lost variety of
agate, distinct in both mineral composition and visual
quality. Let us have a deeper look.
Oil-Cooked Beads: The more common type, these
beads were cooked in oil, a technique that preserved the
agate’s strength and partial translucency. This method
became dominant around 2300 years ago, coinciding with
the rise of bead-currency. Their consistent appearance
made them ideal for trade. Below
you can see some typical specimens:
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Older Dry Fire-Treated Beads:
Below you can observe a different kind
of ancient beads.
Much rarer, older
and artistically superior, these beads were
heated
at high
temperatures without oil, resulting in striking
black-and-white banding, gray tones, and matte finishes.
These bead in general have much
larger holes indicating their superior age.
But this ancient
method made the beads brittle. Cracks, scars,
and even sudden breakages were common.
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Some experts suggest that these beads may have even
acquired their unique patina from funeral pyres, though intentional
artistry seems more likely in
most cases.
Their matte finish,
surface cracks, and large perforation holes suggest a
dry-fire treatment, a high-heat process without oil that
often made the stone brittle but visually striking. However, funeral pyre heated beads for sure
have made their way into the collections of ancient
beads today. Here is my best guess for a funeral heated
bead, ashy, dry and brittle:

ARE THEY EVEN SULEMANI?
Here comes an important observation that leads us away
from the funeral pyres: The more swirling patterns in
the pre-oil treated beads cannot arise from heating.
The dry cooked beads appear older, rarer, and more
mysterious. They are usually white or grey with chaotic
black banding and swirling patterns that resist
standardization. They often displays eye motiffs or
other interesting geometric patterns that do not look
accidental:

What’s most fascinating is that,
according to Malik Hakila, no one today knows the
original source of this mysterious stone.
A great part,
but not all, of the dry cooked beads
seem to be
made from a distinct, now-extinct variety of agate no
longer found or identified in the modern world.
This type of agate is not
found in the currently active producing regions, nor is
there a known deposit that matches its unique
properties. This suggests that these beads could
represent not only a different older technique, but an
entirely different geological and cultural
lineage - possibly predating the historic trade centers
like Ratanpur and Cambay.
If true, this throws into question our assumptions about
naming, categorization, and provenance. These enigmatic
beads resist reduction to labels. Their origin is
unknown, their beauty unmistakable, and their story
still unfolding.
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Solomon Bead - front and
backside - 9 * 8 mm
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SOLOMON BEADS
A New Name for an Ancient Mystery
Inspired by Malik Hakila’s insight that some of the
oldest, uncooked agate beads likely originate from
unknown and now-lost mines, I propose a new poetic term:
Solomon Beads. These remain within the broader category
of Sulemani beads, yet form a distinct subgroup.
The name evokes the legend of King Solomon’s
mines—mysterious sources of wisdom, magic, and hidden
wealth lost to history. Like those mythical mines, the
original geological source of these beads remains
unknown.
Solomon Beads vs. Sulemani Beads: A Definition
Solomon beads differ in both appearance and material
qualities. Their larger perforation holes suggest
greater antiquity, while their matte surface hints at
ancient, dry-heating techniques - or perhaps long-term
burial in arid soils.
Whereas Sulemani beads are typically black with white
stripes, marked by relatively uniform banding and a
glossy, oil-cooked finish, Solomon beads tend to be
white or gray with black lines. A rough comparison might
look like this:
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Solomon bead
Black on white
Matte surface
Brittle
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Sulemani bead
White on black
Shiny surface
Hard and uniform |
The pale or white background of Solomon beads is largely
due to the stone not being penetrated by hot oil or
sugar. But the contrast is more than technical. The
black lines on Solomon beads have a distinct visual
identity—they are deliberate, expressive. The "artist’s
brush" in these beads is black, not white, and what it
paints is uniquely different.
While some Solomon patterns are straight, many are
fractured, swirling, and unpredictable—a chaotic beauty
shaped by stone, fire, and time. The bead shown below
does not exhibit the clean, parallel lines typical of
Sulemani beads, but rather complex, circular swirls
characteristic of volcanic-formed agate. This kind of
agate resists symmetry; it doesn't produce neat banding
but instead reveals a fluid, organic motion—spirals
within stone, circles within circles.

Such material naturally
invites symbolic interpretation. While Buddhism makes
use of sacred geometry, it is perhaps Hinduism—with its
dense network of cosmic patterns, mandalas, and
metaphysical diagrams like the yantra, yoni, lingam, and
bindu—that most richly embodies this layered visual
language. Volcanic agate was more than just visually
compelling; it served as the perfect medium for
expressing sacred meanings in Hinduism’s multifaceted
religious landscape.

In contrast, the uniform,
single-line patterns of Sulemani beads reflect more
centralized, cohesive religious and political systems,
such as those represented by Islam or imperial China.
In fact, some beads—like the one depicted below—may
deserve categorization under terms more rooted in the
Hindu cultural context. Yet for clarity, and to avoid
adding further confusion to an already complex field, we
retain the term Solomon as a subgroup within Sulemani.
Thirty years ago, I received the Solomon bead shown
below as a gift from my friend Professor Bhandari, who
had sourced it from
Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley site in Haryana:

This suggests that the
roots of these extraordinary beads may lie deep within
the Indus Valley Civilization, one of the world’s oldest
urban cultures.
In summary, these beads are not merely earlier forms of
Sulemani; they represent something else entirely. With
origins shrouded in mystery, often shaped from distinct
volcanic materials, and marked by irregular, deeply
expressive patterns, they merit their own category:
Solomon Beads - vessels of complex mystery and living
hindu history.
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Solomon Bead - A scarred, dry and brittle bead
THE ART OF THE SCAR
I find these dry cooked Solomon
beads profoundly moving. Their
fragility, scars, and swirling imperfections evoke the
sublime beauty of old human faces. Each crack is a
signature of time, each swirl an echo of lost
civilizations.
Beads like these aren't just art—they're
alive with history.
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Solomon Beads Are Converging Towards Extinction
Ironically, as Eastern interest in ancient beads grows,
authentic Solomon beads are becoming harder to find—not
because they've vanished, but because they’re being
altered. In Jaipur, traders refurbish these
once-distinctive beads by boiling them in oil, darkening
their natural hues to mimic the classic Sulemani agates.
The goal is aesthetic: to appeal to markets that prize
the deep, dark luster of traditional Sulemanis. But in
the process, the original identity of the Solomon bead
is erased. This transformation, driven by demand and
profit, has led to a strange reversal—true Solomon beads
are disappearing, not through loss or decay, but through
reinvention. Once modified, they are exported to China,
re-entering the market under a new guise. The irony is
sharp: in trying to preserve or enhance the value of
these beads, we lose their true story. What remains is
not a relic, but a replica crafted by modern hands.
I can only hope that the few genuine Solomon beads I
still hold will find homes far from this commodified
compulsion to turn them into cyborgs.
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Solomon Bead
- 22 * 6 * 5 mm

Solomon Bead
- 25,5 * 18 * 5 mm
50 Shades of Gray
Note the distinct black, gray, and white color bands.
These elegant beads, sourced from Burma, trace their origins back to
India, likely carried along with the spread of Buddhism. Though the
banding appears straight and orderly, the true complexity lies in the
nuanced language of gray — subtle shifts in tone that speak to both
geological depth and artistic intention.
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Solomon Bead 17 * 8,5 * 7 mm
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PLASTIC VS. PLANETARY
Some collectors in Asia reject fire-treated beads
because of their imperfections. But I see them
differently. To me, they resemble exoplanets, fragile
worlds swirling in forgotten skies. They are maps of
inner journeys, companions for meditation, vessels of
story.
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Various Uncooked Sulemani
& Solomon Beads

Sulemani Beads Lot
3 - 6 to 12 mm - average 9
mm

Sulemani Beads Lot
4 - 6 to 17 mm - average 9
mm
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CRACKED
BEAUTY IS MY RELIGION
My belief system centers on beauty
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not surface-level
prettiness, but transcendent beauty found in the
imperfect. These scarred beads are sublime, revealing
the play of time, fire, and soul. They are hubs where
the soul and the zero meet, where the observer creates
the observed.
In that sense, what we call these beads matters. Whether
you say Sulemani, Solomon,
Babagoria, or Bhaisajyaguru, each name
tells a story -
and in turn, shapes reality.
For me, I choose Sulemani, not only for global clarity
but also to honor the evolving layers of meaning, faith,
and craft behind these humble, powerful objects.
And I will always bow to the bead that bears the scar.
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Truncated Convex Bicone Sulemani
Beads

Sulemani Bead - 18,5 * 12 mm
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Sulemani Bead 22 * 14 mm
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Sulemani Bead 3 * 12 mm
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Sulemani Bead 22 * 12 mm
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Sulemani Bead 16 * 10,5 mm
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Sulemani Bead 17 * 6,5 mm
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Sulemani Bead
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Sulemani Bead - 25 * 7 mm
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Sulemani Bead 28 * 7 mm
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Solomon Bead 16,5 * 7 mm
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Solomon Bead 14 * 7 mm
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Sulemani Bead 17;5 * 7,5 mm
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Sulemani Bead 13 * 6 mm
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Sulemani Bead 14 * 4,5 mm
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Sulemani Bead 11 * 7 mm
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Solomon Bead 13,5 * 7 mm
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Solomon Bead 13 * 8,5 mm
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Solomon Bead 12 * 8 mm
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Sulemani Bead - 15 * 10 mm
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Sulemani Bead - 11 * 10
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Sulemani Bead 23 * 11 mm
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Pendant Sulemani Beads

Sulemani Bead 26 * 9 * 7 mm
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Solomon Bead 18,5 * 7 * 6 mm
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Solomon Bead 12 * 6 * 4,5 mm
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Sulemani Bead 24,5 * 11 mm
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Solomon Bead 19 * 8 * 4
mm
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Sulemani Bead 18 * 11 * 6 mm
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Sulemani Bead -
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Sulemani Bead - 12 * 9,5
mm
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Sulemani Bead - 12 * 9,5 mm
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Solomon Bead 14 * 10 mm
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Click on picture for larger version
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Vulnerable beads
In central India, there are ancient sites with
huge piles, almost ton's of ancient broken beads
made with the old and dry heating method. The
massive presence of this type of beads in a
broken condition indicates the problem with the
fragility of beads made by the old production
method.
A lot of these beads simply did not survive the
manufacturing process itself.
On the illustration, you can observe beads taken
from such a junk pile close to the bead
manufacturing place. Here we can observe beads,
broken before and after getting polished and
some broken during the tumbling process itself
as with the bead in the upper right corner with
a polished bead crack surface.
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NEW HOLES IN OLD BEADSThis ancient bead
displayed below has no hole.
It never made it the whole way to the end of the manufacturing
process. It is not uncommon to find such
beads.
The wonderful beads SM 53,54 and 55
just below are ancient. However,
they were found without hole. So the finders of the beads
drilled new holes in them. Unfortunately,
my scanner is somehow not able to catch the true translucent
beauty of these beads.
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11 mm - a bead whithout hole |
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Sulemani 185 -
26 * 23 * 12 mm
Origin: The Himalayas
Period: 300 B.C. to 1000 A.D.
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SM 1a - size 9mm -
'cooked'
Click on picture - SOLD
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SM 1b - 5 to 6,5 mm - 'cooked'
Click for larger resolution
SOLD |

SM 1c -
4 to 8 mm - 'over cooked'
Click on picture -
SOLD |

SM 1d -
5 to 8 mm - SOLD
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SM 1e
- 4 to 7,5 mm - SOLD |

SM 1f
- 5 to 7 mm -
'over cooked' - SOLD |
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