Eight Masterpieces Of Ancient Egyptian Jewellery

Nigel Fletcher-Jones showcases some of the most stunning pieces created by ancient Egypt’s master craftsmen.

- ​​​​​​​Nigel Fletcher-Jones

For many years, most of the visitors to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo have been led to the familiar glints of gold in the room at the rear of the first floor devoted to the richest of Tutankhamun’s treasures, and have missed the two small rooms to either side containing finds from Tanis and jewellery from many other sites. The material from Tutankhamun’s tomb is in the process of being moved, of course, and some of the other magnificent pieces housed in the Egyptian Museum will presumably follow, but for the moment it remains possible to see many of the masterpieces of ancient Egyptian jewellery in one place.

For this article, I have chosen eight pieces of jewellery from the original collection, some of which may be familiar and some less so. Seven are currently in Cairo, with one (the fly pendant) at Luxor Museum. None of them belonged to Tutankhamun!

The Bracelets of Horus Djer

Materials: Gold, turquoise, lapis lazuli, amethyst, limestone Original location: Tomb O (Djer), Umm el-Qa’ab, Abydos (excavated by Petrie in 1901)

Period: First Dynasty, Early Dynastic Period, reign of Horus Djer (c. 3040 BC)

Owner: An unknown queen?

These bracelets (pictured above and left) date to the period soon after the unification of Egypt, around 3100 BC. They were found on a mummified arm hidden in the wall of king Djer’s tomb, possibly by tomb robbers who did not return to claim their prize.

The upper serekh bracelet is composed of twenty-nine beads of gold and turquoise showing a falcon perched above a representation of a royal palace. The small rectangles below the falcon may have been intended to represent the name of Djer. The pieces of this bracelet are marked on the bottom to show how they were intended to be arranged.