Original Message:   Ancient Egyptian Carnelian and Amethyst Ball Bead Necklace with Scarab

Ball beads were very popular during the Middle Kingdom (ca. ca. 2025–1760 B.C.) for, as Bourriau observed, “Like anhydrite and amethyst, they are one of the hallmarks of the period which the excavator of any Middle Kingdom site expects to find”. Excavations from multiple sites show necklaces of simple design where the form is the same but the beads are of different colors. Here, the small round carnelian and amethyst ball beads are grouped in lots of three; a protective central scarab of amethyst encased in gold completes the necklace. Besides Nubian gold from the mines of the Eastern Desert, amethyst from the quarries of Wadi el-Hudi was of particular value to the Egyptians, especially in the Middle Kingdom, and was used to a great extent for royal jewelry. Copyright 2024 All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users

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