String of beads
Medium:Gold, glass and jasper beads and pendants
Geography: Egypt
Date: c. 1550-1069 BC
Period: 18th-20th Dynasty, New Kingdom
Object number: 910.48.256
Gallery Location:Galleries of Africa: Egypt
DescriptionThis necklace of blue glass beads with amulets of gold and carnelian has no provenance. Most of the elements seem to belong to the New Kingdom, though whether they were originally strung together thus, or whether the assembly a modern pastiche, is unknown. Among the golden elements is a head of the goddess Hathor and a golden fly, the symbol of valour and persistence. Among the carnelian pendants are several representing poppy seed capsules, a hand, and open water-lily blossoms. The uniform blue beads are glass, which would have been expensive during this time period. Such beads were worn in life, and may once have formed part of a broad collar.
