| Original Message: Sahara jasper pendant |
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This rough has been on the market for a bit over a decade and purportedly is collected within the confines of the Sahara Desert. I have had a special interest in north African agates and jaspers since seeing the Egyptian beads in Dubin's " History of Beads ". In the last ten years it has become obvious that Morocco could be the source of all the lapidary rough needed to produce those Egyptian beads but what of other suitable rough. I have never seen any beads pictured that looks anything like this rough so I bought some and cut it. This rough seems to be not especially rare but it has proved unsuitable for ancient bead making in that it is incredibly brittle and readily cleaves on two widely divergent planes. Not a good investment of beadmaking time even with the forgiving drilling techniques used today. If anyone has seen a bead from Africa made from a material similar to this I would appreciate a picture or reference.
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