please indicate dimensions!
they resemble wire-inlaid prayer beads such as found in africa from Mali or Mauretania-

they could be from Yemen. The Bedouin are known for their silver inlaid black coral beads and the more modest wooden ones. Yours are beautiful.

I did a search and found one similar to yours on ebay item number 304557957436. It's from Yemen.

Judy, thank you so much!!
That bead is so similar! its black coral and mine is wood, but the wire work is so similar. Mine must be much newer as the wire work is all intact.
Caryn

Having viewed the photos and read the "description," I would be inclined to suppose the seller is just guessing.

I think it is unlikely this bead is centuries old, and it looks like a North African bead (from Mauritania), and not like an Arabian bead from Yemen. It could also easily be ebony and not black coral.

I have participated at eBay since 1997—and I have been documenting mistaken auctions and offerings for nearly twenty years now. EBay is the best place to go to, if you want to be misinformed and ripped-off.

Let's say their bead WAS found in Yemen. It would still probably be a Mauritanian wood bead. We always have to remember that beads are moved around. And that sellers pump-up the origin, age, and rarity of beads—in order to get a high price—AND due to ignorance and guessing.

I agree with Stefany about the differences between Yemeni black coral, and Mauritanian ebony wood. (Of course.) However, among the Eastern Mediterranean/Arabian "coral" prayer beads, these might be wood, or plastic, or even perhaps jet. The silver dots are actually tiny nails that are hammered-in. (Not "wires.") Also, the beads that are being discussed (having multiple graduated sizes) are consistent with Mauritanian necklaces. (These are often joined by wirework in intact necklaces.)

JDA

Thanks.
the large bead is 35x22mm.

the black coral bead of elaborate turned shape is decorated in different technique with silver wires deeply hammered in to make a design of dots.
the dark wood beads you show are very handsome but not that same style of decoration, and probably from Mali.

here is an image of the inlaid dark wood prayer beads loop from Mali or Mauretania i got in Santa Fe at a bead expo/conference years ago - complete with its original rather greasy tassel...

inlaid dark wood prayer beads loop- see the elaborately turned main bead...
the silver dots are on the turned "baluster" bead- (which may be a dense dark plastic) On some of the oblate shaped beads which may be wood its hard to see but there are regular squiggle loops around a few of the equators which are lines of wire hammered in place...

I did another google search and found these
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/small-strand-ebony-silver-inlay-beads-410733417.
Judy

the beads were posted as silver inlay beads from Mauritania

Some info I found a while ago when researching these exact beads-

The wood used in Mauritania & Mali for wood beads, both plain and inlaid as shown in the above pictures, is from the tree Dalbergia melanoxylon, otherwise referred to as African Blackwood. It is a wood used for fine instruments like clarinets. The trees grow slowly and there are efforts underway to grow the trees in nurseries to make the harvests more sustainable. Otherwise the conservation status is considered "near threatened", which is one rung above "least concern". So if you are buying or selling beads made from African Blackwood you can be mostly free of worry that you are involved in any species destruction.

This wood is technically no longer considered "ebony" - a name reserved for a different genus of trees, Diospyros, whose wood is very dense and harder to machine than Blackwood. Most of the true ebony wood trees are very threatened due to over-harvesting and are protected in some of the countries where they are found, mostly Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and south India. Ebony trees in West Africa are reported to be virtually wiped out by illegal harvesting. I don't know if any true ebony beads exist, but I expect they do. Not sure how they would be distinguished from African Blackwood. Some pix I've seen of ebony wood shows a lot more variation in the brown coloring than the Blackwood beads I have. Other pix appear to be a very uniform black.

As far as density - my Blackwood beads sink in water and ebony is also dense enough to sink, so that test can't be used to distinguish the two woods.

Black coral does indeed resemble African Blackwood. I've taken a picture of the two materials to show how the grain differs. The photo has been adjusted quite a bit to show the grain - both sets of beads are extremely dark, bordering on black, when in natural light. These black coral beads are some of the largest I've ever seen for sale. If you find much larger beads such as the oblates in the picture, I'm sure that they are wood rather than coral. Also, a lot of Blackwood beads still have light tan areas of sapwood, which is a feature not seen in black coral.

Lots more info can be found on the web under African Blackwood and ebony.

These beads come from Mauritania. The technique of inlaying silver in wood is called "marsus" and the necklace "glada mersusa." Rosanna is absolutely right, wood is not ebony but Dalgerdia melanoxylion which grows in Mauritania as well as in neighbouring countries Senegal, Mali.