Pendant

c. 700 BCE
Overall: 3.5 x 2.9 x 2.7 cm (1 3/8 x 1 1/8 x 1 1/16 in.)
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Location: 107 Egyptian

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Description

This pendant consists of two parts: a superbly carved lion’s head in amethyst that has been set into a D-shaped gold base consisting of a platform surrounded by eight seated baboons. The lion’s head is an heirloom from the New Kingdom, most likely a gaming piece that had been adapted in the Napatan period to serve as an pendant amulet. This procedure was fairly common in antiquity as a means of recycling precious stones. The importance of leonine deities in Nubian religion was obviously the motivating force behind the creation of this spectacular ornament.
Pendant

Pendant

c. 700 BCE

Sudan, Napatan; lion's head component: probably Egypt, Third Intermediate (1069–715 BCE), Dynasty 25

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