Beaded Necklace
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
On View: Pre-Dynastic, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
The three necklaces in this case were discovered in graves. Ancient Egyptians apparently wore jewelry not only as adornments but also as protective symbols. Beads of different materials may have been chosen for the symbolic qualities of their colors. The amulet represents the head of a powerful bull—or possibly a nurturing cow—and was probably thought to transfer that animal’s characteristics to its wearer.
MEDIUM
Shell, faience, carnelian, limestone, lapis lazuli
DATES
ca. 3300–3100 B.C.E.
PERIOD
Predynastic Period, Naqada III Period
DIMENSIONS
Largest bead: 5/8 x 3/8 in. (1.6 x 0.9 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
09.889.304
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
PROVENANCE
Archaeological provenance not yet documented; between December 1907 and January 1908, acquired in Abu Zaidan, Egypt by Henri de Morgan of Francescas, France and New York, NY; 1909, purchased from Henri de Morgan by the Brooklyn Museum.
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CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
One hundred and four beads of different material. Twelve are of cut, but unshaped shell, two of them big and conical, eighty-one of shell, cut into rings or disks; five of greenish faience, one disk, two cylinders, one cone, one compressed spheroid; one bluish faience barrel; three of carnelian, one ring, one spheroid, one bicone; one lazuli blunt drop pendant; one big elongated cylinder of glazed limestone is the chief piece.
Condition: Stringing modern.
CAPTION
Beaded Necklace, ca. 3300–3100 B.C.E. Shell, faience, carnelian, limestone, lapis lazuli, Largest bead: 5/8 x 3/8 in. (1.6 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 09.889.304. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.09.889.304_erg3.jpg)
IMAGE
overall,
CUR.09.889.304_erg3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 9/21/2007
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Creative Commons-BY
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