An agal (Arabic: عِقَال; also spelled iqal, egal, or igal) is an Arab men's clothing accessory. It is a black cord, worn doubled, used to keep a ghutrah (or keffiyeh) in place on the wearer's head.[1] It is traditionally made of goat hair.[2]
.jpg) A Bahraini man wearing a ghutra with an agal over it | |
| Type | Arab clothing |
|---|---|
| Material | Goat hair |
| Place of origin | Arabian Peninsula |
It is traditionally worn by Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Jordan, and parts of Palestine, Egypt and Syria (such as the Negev in Israel, Deir ez-Zor and Hauran in Syria, and Sinai and Sharqia in Egypt), and Ahwazi Arabs.
The use of the agal and ghutra is dated through antiquities including bas-reliefs and statues going back to ancient times. The agal is traced in Semitic[3] and Middle Eastern civilizations and even in ancient Arabian kingdoms. In his book Iran in the Ancient East, the archaeologist and Iranologist Ernst Herzfeld, in referring to the Susa bas-reliefs, points to the ancient agal as unique headwear of Elamites that distinguished them from other nations.