Carnelian, the red translucent form of chalcedony was popular in Egypt from the Predynastic Period through to Roman times and beyond. Red was associated with the warmth of the sun, with manliness, and with the power and energy of blood. It could also be linked, however, to the red desert to the West, and to the unruly god, Seth or Sutekh. 

This particular necklace is reconstituted from a particulary well graduated set of beads.