EG-3a-b

TWO JEWELRY ELEMENTS

Glass cold-worked, cut and ground

Egypt

New Kingdom, Dynasty XVIII, 1550-1300 BCE

These two horse-shoe shaped elements of gold are

decorated with a rosette composed of a gold circle and

eight red (glass or carnelian) petals held within

cloissons.  The fill in the upper corners are blue glass.

The back of each element is engraved with a single

hieroglyph of the vulture. According to similar pieces

associated with one of the wives of Pharaoh Tuthmosis

III, the loops at the sides served to string and hold each

element in its place in a vertical row attached to an oval

plate in order to create a series of ribbon-like rays which

cascade over the hair from the crown of the head. This

ensemble was intended to recall the feather headdress

associated with Mut, the mother goddess, who was

associated with the vulture.

EG-4a-b

TWO EAR PLUGS

Rod-formed glass

Egypt

New Kingdom, Dynasties XVIII-XIX, 1350-1250 BCE

Jewelry for the ear took various forms, one of which was

that of an ear plug. It has been suggested that the

vertical hole in the ear plug was made so that a small,

freshly cut flower could be placed into that hole. When

worn, the shaft would be passed through the pierced

ear lobe in such a way that the head, covered by the

fresh flower, would rest over the opening, displaying the

flower.

EG-5a-b

TWO PENANNULAR EARRINGS

Rod-formed glass, decorated with a blue and yellow

twisted cane

Egypt

New Kingdom, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1400-1300 BCE

Penannular earrings were very popular during the

course of Dynasty XVIII. For instance, glass earrings

were discovered within the Tomb of Tutankhamun. The

mummy of the official Kha who served under pharaoh

Amenhotep III, still sports a pair of these earrings.

Although this find might induce one to regard the

appearance of earrings on a male as indicative of a

secular, unisex approach to jewelry as a fashion

accessory in the Egyptian New Kingdom, their primary

funerary function cannot be overlooked, because those

earrings were in fact adorning a mummy. Within such a

funerary context, then, such penannular earrings might

have been regarded as equipping the deceased with the

powers of the sun’s diurnal journey and its properties of

resurrection.

EG-7a-b

PAIR OF INLAID EYES

Fused of prefabricated elements made in open molds

Egypt

Late Period, Dynasty XXVI-Ptolemaic Period, 650-30

BCE

The importance of the eye in ancient Egyptian culture is

well-known. In order to impart to the deceased the

ability to contemplate the divine in the hereafter, the

practice developed of inlaying the eyes and eye brows

on anthropoid sarcophagi and so-called mummy

masks, objects representative of the types of funerary

equipment

these two pairs of eyes must have originally decorated.

EG-8a-b

PAIR OF INLAID EYES

Fused of prefabricated elements made in open molds

Egypt

Late Period, Dynasty XXVI-Ptolemaic Period, 650-30

BCE

The importance of the eye in ancient Egyptian culture is

well-known. In order to impart to the deceased the

ability to contemplate the divine in the hereafter, the

practice developed of inlaying the eyes and eye brows

on anthropoid sarcophagi and so-called mummy

masks, objects representative of the types of funerary

equipment

these two pairs of eyes must have originally decorated.

EG-11

HUMAN-HEADED HEART AMULET

Turquoise green glass core with a reddish intermediate

layer, sintered to complete fusion in a mold and incised

Egypt

New Kingdom, Dynasties XIX-XX, 1300-1150 BCE

The human heart was considered as the seat of an

individual’s very essence, encompassing intellect,

emotion, and memory. It could become personified and

possessed the potential of  bearing witness against the

deceased, as specified in Chapter 30B of the so-called

Book of the Dead, the objective of which to bind the

heart to silence during the weighing of the heart

ceremony which was accompanied by the deceased’s

recitation of the Negative Confession. As a result of

these practices, the heart, personified, could be

represented human-headed, as here, and some

examples are actually inscribed with that religious spell.

There is no compelling evidence to support the

commonly held belief that a heart amulet was placed in

the body of a mummy rather than on the body or next

to the body. The heart in the shape of the heart amulet

was only metaphorically returned to the body, where it

would continue to serve the deceased, resurrected, in

the Hereafter

The original turquoise green color of the glass may have

been intentionally selected to enhance the effectiveness

of the heart scarab because of that color’s known

ancient Egyptian associations with renewal and

fecundity

EG-14

HEART AMULET

Mold-formed glass

Egypt

Late Period, Dynasty XXVI-XXX, ca. 650-340 BCE

This heart amulet is formed in the shape of the

hieroglyph for “heart”. Traditional heart amulets, such

as this and the hieroglyph to which they are related,

were never designed to recall the form of a human

heart. Their shape is, on the contrary, that of a bull’s

heart. The bovine heart was perhaps the most

important offering presented to the mummified corpse

during the ceremony restoring to the deceased his/her

earthly faculties. Its green color reinforces its function

to ensure the resurrection of the deceased.

EG-15

AMULET DEPICTING THE GODDESS

TAWERET

Red glass with green areas of deterioration, formed in

an open mold

Egypt

New Kingdom, Dynasty XVIII, 1550-1307 BCE

The goddess Taweret, whose name t3 wr.t literally

means, “the great, or large, one,” is traditionally

depicted as a hippopotamus standing erect on her hind

legs, with the tail of a crocodile two pendulant breasts

of a woman and a distended stomach, as if pregnant.

Her hand is resting on a s3-sign representing the word

“protection”.  Associated as early as the Middle

Kingdom with childbirth, Taweret became extremely

popular in both the New Kingdom and Ptolemaic-

Roman Period when her name was often incorporated

into personal names of individuals.

EG-16

AMULET IN THE SHAPE OF THE GODDESS

TAWERET

Mold-formed glass

Egypt

Ptolemaic Period, 305-30 BCE

At least one other glass sculpture of a Taweret is known

and there are numerous smaller amulets of the goddess

crafted in the same material. The choice of glass does

not appear to be random, but must have been selected

for its symbolic properties and one can suggest that the

golden hues of this example were associated with the

sun, itself a symbol of birth, rebirth, and renewal,

appropriate to a goddess who protects women in the

throes of delivery and neonates.

EG-17 (side)

STATUETTE OF A COMPOSITE LIONESS-

GODDESS

Mold-formed glass

Egypt

Late Period, Dynasty XXVI-early Ptolemaic Period,

650-200 BCE

Although leonine goddesses have often been associated

with Bastet and Sekhmet as well as with an array of

lesser known goddess such as Mehyt, Tefnut, and

Wadjet, none of the traditional representations of those

goddesses seem to incorporate a swollen, pregnant

stomach, pendulant breasts, and crocodile’s tail aligned

with the spinal column with gynomorphic leonine

features. Her hands caress the uraeus, the rearing

cobra, whose tail curls around the lower abdomen as if

emphasizing (or, replacing?) the line of the vulva’s

labium maius. 

EG-17 (front)

STATUETTE OF A COMPOSITE LIONESS-

GODDESS

Mold-formed glass

Egypt

Late Period, Dynasty XXVI-early Ptolemaic Period,

650-200 BCE

Although leonine goddesses have often been associated

with Bastet and Sekhmet as well as with an array of

lesser known goddess such as Mehyt, Tefnut, and

Wadjet, none of the traditional representations of those

goddesses seem to incorporate a swollen, pregnant

stomach, pendulant breasts, and crocodile’s tail aligned

with the spinal column with gynomorphic leonine

features. Her hands caress the uraeus, the rearing

cobra, whose tail curls around the lower abdomen as if

emphasizing (or, replacing?) the line of the vulva’s

labium maius. 

EG-24

BUST OF ISIS NURSING THE HORUS CHILD

Mold-formed glass

Egypt

Late Period, Dynasty XXX-early Ptolemaic Period,

380-200 BCE

The attitude of the right hand offering the left breast is

sufficient to identify this statuette as an image of Isis

nursing the Horus child. Remains of the throne on

which the goddess sits are visible at the level of the small

of her back.

EG-24

BUST OF ISIS NURSING THE HORUS CHILD

Mold-formed glass

Egypt

Late Period, Dynasty XXX-early Ptolemaic Period,

380-200 BCE

The attitude of the right hand offering the left breast is

sufficient to identify this statuette as an image of Isis

nursing the Horus child. Remains of the throne on

which the goddess sits are visible at the level of the small

of her back.

EG-25

INLAY IN THE FORM OF A FACE

Red glass, formed in one-piece open mold into which a

prefabricated mosaic eye and eye brow have been inlaid

Egypt

Dynasty XXX-Ptolemaic Period, 380-30 BCE

The red color of the face indicates according to the

color scheme of the Egyptians that the person rendered

here is of the male gender.

EG-30a

PLAQUE DEPICTING THEATER MASK

Mosaic composite bar

Egypt(?)

First century BCE – first century CE

In the period during which Egypt was ruled by

Macedonian Greeks, Greek drama and comedy played

an important role in maintaining Hellenic culture for

these immigrants in the land of the Nile. Plaques, such

as this one, served as images of the dramatis personae

and the characters which appear with the greatest

frequency on these glass plaques are courtesans with

rich coiffures, in particular in the plays of Menander

(342-290 BCE). Very few of the mosaic plaques

depicting faces have known findspots, and these are

confined to Egypt. The very exceptional, but fortuitous

preservation of wood on these objects, strongly suggests

that they were inlaid into luxurious boxes intended to

house the valuables of the Greek elite in Egypt, who

were well acquainted with Greek theater.

EG-32a

PLAQUE DECORATED WITH WEDJAT EYES

Mosaic composite bar

Egypt

First century BCE – first century CE

The wedjat, or sacred, eye is one of the major symbols

in Egyptian religious iconography. There are several

different myths involving this eye, but the most common

revolves around the eye of Horus. The eye of Horus, the

wedjat, was torn out by Seth, his uncle, during the great

battle when Horus set about to avenge the wrongful

death of his father, Osiris, and was made whole (wedja)

by Thoth, god of wisdom.

EG-32b

PLAQUE DECORATED WITH WEDJAT EYES

Mosaic composite bar

Egypt

First century BCE – first century CE

The wedjat, or sacred, eye is one of the major symbols

in Egyptian religious iconography. There are several

different myths involving this eye, but the most common

revolves around the eye of Horus. The eye of Horus, the

wedjat, was torn out by Seth, his uncle, during the great

battle when Horus set about to avenge the wrongful

death of his father, Osiris, and was made whole (wedja)

by Thoth, god of wisdom.

EG-32c

PLAQUE DECORATED WITH WEDJAT EYES

Mosaic composite bar

Egypt

First century BCE – first century CE

The wedjat, or sacred, eye is one of the major symbols

in Egyptian religious iconography. There are several

different myths involving this eye, but the most common

revolves around the eye of Horus. The eye of Horus, the

wedjat, was torn out by Seth, his uncle, during the great

battle when Horus set about to avenge the wrongful

death of his father, Osiris, and was made whole (wedja)

by Thoth, god of wisdom.

EG-32d

PLAQUE DECORATED WITH WEDJAT EYES

Mosaic composite bar

Egypt

First century BCE – first century CE

The wedjat, or sacred, eye is one of the major symbols

in Egyptian religious iconography. There are several

different myths involving this eye, but the most common

revolves around the eye of Horus. The eye of Horus, the

wedjat, was torn out by Seth, his uncle, during the great

battle when Horus set about to avenge the wrongful

death of his father, Osiris, and was made whole (wedja)

by Thoth, god of wisdom.

EG-33

INLAY DEPICTING NILOTIC BIRD

Mosaic composite bar

Egypt

First century BCE – first century CE

The bird with its large, broad tail may be tentatively

identified as one of the Hirundidae, usually taken to

represent either a swallow or martin. In the hieroglyphs,

the swallow/martin was used in the writing of wr,

“great,” and had positive associations.

EG-34a-n

SPHERICAL MOSAIC FACE BEADS

Rod-formed glass, inlaid with sections of mosaic

composite bar 

Egypt(?) or Eastern Mediterranean (?)

Roman Imperial Period,  First century CE

Most beads are decorated with faces, though a few are

adorned with busts, represented here by three

examples. While the busts in combination with a bead

necklace certainly depict females, it is not certain

whether these human portraits depict males or females.

It has also been suggested that they are not human but

masks, possibly of Medusa.

EG-34bis a-i

FLAT FACE BEADS AND INLAYS

Mosaic composite bar 

Egypt(?)or Eastern Mediterranean (?)

Roman Imperial Period, First century CE

Although most of these round beads were perforated to

be strung, two are without perforation and thus were

probably embedded in an inlay.

EG-36

FLORAL MOSAIC FRIEZE

Mosaic composite bar 

Alexandria, Egypt

First century BCE – first century CE

The floral designs consist of an alternating lotus bud,

floral bud, and palmette, framed by spiraling tendrils.

Panels such as these were used to decorate furniture.

EG-38

INLAY IN THE FORM OF A FEMALE HEAD

Mold-formed glass

Egypt

Roman Imperial Period, first to second century CE

It is difficult to determine whether this female

representation is to be identified as that of a queen or

goddess, because both share in the same repertoire of

regalia, particularly during the Late Period when

corkscrew locks and vulture headdress were commonly

worn by both. Nevertheless, one could suggest that this

image is intended to represent a goddess inasmuch as

there are virtually no images of Roman empresses in the

guise of ancient Egyptian goddesses. This inlay was

most probably used to embellish a piece of furniture.