Day 12 - Wow-inducing royal pectoral






January 24, 2018

 Among the wonderful objects in this Middle Kingdom room (111) are an alabaster cosmetics jar in the form  of a cat sitting on its haunches, its musculature well-modeled from the stone; a seal topped by a tiny (maybe 2" high) statuette of  a small boy, his head huge, his penis tiny but anatomically correct; a tiara with ornaments in the form of horned gazelle heads; and tubular gold wig ornaments exhibited on a modern wig.

 What literally makes me gasp,  however, is a fnely worked inlaid  pectoral, maybe 3 " wide and 2" high, hanging from a necklace of carnelian, turquoise, gold, and lapis beads. (Where did the lapis come from, I wonder? Afghanistan?) The design on the pectoral shows two falcons with turquoise circles atop their heads. 

 As I'm writing, a museum guide stops to tell a small group about the pectoral. She notes that the falcons represent the sun god and the turquoise disks the sun itself. She also says that the interior of the design is a cartouche bearing the name of the king; its images include a tiny lapis tadpole and a small man-god, both symbols of long life. I surely would not have noticed the tadpole nor understood the iconography without her guidance; it all makes me realize how little I really know. (The explanatory placard says that the "rebus" - it doesn't describe the form as a cartouche - expresses the wish that the king live forever under the protection of the sun god.) The orange and turquoise color scheme, the guide comments,was extremely popular among the Egyptians, with the orange representing the sun and the turquoise symbolic of water- key elements of life. It did come to me that the color scheme of the coffin I wrote about must have a similar significance, so I shouldn't sell myself too, too short.

 A royal princess, the guide explains, wore the pectoral and necklace, and by doing so signified her connection to the ruler endowed with eternal life. She says, too, that the pectoral is composed of more than 370 'tiny stones, cut and wedged into spaces defined by gold filaments. She likens it to cloisonne, except that cloisonne uses molten stones; these were just carefully set into place. Whoever made this must have had young eyes; the close work could easily make you near-sighted. 

 The placard says that this is the most magnificent Middle Kingdom pectoral and necklace ever found, so if it made me gasp, I've had a lot of company.

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