Beaded Necklace, ca. 3500–3300 B.C.E. Steatite, carnelian, diorite, porphyry, hematite, banded alabaster, agate, soapstone , 2 1/2 x 2 1/4 in. (6.4 x 5.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 09.889.301a. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.09.889.301a_NegA_print_bw.jpg)
Beaded Necklace, ca. 3500–3300 B.C.E. Steatite, carnelian, diorite, porphyry, hematite, banded alabaster, agate, soapstone , 2 1/2 x 2 1/4 in. (6.4 x 5.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 09.889.301a. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.09.889.301a_erg3.jpg)
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
Steatite, carnelian, diorite, porphyry, hematite, banded alabaster, agate, soapstone
DATES
ca. 3500–3300 B.C.E.
PERIOD
Predynastic Period-middle Naqada II Period
DIMENSIONS
2 1/2 x 2 1/4 in. (6.4 x 5.7 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
09.889.301a
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
PROVENANCE
Tomb no. 1, Adaima, Egypt; between December 1907 and January 1908, excavated by Henri de Morgan of Francescas, France and New York, NY; 1909, purchased from Henri de Morgan by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Eighteen stone beads of different materials and shapes. Eight very narrow elongated barrels of hematite; one very small disk, light brown carnelian; one small ring of red carnelian; one irregular plump drop of light agate, pierced as a pedant; 2 drops of diorite, pierced as pendants; 2 big pendant drops of white calcite, striped with pink lines, longitudinal in one, which is corroded, transversal in the other; one big broad flattened pendant drop of white and black granite (?); one very big disk of black steatite; one papyrus scepter amulet, pierced in stem as pendant, of mottled gray soapstone.
Condition: Stringing modern.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is on view in Pre-Dynastic, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
CAPTION
Beaded Necklace, ca. 3500–3300 B.C.E. Steatite, carnelian, diorite, porphyry, hematite, banded alabaster, agate, soapstone
, 2 1/2 x 2 1/4 in. (6.4 x 5.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 09.889.301a. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.09.889.301a_NegA_print_bw.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, CUR.09.889.301a_NegA_print_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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