Single Strand Necklace with Disk Beads
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Necklaces
Most ancient Egyptians owned at least one necklace.
The simplest examples were made of tiny beads of shell, bone, faience, metal, or glazed steatite. More complex versions had beads in the form of amulets, including uraeus-cobras, wedjat-eyes (the eye of the falcon-god Horus, symbolizing wholeness), scarabs (charms in the form of beetles), or images of gods such as Hathor. Individual beads as well as complete necklaces had significance. Beads reproducing fruits or flowers, such as the examples in this case, were believed to enhance fertility. Military officers presented fly necklaces to valiant soldiers to acknowledge their tenacity in battle.
Caption
Single Strand Necklace with Disk Beads, ca. 1539–1190 B.C.E.. Faience, Approximate length: 39 7/16 in. (100.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 15.502. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.15.502_NegL1008_33_print_bw.jpg)
Title
Single Strand Necklace with Disk Beads
Date
ca. 1539–1190 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 18 to Dynasty 19
Period
New Kingdom
Geography
Place excavated: Balabish, Egypt
Medium
Faience
Classification
Dimensions
Approximate length: 39 7/16 in. (100.2 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund
Accession Number
15.502
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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Frequent Art Questions
These Egyptian necklaces are beautiful, but I have a hard time believing the string holding the heads together held up this long. Are they in their original order or have they been reassembled?
How sharply observed! You are correct; in most modern displays of ancient jewelry that was strung on non-metal strings, the beads have been rethreaded on modern materials. Can you think of any issues curators would have to address in doing so?Well, I imagine most people just assume the necklaces are in their original form, so there's certainly a burden of accuracy that rests on their shoulders. This jewelry was also created by skilled artisans so I imagine there's plenty of difficulty in just reassembling the pieces. How do curators decide the patterns in which they arrange the beads?Luckily, sometimes the archaeological context is so well preserved that the pattern of the beads can be seen even when the thread connecting them had deteriorated. But quite often, a hypothetical decision has to be made! Here, the number of individual beads can be very helpful in determining the pattern, using other known documented examples of that type of jewelry as comparisons.This necklace is so beautiful! What is faience?
Faience is a man-made material made from a paste of copper, quartz, lime, and other materials that are fired like ceramics. It was an affordable alternative to the more precious lapis lazuli. The blue color has symbolic meaning as well, it was connected to the Nile, which brings life-giving water to the Egypt.Cool! So interesting!Tell me more.
Theses lovely pieces would have served as jewelry much like we were today. Beaded necklaces of faience were particularly popular.Using faience was an affordable alternative to the more precious lapis lazuli. The blue color has symbolic meaning as well! It was connected to the Nile, whose annual floods made life in the desert possible!
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