Bracelet with wedjat eye amulets and barrel beads
Strung on this single strand of 2-ply linen cord are three gold barrel beads alternating with wedjat eye amulets, one of faience and two of dark blue glass. The wedjat amulets represent the healed eye of the falcon-god Horus, a powerful symbol of protection and regeneration. Eighteen knots have been tied into the string, for the most part three between each amulet or bead; a larger knot holds the bracelet closed. The total number of elements here, adding the eighteen ornamental knots to the three amulets and three beads, is twenty-four. This may be meant to evoke the daily solar cycle and help to ensure that Henettawy, like the sun god, is reborn each morning. This is one of four bracelets found around the left wrist of Henettawy’s mummy.
Artwork Details
- Title: Bracelet with wedjat eye amulets and barrel beads
- Period: Third Intermediate Period
- Dynasty: late Dynasty 21
- Date: ca. 1000–945 B.C.
- Geography: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Tomb of Henettawy F (MMA 59), MMA excavations, 1923–24
- Medium: Linen, gold, glass, faience
- Dimensions: Diam. ca. 3.8 cm (1 1/2 in.)
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1925
- Object Number: 25.3.191b
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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ca. 1000–945 B.C.
200–30 B.C.
ca. 1000–945 B.C.
ca. 1000–945 B.C.
ca. 1000–945 B.C.
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