A small silver case, triangular or tubular, often gilt and hung with little bells, worn across Central Asia. Women wore one until their first children were born. Inside went a written prayer, salt, herbs, or a child’s first hair.
Record, Folk and Modern are kept apart, and each one carries its source.
The tumar’s origin is said to be older than Islam in the region, but it is undated. The earliest records in our sources are photographs taken in 1898–99 and museum pieces from about 1900, studied by Gyul and Hejzlarová in 2022.
To verify: Who took the 1898–99 photographs, and where; The date of the Ringling Museum’s tumar
Inside a tumar went a prayer written by a mullah, usually verses of the Qur’an, or salt, herbs, or a child’s first hair. Women wore it until their first children were born, hoping to keep away the evil eye, illness and infertility. A Teke bride first put one on at her wedding.
Kazakh makers now add Turkic runes said to mean “happiness”. A tumar from us is always sold empty: nothing inside, and never a verse of the Qur’an. Old pieces may be set with coral; ours never will be.
