Cleveland Museum of Art

Pendant

Date

c. 700 BCE

Medium

amethyst and gold

Culture

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

Department

Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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.

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