Patrimony
Here are the last two photos about the manuscripts of Chinguetti.
The Wisdom of the Ages
The man posing with his priceless books wears a gandoura. The Mauritanian style is this voluminous, toga like garment with, if you have the money, lots of embroidery in gold colored thread. The men are always having to hitch the sleeves up over their shoulders to keep the hem from dragging the ground. They do look princely.
The leather satchel in the foreground of the second photo was made by Touareg slaves. This is the same design used on the Touareg camel saddles. The small, dark and rather worn leather case on top of the Touareg satchel is for a traveler’s Koran. It is worn around the neck. It is easy to find these in shops in West African countries.
The walls of the home are painted in a blue/green color. Green or blue are commonly used to paint walls although most houses do not have paint on the walls. They just leave the adobe color. Green and blue are cool colors and might remind a person of an oasis. This paint is mixed from organic materials, but I don’ t know what. I met a British woman who was going to Morocco to find this paint so she could decorate her home in London with it. I don’t know how it turned out. I like the look of it. It is splotchy but here in the desert it seems right. Splotchy paint on my walls here in California??? Not so much!