One of the most striking features of Egyptian
symbolism is the number of different ways in which a
single theme could be pictorially expressed. Both
this necklace and the necklace of the rising sun
commemorate in their inlaid gold pectoral pendants
what is essentially the same daily event, but in
this instance the baboons are omitted. The
baboons,
by their presence, showed that the action was taking
place at sunrise, whereas in this case the same
effect is produced by the use of the hieroglyphic
sign for 'horizon' (
akhet), which represents
the sun rising between two mountains. It involves
the introduction of a foreign element (i.e. the
mountains) into the naturalistic episode of the
scarab (= the sun-god) pushing its ball of dung (=
the sun) in front of it. By this slight deviation
from what was regular and normal, the
artist has
given temporal and local precision to a symbol which
would otherwise have lacked any indication of time
and place. He has also added uraei with pendent
'life' signs (
ankh) to the 'horizon'
hieroglyph, thus signifying that the rising sun is
bringing life to Upper and Lower Egypt.
Apart from
the symbol the sun-god's gold
barque bears two uraei,
one in the prow and the other in the stern, the head
of each uraeus surmounted by the disk of the sun and
the tail replaced by three amulets symbolizing
'goodness' (nefer), 'life' (ankh) and
'stability' (djed). The straps are composed
of separate inlaid gold plaques held together at the
back and the sides by rows of small gold, carnelian
and glass beads. The plaques embody the same
elements as those in the pectoral pendant, except
that the sun's disk is substituted for the sign of
the horizon and the hieroglyphic sign for 'festival'
is placed beneath the scarab. At the upper end of
each strap is a curved shoulder-piece representing
the vulture of the goddess
Nekhbet with wings
outstretched. Two strings of beads join the vultures
to the clasp, which consists of a pair of inlaid
gold uraei with a slide-fastening in the center.
The semi-precious stones which form the inlay of
the various elements in this piece are lapis lazuli,
carnelian, felspar and turquoise. It was found in
the same casket as the necklace of the rising sun.