Pectorals attached to necklaces and decorated with
figures of deities and the symbols that were
associated with them formed a high proportion of the
jewelry found in
Tutankhamun's tomb. In this example
the chains of the necklace consist of four rows of
spherical and barrel-shaped beads made of gold,
lapis lazuli, carnelian, feldspar and resin.
At
the top of the necklace is a gold cloisonne
counterpoise inlaid with a
lotus flower and buds,
two poppies, and two rosettes. Ten bead tassels,
each ending in a faience corolla, are attached to a
gold bar supported by the lotus flower. The clasp
consists of a tenon that projects from the left-hand
corner of the counterpoise and slides into a mortise
in the upper terminal bar of the necklace. The lower
terminals, which are joined to the pectoral, bear
the king's personal name and his throne name,
flanked by uraei with outstretched wings embracing
the shen sign.
The pectoral symbolizes the nocturnal journey of
the moon across the sky. At the base is the long,
narrow, hieroglyphic sign for the sky, appropriately
inlaid with blue lapis lazuli. Beneath it are
fringelike inlays of feldspar and lapis lazuli
representing drops of moisture; they are added to
the sky sign in the hieroglyphic writing of words
meaning dew and rain. Lotus flowers and buds grow
from the celestial waters; the golden bark seems to
float above them. This arrangement illustrates the
convention regularly adopted by Egyptian artists to
show two objects on the same plane when one object
was behind another: the farther object was placed
above the nearer. In this case the bark must be
understood to be floating on top of the sky sign
behind the flowers. So that it should be evident
that the bark is conveying the moon and not the sun,
the crescent is added to the moon's disk, again in
accordance with convention. Furthermore, the moon
and crescent are made of electrum, a mixture of
silver and gold and therefore lighter in color than
pure gold or red carnelian, which were the materials
normally used in representations of the sun. The
shape of bark itself with its incurved prow and
stern is developed from the ancient
Nile craft made
of stems of papyrus lashed together. The design is
the same as that of both the sun's bark and the bark
used to convey the dead on funerary voyages to the
sanctuary of
Osiris at Abydos. A thin cord, of which
traces can be seen at the base of the moon's disk,
was used to attach the pectoral to the wearer's
clothing in order to keep it in position when worn.
Its presence suggests that the necklace, like many
of the other objects found in the cartouche-shaped
box, was a personal possession worn by the king in
his lifetime.