Egyptian artPectoral and Necklace of Sithathoryunet with the Name of Senwosret II
ca. 1887–1878 B.C. · Middle Kingdom · Dynasty 12
Sithathoryunet’s pectoral names Senwosret II in gold and inlay: jewelry as a mobile temple facade on a woman’s chest.
Mercury 91 is not affiliated with The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Images and object data shown here are public-domain Open Access (CC0) records from The Met collection. Citations are given so you can visit each work on the museum site.
Middle Kingdom princess jewelry from Lahun is technical swagger. Cloisonné, gold, carnelian, lapis, turquoise: a pectoral is a small pylon you wear. The king’s name is the load-bearing inscription.
Lapis comes from far away. Gold is desert sun. Together they are already a trade-route cosmos on a necklace. You do not need a planet metaphor to feel distance in the materials.
Sithathoryunet’s name sits in a hoard story: hidden, found, now public domain in photograph. Jewelry is intimate. A museum photograph is not. The essay should admit that gap. We are looking at someone’s chest-piece under gallery light.
In 3D the pectoral becomes a bright tile. That is crude compared with wearing it. The compensation is context: next to Senwosret’s sphinx, the name on the jewelry and the name on the lion are the same royal weather system.
Citation
Pectoral and Necklace of Sithathoryunet with the Name of Senwosret II. ca. 1887–1878 B.C.. Gold, carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise, garnet (pectoral)
Gold, carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise, green feldspar (necklace). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 16.1.3a, b. Purchase, Rogers Fund and Henry Walters Gift, 1916
Public-domain Open Access (CC0) photograph. Dimensions: L. of necklace (b): 82 cm (32 5/16 in.); H. of pectoral (a): 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in.); W. 8.2 cm (3 1/4 in.)
