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AKHENATEN/TUTANKHAMUN

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Bianca
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« Reply #1050 on: January 24, 2009, 11:12:37 am »




                       










Two Ornamental Bracelets



Very few of the major pieces of jewelry found in Tutankhamun's tomb were intended solely for purposes of adornment. Decorative elements in design are not infrequent, but they are usually subsidiary to the central motif, which was thought to have magical, and especially protective, properties of some kind. In this respect they conform with Egyptian jewelry in general: artists and craftsmen devoted much of their skill and ingenuity to devising images drawn from a fairly limited range of myths, often placing them in an attractive setting.
The two bracelets illustrated here belong to the ornamental class; nothing in their decoration has any recognizable amuletic or magical significance. The one illustrated on the left is a rigid bracelet, from the left forearm of Tutankhamun's mummy; the one on the right is a flexible bracelet from his right wrist. Both bracelets have as their bezels semiprecious stones mounted on plates of gold or electrum; the jewels are probably turquoise in the rigid bracelet and lapis lazuli in the flexible. In each case the jewel is set in a border of applied granular-work and small bosses, bands of braided rope, and continuous spirals. The wrist strap of the rigid bracelet, which is made of four gold tubes bound together, represents the stems of the papyrus flowers and buds at the hinge end of the strap and lilies interspersed with buds at the clasp. These floral terminals serve the same purpose as the corresponding elements on the udjat eye bracelet. In the flexible bracelet the wrist strap consists of eight strands of gold disk and barrel-shaped beads divided by a central strand of blue glass and carnelian beads. The spacer bar at the free end of the strap has a tenon that slides into a groove on the fixed bar attached to the plate on which the jewel is mounted
« Last Edit: January 24, 2009, 11:14:03 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #1051 on: January 24, 2009, 11:15:21 am »




                       










Penannular Earrings



These two pairs of earrings are so simple that their royal connection could not have been detected if they had not been discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb. Those shown on the left are made of alternate bands of black and white glass. One of them is incomplete and the surviving portion consists of two pieces, one of which was found on the floor of the antechamber and the other in the rubble outside the door of the antechamber. It seems unlikely that the ancient robbers would have taken an object of no intrinsic value and a mere fragment; perhaps it was thrown into the corridor by one of the necropolis workmen when carrying out the repairs to the tomb. A feature of technical interest can be seen at the left-hand end of the complete earring: it is a thin metal core that shows that the earrings were made in the same manner as glass beads - by winding threads of glass around the core and then applying heat until the glass is fused into a compact mass. The black color is believed to have been produced by the addition of an iron compound to the glass and the white by means of tin oxide, some of which was actually found in Tutankhamun's tomb.
The earrings on the right-hand side are made of white faience and are decorated with black or dark brown insets, the colors in each case having been produced by the same substances as those in the glass earrings.

Both pairs are penannular or cleft rings. Hitherto no satisfactory explanation has been found to account for the way in which the lobe of the ear could be squeezed through the narrow gap in the ring, although it is possible that in some instances they were permanently attached while the wearer was still a child. Once they had been inserted into the perforated lobes, they would cause no discomfort. It is, however, difficult to imagine why such simple productions should have been included in the tomb equipment of Tutankhamun, unless it was thought necessary to provide as many as possible of the different types of earring, some special amuletic significance being attributed to each type.
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« Reply #1052 on: January 24, 2009, 11:18:39 am »



                                   









Necklace with Triple Scarab Pectoral




Close to a necklace with a vulture pectoral in the wrappings of Tutankhamun's mummy lay this elaborate necklace. Its rectangular gold pectoral is decorated with three upright scarabs inlaid with lapis lazuli, their front legs attached to the top of the frame, which is shaped like the hieroglyphic sign for "heaven" (pet). Engraved on its outer face is a row of stars. The sides of the frame are formed of two was scepters and the base consists of a bar ornamented on the outer surface with twelve marguerites, with dark blue glass petals and gold centers. Suspended from the bottom of the bar like a fringe are four white lotus flowers, three large buds, and three (originally six) small buds. The lotus flowers and the large buds are inlaid with carnelian, feldspar, and dark blue glass and the smaller buds with carnelian only. Above each scarab is a metal disk, the two outer disks of gold alloyed with copper representing the sun (Ra) and the center disk with a crescent of gold alloyed with silver representing the moon. Beneath each scarab (kheper) is the basket-shaped hieroglyphic sing for "lord" (neb), inlaid with feldspar. The gold undersides of the scarabs are finely modeled and the backs of the neb signs delicately chased. Contiguous circles of dark blue glass with gold centers take the place of the marguerites on the back of the base of the frame.

Egyptian jewelers often modified regular symbols or motifs for reasons that are not always apparent, though space and artistic effect were generally governing factors. In this pendant each scarab group was probably intended to suggest the name that Tutankhamun adopted when he succeeded to the throne, Nebkheperura, but the three vertical strokes that should stand between the beetle and the basket are missing. Also, in the middle group, the sun's disk is replaced by the lunar disk and crescent. In hieroglyphic writing it is possible to indicate a plural by repeating the sign three times, instead of adding the three vertical strokes to the single sign; the three scarabs may, by allowing for artistic freedom, be explained as performing that function. The word kheperu itself means the different "forms" that a god or a dead person could assume, and it is possible that the emphasis given by the threefold repetition was intended to assist, by magic, in the realization of those metamorphoses. The substitution of the lunar disk and crescent for the sun's disk is a sportive variant, which is exemplified again in the winged scarab pectoral.

Five strings of gold beads, together with a few beads of blue glass, make up the straps -now shorter in length than they were originally - on which the pectoral was suspended from the king's neck. A gold counterpoise inlaid with glass is joined to the upper ends of the straps by spacer fastenings on which winged cobras are engraved. In the center of the counterpoise is a figure of the god of "Millions of Years," Heh, squatting on a mat and holding with raised arms a cartouche bearing the inscription "The good god Nebkheperura chosen of Amen-Ra." He is supported on one side by the amuletic signs for stability (djed) and dominion (was) and on the other side by the royal cobra with the white crown of Upper Egypt to which the curved frontal projection of the red crown of Lower Egypt has been added.



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« Last Edit: January 24, 2009, 11:21:11 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #1053 on: January 28, 2009, 07:53:48 am »




             









Eye of Ra Pectoral



Inscriptions written between the eyebrow and eyelid on the front and back of this udjat eye read: "khopri, who is in his divine bark, the great dog, chief of the great temple" (i.e. the Temple of Heliopolis), and "Ra-Harakhty, the great god, who is in the night bark, lord of heaven and lord of earth." It is evident, therefore, that the udjat eye, in this instance, represents the Eye of Ra, not the Eye of Horus, a less common significance of the symbol, but not exceptional.

The two barques in which the sun-god traveled - by day across the sky and by night through the underworld - were sometimes identified with the eyes of the sun-god and consequently with both the left and right udjat eyes. Khopri represented the sun-god at sunrise in the east, and the Egyptians called the east the "left", which accords with the fact that the eye, if viewed from the side on which Khopri is named (shown in this illustration), is the left eye. If it is turned round it becomes the right eye; the word for west (where the god entered his night bark) was the "right". Ra-Harakhty is mentioned in the "right eye" inscription as being in the night bark. Further, though not conclusive, evidence that this udjat eye represents the Eye of Ra is provided by the presence of the cobra, which symbolizes the uraeus on the god's brow. That uraeus was itself regarded as the eye of the sun-god.

Behind the cobra and under the eye is a single hieroglyphic sign for "protection," indicating that the king would receive the protection of the Eye of Ra.

According to another legend about the Eye of Ra, the sun-god ruled on earth as a king, but when he grew old people plotted against him. On hearing about their evil designs, Ra consulted some of his fellow gods, who urged him to send his eye in the form of the goddess Hathor to destroy his disloyal subjects. He accepted their advice and Hathor set forth on her destructive mission. Before it was completed, however, Ra relented and spared the survivors.

Hathor, in this connection, is usually called the udjat eye and is so named in a spell in the Book of the Dead (Chapter 167), which is devoted to the return of the Eye of Ra after the massacre. It begins with these words: "Thoth has brought the udjat eye, he has appeased the udjat eye after Ra had sent her out and she had become exceedingly angry." Thoth played a similar role in restoring the udjat eye to Horus and it is clear that the two legends have been conflated.

The necklace, on which this pectoral was suspended in the layer of amulets nearest to the king's mummy, consists of blue faience, plain gold, and granulated gold cylindrical beads. At the top of the necklace, instead of a counterpoise, the repetition is broken by a large bead of black resin set between granulated gold cups flanked by granulated gold beads resembling miniature mesketu bracelets.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2009, 07:56:00 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #1054 on: January 28, 2009, 07:58:57 am »




               








Tutankhamun's Throne Name



Egyptian kings, when they ascended the throne, assumed four names and titles besides the name that they already possessed and to which the title "Son of Ra" was added. In formal documents, particularly those carved on monuments to record historical events and personal achievements, all five names and titles might be written, but the usual practice was to employ only the throne and personal names, both of which were written, as a rule, within cartouches. If space was too restricted to allow room for more than one name, it was generally the throne name that was chosen.

Several pieces among Tutankhamun's jewelry bear only the throne name, Nebkheperura, without a title. It was spelled with three signs, representing a basket (neb), a beetle, to which three vertical strokes were added to indicate the plural (kheperu), and the sun's disk (ra).

The name of the sun-god Ra was written first for honorific reasons and the basket was written last because, when the name was written in an upright cartouche, the sign filled the rounded base of the cartouche. In one respect only does the name show any variation: the beetle may or may not have wings, but the reading is unaffected by their presence or absence.

The pendant illustrated here is an example of the writing of the throne name without the addition of the title "king of Upper and Lower Egypt." In common with other pendants of its kind among Tutankhamun's jewelry, the scarab is disproportionately large.

It is made of very heavy gold plate, finely chased on both the upper and the lower surfaces. The sun's disk, inlaid with carnelian and flanked by pendent uraei, is held in the front claws (one broken) of the scarab, thus reproducing the action of the beetle in nature. Beneath the scarab, and separated from it by the three strokes indicating the plural, is the basket, made of gold and inlaid with blue glass.

Fragments of what seem to have been the beaded borders of wings remain attached to the left side of the basket and the right-hand edge of the sun's disk. The surviving traces do not appear to fit a cartouche or, at the base, an additional band of gold, as suggested by Carter.

A gold eyelet for suspension is soldered to the back of the plate bearing the sun's disk. Two rows of small gold beads, found on the neck of the scarab, are not shown in the photograph, but some blue and gold beads can be seen between the left-hand uraeus and the head.
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« Reply #1055 on: January 28, 2009, 08:03:03 am »




               








Winged Scarab Pectoral



The pectoral of this necklace represents a winged scarab holding in its forelegs the lunar disk and crescent and in its back legs a basin. Between and attached to the scarab and the basin are three vertical gold bars. The pectoral is made of solid gold decorated on the outer surface with cloisonne-work of lapis lazuli, carnelian, and turquoise-colored glass. The lunar disk is of gold alloyed with silver. All the details of the elements in its composition are finely engraved in the gold base on the inner surface.

It is evident that the pectoral represents the throne name of Tutankhamun, Nebkheperura, but two of its elements are not the usual hieroglyphic signs used for writing the name. The basin (heb) has been substituted for the basket (neb) and the lunar disk and crescent (iah) for the sun's disk (ra).

In both cases the substitutions can be explained as examples of artist's freedom, but the basin may have been intended to suggest the idea that the king would live to celebrate many festivals, also written as heb.

Carter thought that the moon's disk was intended to counterbalance the sun's disk of the falcon pectoral. He remarked, however, that all these pectorals showed signs of friction; it seems unlikely that they were worn together as a pair by the king during his lifetime, though he may well have worn them individually.

Chains of plaited gold wire connect the pectoral with two inlaid gold lotus flowers and a heart-shaped pendant separated by two carnelian beads. The pendant is inlaid with a cartouche bearing the king's throne name written in the normal manner flanked by two uraei.

Since the lotus flowers have five holes and the pectoral is provided with a similar number of eyelets at the tops of the wings, it is probable that the necklace was originally intended to have five strands of gold bead chains.
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« Reply #1056 on: February 03, 2009, 09:01:42 pm »




             








Flying Vulture Pectoral



It may have been to commemorate her connection with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt that Nekhbet, more often than any other goddess, is represented wearing the atef crown, itself a symbol of rulership over the Two Lands. She is shown with it in this gold pectoral; the symbolism is enhanced by the central portion of the crown being formed like the regular crown of Upper Egypt. Her body, wings, and tail are all inlaid with lapis lazuli, apart from the lesser coverts of the wings, which are inlaid with carnelian. The shen signs grasped in her talons are inlaid with red and blue glass. Five small rings for suspension straps are attached to the chased underside of the figure.

In style, this pectoral has no close parallel among the objects of its kind from the tomb. The head, neck, and crown are represented in the round, but the body and tail give the impression of being in relief. That it was found in a box in the treasury, and not on the king's mummy, supports the supposition that it was the king's personal possession used in his lifetime.
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« Reply #1057 on: February 03, 2009, 09:04:53 pm »




               








Vulture Collar



When the predynastic kingdom of Upper Egypt conquered the Lower Egyptian kingdom and the two crowns were unified, it was natural that the principal deities of the conquerors should accompany them and extend their realms accordingly. One of these deities was the vulture-goddess Nekhbet, whose sanctuary lay at Nekheb (Elkhab) on the east bank of the Nile, across from Nekhen (Hierakonpolis), the capital of the Upper Egyptian kings, whose patron god was Horus. Very probably it was the geographical proximity of Nekheb to the capital that first made it desirable for the local rulers to recognize the goddess; in return for their recognition they received her protection. In her capacity as royal protectress, she could hardly fail to gain kudos from the successful conquest of her protégé, Menes. Her position as a tutelary goddess of the kings of united Egypt was firmly established at the beginning of the dynastic period and remained unaffected by political and religious changes, except in the Amarna period, throughout Egyptian history.

The flexible gold collar, which represents the vulture-goddess Nekhbet, was placed on the thorax of the king's mummy so that it covered the whole of the chest and extended upwards to the shoulders. The elongated wings, set in a circular fashion, are divided into districts that are composed of 250 segments, with feathers engraved on the back and inlaid on the front with polychrome glass in imitation of turquoise, jasper, and lapis lazuli. The segments were held together by thread that passed through small golden eyelets projecting from their upper and lower edges. On one side of each segment, except in the district known as the lesser coverts - at the top of the wing, close to the body - there is a border of minute gold beads that divides its feathers from those of its neighbor. The body of the bird is inlaid in the same manner as the lesser coverts, while the tail feathers resemble the primary and the secondary districts of the wings. Both the beak and the eye in the delicately chased head are made of obsidian. In each of the talons the bird grasps the hieroglyphic shen sign, inlaid with read and blue glass. A floral-shaped mankhet counterpoise, which was attached by gold wires to eyelets at the back of the wings, hung down the back of the mummy.

Collars and necklaces were placed on Egyptian mummies not as objects of adornment but to provide magical protection. They were also represented on the cartonnage covers of mummies and on the lids of anthropoid coffins. Among the many collar amulets painted on the walls of rectangular wooden coffins dating from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000 B.C.) are four made of gold and inlaid on the outer surface, shaped to represent a falcon, vulture, winged cobra, and combined vulture and cobra. Tutankhamun's mummy, which was more than half a millennium later in date than these coffins, was equipped with all these inlaid collars except the cobra collar, in addition to all four collars in sheet gold without inlay. They were purely funerary in character and very different from the bead or gold collars worn in life.
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« Reply #1058 on: February 03, 2009, 09:07:11 pm »




             








Necklace of the Sun on the Eastern Horizon


 
One of the most striking features of Egyptian symbolism is the number of different ways in which a single theme could be pictorially expressed. Both this necklace and the necklace of the rising sun commemorate in their inlaid gold pectoral pendants what is essentially the same daily event, but in this instance the baboons are omitted.

The baboons, by their presence, showed that the action was taking place at sunrise, whereas in this case the same effect is produced by the use of the hieroglyphic sign for 'horizon' (akhet), which represents the sun rising between two mountains. It involves the introduction of a foreign element (i.e. the mountains) into the naturalistic episode of the scarab (= the sun-god) pushing its ball of dung (= the sun) in front of it. By this slight deviation from what was regular and normal, the artist has given temporal and local precision to a symbol which would otherwise have lacked any indication of time and place. He has also added uraei with pendent 'life' signs (ankh) to the 'horizon' hieroglyph, thus signifying that the rising sun is bringing life to Upper and Lower Egypt.

Apart from the symbol the sun-god's gold barque bears two uraei, one in the prow and the other in the stern, the head of each uraeus surmounted by the disk of the sun and the tail replaced by three amulets symbolizing 'goodness' (nefer), 'life' (ankh) and 'stability' (djed).

The straps are composed of separate inlaid gold plaques held together at the back and the sides by rows of small gold, carnelian and glass beads. The plaques embody the same elements as those in the pectoral pendant, except that the sun's disk is substituted for the sign of the horizon and the hieroglyphic sign for 'festival' is placed beneath the scarab. At the upper end of each strap is a curved shoulder-piece representing the vulture of the goddess Nekhbet with wings outstretched. Two strings of beads join the vultures to the clasp, which consists of a pair of inlaid gold uraei with a slide-fastening in the center.

The semi-precious stones which form the inlay of the various elements in this piece are lapis lazuli, carnelian, felspar and turquoise. It was found in the same casket as the necklace of the rising sun.
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« Reply #1059 on: February 03, 2009, 09:12:39 pm »



             








Cobra Amulet



The multiplicity of layers of wrappings on a mummy made it possible to place a large number of  amulets at different levels over the particular part of the body which, through the power of magic, they were intended to protect or to help in some way. On the neck alone of Tutankhamun's mummy there were twenty amulets arranged in six groups, each group separated from the next by several layers of bandages. The serpent head amulet was in the second group from the top and the cobra amulet illustrated here belonged to the next group below.

This amulet represents a cobra (either Naja haje or Naja nigricollis) in repose. It is made of thin sheet gold, embossed and chased. At the back it has an eyelet through which a linen string had been threaded to attach it, with two other amulets to the king's neck. As a hieroglyphic sign it represented the letter j or dj, but its amuletic significance, at least by itself, is unknown. Perhaps it was misplaced by the embalmers, and it belonged with the cobras in the fifth layer.
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« Reply #1060 on: February 03, 2009, 09:15:54 pm »




               








Pectoral Featuring Nut



Nut is shown here as a woman with vulture's wings outspread to symbolize her function as a protectress. It is a role that she is often represented as performing on the underside of the lids
of coffins.

All around her body are hieroglyphic inscriptions, of which there are three in all. At the top are the king's throne and personal names, separated by the title "Lord of the Two Lands" followed by "The Great and Glorious Nut," and, beneath the wings of the goddess, "Words spoken by Nut: 'I have spread my arms over my son, king Nebkheperura, true of voice, I have protected the beauty of the Lord [of the Two Lands] Tutankhamun like Ra; [it was] what I did for my son Unennefer. Thy father will protect this thy body.'"

The face and limbs of the goddess are represented in light blue glaze inlay, an appropriate color for a sky deity. Her headdress is made of dark blue glass, which is also used for the lower part of her collar, from which a panel pectoral, of the kind mentioned above, appears to be suspended.

Both of the shrine-shaped pectorals were found in the pedestal supporting a recumbent figure of the jackal of Anubis in the so-called treasury of the king's tomb.
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« Reply #1061 on: February 03, 2009, 09:19:19 pm »




               








Vulture Pendant



The innermost layers of Tutankhamun's mummy wrappings contained his personal possessions.

This necklace was suspended from his neck in the eleventh or twelfth layer, close to the mummy, and therefore very probably it was a piece that he had worn during his lifetime.

The pendant consist of a representation of the vulture-goddess of Upper Egypt, Nekhbet, with the outer ends of the wings folded downwards resembling a cloak.

It is made of solid gold encrusted on the obverse with blue glass, apart from the lesser coverts of the wings, which are encrusted with red glass edged with green, and the tips of the tail feathers, which are also encrusted with red glass.

In its talons it holds the hieroglyphic shen sign, inlaid with carnelian and blue glass.

The gold head, turned sideways, and the neck are delicately rendered in a most realistic manner, the effect being heightened by the wrinkled occiput, the obsidian eyes, and the lapis lazuli beak.

On the chased reverse a miniature necklace and pendant are modeled in high relief.

The pendant is composed of the king's cartouche surmounted by the sun's disk and ostrich plumes, flanked by two uraei.

Fastenings for the suspension chains are attached to the upper edges of the wings.
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« Reply #1062 on: February 03, 2009, 09:23:14 pm »




             








Ear Studs



Datable evidence suggests that earrings of the stud type were introduced into the Egyptian parure towards the end of Amenhotpe III's reign or in the Amarna period; they were therefore still a relatively recent innovation in the time of Tutankhamun.

At least three pairs were included in his funerary equipment, two of gold inlaid with semiprecious stones and the more modest examples - one incomplete - illustrated here. The complete specimen in this pair shows that each stud originally consisted of inner and outer mushroom-shaped bosses attached to shanks of tubular form, one slightly larger in diameter than the other, which fitted into the perforated lobes of the ears in a telescopic fashion.

The tubes are made of gold, corrugated to provide a better grip.

When worn, the only part of the ear stud that could be seen was the outer boss; it might be plain or decorated.

In these studs the greater part of each boss is made of reddish black resin, a substance used in many pieces of Tutankhamun's jewelry. It differs in its composition from amber and is believed to be a product of coniferous trees brought to Egypt from the region of Lebanon.

The material used for the white band has been identified by different authorities as crystalline limestone and as ivory, and similarly the center cap as possibly glass and as translucent calcite, which may have been fixed with a cement containing a red pigment to give it a reddish hue.
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« Reply #1063 on: February 03, 2009, 09:29:11 pm »




             








Pectoral Representing Ra-Harakhty




Ra-Harakhty is represented on this gold pectoral in the form of a falcon with the sun's disk.

Though essentially similar, the two representations differ in detail and illustrate the ingenuity of the Egyptian jeweler in devising variations on a single theme.

On this one, the flacon's headis shown full face, an uncommon style of presentation, but not without parallel in Tutankhamun's jewelry; traces of inlay remain in the eye sockets. Above the center of the head and backed by the carnelian sun's disk is an uraeus of gold. The predominant inlay of the wings and tail is lapis lazuli; a small amount of carnelian has also been used, mainly at the tips. Beneath the open scale goldwork cage of the body lies a green material that may be nephrite, but it is also possible that it is glass. The same material seems to have been used for the bird's "trousers". In each talon it holds the shen sign inlaid with red and blue glass.

Another figure of a falcon is chased on the back of the piece.

This pectoral was suspended on a plaited gold chain at the top of which were two carnelian beads and a heart-shaped pendant inlaid with polychrome glass and partly encased in gold.

On the front of the heart is the king's throne name flanked by two uraei, both of which are outlined by minute gold granules. On the back, the plain gold surface is engraved with the king's personal name set between uraei.
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« Reply #1064 on: February 03, 2009, 09:34:04 pm »



   

                    








Falcon Collar



From early times until the Roman period, the broad collar, called usekh, "broad," continued to be a regular item in Egyptian funerary equipment, though sometimes only as a model.

The extent to which importance was attached to it in the New Kingdom may be judged from the fact that no fewer than eleven usekh collars were laid on the mummy of Tutankhamun, separated by bandages or sheets of papyrus.

Eight of these collars, made of single sheets of gold, were rigid, and three, made of multiple gold elements, were flexible. One of the flexible collars represents the vulture of Nekhbet, another the winged cobra of Wadjet, and the third the falcon of Horus. It is the falcon collar that is illustrated here. It was placed over the middle of the thorax, the tail reaching downwards to the navel and the tips of the wings lying over the clavicles.

Apart from the wings, the various members of the body of the bird are joined in one piece, with polychrome glass inlays to imitate the feathers, and obsidian inlays to mark the beak and eye.

Each of the delicately chased talons holds a shen sign inlaid with blue and red glass.

The wings are composed of thirty-eight gold plaques, all inlaid with polychrome glass in the manner of cloisonne-work; they vary in shape and decoration according to the position in the wings that they occupy. Each plaque is provided with tiny eyelets for connection by means of thread, which gave the wings their flexibility.

A floral-shaped counterpoise (mankhet), inlaid with colored glass, was threaded on a gold wire necklace attached to the wings and hung down below the nape of the neck.



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