Cylindrical Amulet
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
The Egyptians worked with gold and semiprecious stones from earliest times. They mined both types of material in the desert east of the Nile and in present-day Sudan, called “Nubia” in ancient times after the ancient Egyptian word for gold (nub). Clearly, objects made from these high-value materials were available only to the highest ranks of society.
MEDIUM
Gold
DATES
ca. 1938–1759 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
Dynasty 12
PERIOD
Middle Kingdom
ACCESSION NUMBER
37.701E
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
An amulet, although of unknown significance, generally associated with women. It is in the form of a cylindrical case. Two rough-cut garnets were found in it. The outer case is gold and originally had an inner cylinder of copper or bronze. Granulation on the surface creates a pattern of seven zigzags and eight triangles. The caps consist of two parts each cut from a heavier sheet of gold than the cylinder. At one end a loop is soldered to the middle of the cap. The caps were not soldered in place and lack definite evidence of cementing and were probably not intended to be removed.
Condition: Broken in center but reconstructed. Several pieces of the metal are missing from this broken center area and several pieces of granulation are missing due to the break.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Cylindrical Amulet, ca. 1938–1759 B.C.E. Gold, Diam. 3/8 × 2 in. (1 × 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.701E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.701E_PS2.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 37.701E_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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