Agadez Cross Pendant
The Agadez cross, or tanaghilt, is the best-known of the Tuareg silver pendants of Niger, a cruciform amulet with four or more arms radiating from a central square, traditionally cast by the smiths (inadan) of Agadez. Agadez and the wider Air region have their own named cross designs, and the form is sometimes said to be a stylised map, a key, or the four directions that guard the wearer on the paths of life. The pendant is given at the passages of life, at a birth, a naming, an initiation, or a marriage, and it is worn by both men and women as a protective amulet, especially in the desert, wh