Agal (accessory)
An agal, also spelled iqal, egal or igal, is an accessory worn usually by Arab men. It is a black cord, worn doubled, used to keep a ghutrah in place on the wearer's head. It is traditionally made of goat hair.
It is usually worn in the Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia and eastern Syria and southwestern Iran by Ahwazi Arabs and the Hola people, as well as in communities of the Levant.
and Agal, Metropolitan Museum, New york
The use of the agal and keffiyah based on antiquities including bas-reliefs and statues goes back to the ancient times. Agal's use is traced in Semitic
and Middle Eastern civilizations like old Babylon artifacts such as and figures and even in ancient Arabia kingdoms, Phd. Ernst Herzfeld The well known German archaeologist and Elamologist in his book "Iran In The Ancient East", in referring to the Susa bas-reliefs points to the unique head wear of Elamites that distinguished them from other nations which is an ancient aqal.
