Both these circlets were found in a badly damaged
condition in the chamber that
Carter called the
annex.
(Top) When complete, this circlet consisted
of two rows of beads, one above the other; the lower
row is missing, with the exception of one
lotus-flower terminal next to the clasp. The
surviving row is composed of black and white
cylindrical beads, threaded alternately on a hoop
made of either bronze or copper. Carter thought the
black beads, which are inlaid with diamond-shaped
insets of gold, were made of a highly polished
resinous substance, but it has since been suggested
that the material is glass or obsidian. The white
beads are made of
alabaster, inlaid with quartz or
transparent glass backed with a red pigment. The
lotus-shaped terminals of cloisonne-work are
attached to the damaged parts of a gold clasp. A
convex connecting link of gold on the underside (not
visible in the photograph) probably fitted into a
corresponding socket in the lower row and it may
have been matched by a similar link on the opposite
side, of which nothing has been preserved.
(Bottom) In shape and in material the beads in
this circlet resemble those in the first circlet,
but the triangular pattern of the inlay is
different. It has only one row of beads and a gold
terminal next to the broken sliding clasp. The hoop,
again made of bronze or copper, was cast in two
semicircular pieces; the connecting link at the end
opposite the clasp is now missing.
While the term circlet describes the shape of
these two objects, it does not define their
function, which still remains uncertain. Carter
tentatively called them by the Arabic word aqal
- the name of the headband in Arab dress - and
expressed the opinion that they might be some form
of headdress. Circlets were undoubtedly worn on
occasion by ancient Egyptian men and women, both for
confining the hair and for purposes of
adornment,
but they were not used for keeping a linen headdress
in position like the aqal. One authority has
suggested that they were bracelets and another that
they were collars. At present, no final solution to
the problem seems possible, but the fact that the
double circlet was found in a box made for storing a
wig lends support to Carter's conjecture.