The bank account and personal property of the village and Bedouin women in Palestine and Jordan is on her headdress. This appears in gold or silver coins given by the groom on the wedding day. The headdress is a status symbol for the woman and her husband. The most common headdress in Palestine is in the form of a bonnet with hair bands attached to the back. Coins are attached by a special embroideress to the sides, back and front of the bonnet. The headdress goes by different names in different areas such as: smadeh in Galilee and the coast, saffe and wegayeh in Ramallah, and araqqeyeh in Hebron.

The headdress in Bethlehem known as shatweh is in the shape of a man’s tarboush. It is made of padded and stiffened layers of broadcloth and linen. The front of the shatweh was covered with coins and coral. The back was embroidered. It is held on the head by a chin chain, znaq, called “Seven Souls”, that is attached on the sides.

In Jerusalem the headdress consists of a small embroidered round cap covered with coins and held on by a double chain znaq.

In Jordan the headdress did not come in a variety of styles. In the North the woman wore a black silk scarf on her head fastened by a silver chain mounted with coins. On top of this the woman wore a silk scarf wrapped into a turban.

In the South the woman crowns her head in a black or red silk scarf.

PALESTINE

JERUSALEM
BETHLEHEM




RAMALLAH
GAZA




JAFFA
HEBRON



GALILEE
BEER SHEBA/SINAI





 

JORDAN
SALT
MA'AN




NORTH JORDAN
KERAK




JORDAN VALLEY/GHOR