Old black glass bead necklace

I was wondering if anyone knew if this necklace was made for a religious group or something ? The back of the pendant seems to have some type of engraving.

Thank You

Billy D.

 

Looks like a Tuareg cross.

 

Thanks Holly, I'll do some research on that name, Thank You..

 

The name is Agadez cross, and as Holly said, made by Tuareg. Agadez is in Niger, West Africa, where many Tuareg live.
This is probably 1960s. Jewellery like this was given by a father to his son when he started to travel the desert on his own. Every symbol has a specific meaning.
The small circles are chameleon eyes, which stand for luck during travel. They surround a large circle, which is the symbol for a jackal, jackals are enemies of the Tuareg because they attack and eat goats. In this case the chameleon eyes protect the travelling Tuareg against the jackal.

For those who haven't seen my favourite Tuareg gentleman with cross pendant, here he is again:


He is becoming a regular on the forum.

 

Okay, very cool..Thank You