Early Navajo Double Naja Pendant of Silver and Turquoise

This early Navajo pendant just feels like something special! It's in the shape of a Naja. "Naja" is a Navajo name for the symbol which is believed to have originated in the ancient Middle East as an inverted crescent design. It's said to have represented the Phoenician goddess of fertility, Astarte, and also have been mentioned in the Book of Judges from the Holy Bible. Eventually, the Moors placed the symbol on the bridles of their horses for protection. From the Moors, the inverted crescent came to the Spanish who then carried it to the Americas.  According to Lois Sherr Dubin, who has written books about Native American jewelry, "Either the Navajo saw it on the Spanish Mexicans, or it came to the Southwest through the Plains people, the Shawnee or the Delaware. Again, that’s unclear, but the point is, the form itself has ancient origins.” The Navajo began to use the Naja symbol on the headstalls of their own horses before we ever saw it in its present form - as the center pendant on