This beautiful piece of jewellery was found in the tomb of a woman called Sithathoryunet, who had the titles King’s Daughter and King’s Wife. She was buried next to the pyramid of Senwosret II, and it’s thought that she was his daughter and wife of his son Senwosret III.

The pectoral was made using the cloisonné technique which involves cutting semiprecious stones to the right size to fit perfectly into the gold framework. Given it’s only just over 3 inches wide at its widest it displays an awe-inspiring level of skill on the part of its crafter!

The cartouche contains one of Senwosret II’s names, and the piece can be read as the sentence: “The god of the rising sun grants life and dominion over all that the sun encircles for one million one hundred thousand years to King Khakheperre”. Propaganda, as well as beauty!

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/1645/

It’s now in the Met Museum (acc. no.: 16.1.3) and they have a long write-up on their site explaining the symbolism: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544232

Jigsaw Puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=34b4e26f41e1
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=3b3ec607fc4f