Animal Worlds: Symbol Authority.Royal Pectoral pectoral /pec·to·ral/ (pek´ter-il) thoracic. pec·to·ral adj. 1. Relating to or situated in the breast or chest. 2. , Egypt, Second Intermediate Period, about 1784-1570 BC. Gold and silver with inlays of carnelian carnelian (kärnēl`yən) or cornelian (kôr–, kər–), variety of red chalcedony, used as a gem. and glass, width: 14 3/8 (36.5 cm). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, and contains one of the largest permanent museum collections in the Americas. . Egyptian Special Purchase Fund, William Francis Warden Fund, Florence E. and Horace L. Mayer Fund. Ex Collection, Lafayette College 1890-1981, 1981.159. This rich and splendid pectoral (chest ornament) was never meant to be worn. It was almost certainly a funerary ornament for a royal burial, attached to the curved chest of a mummy-shaped coffin. Tomb robbery was so common in ancient Egypt that very little jewelry has survived into modern times. This pectoral is not only extremely rare, but it is also a skillfully crafted work of art. Composed of more than four hundred separate pieces of colored glass, it is mounted in gold and silver. The pectoral represents an Egyptian vulture vulture, common name for large birds of prey of temperate and tropical regions. The Old World vultures (family Accipitridae) are allied to hawks and eagles; the more ancient American vultures and condors are of a different family (Cathartidae) with distant links to grasping in its talons two coils of rope, symbols of the universal power of the king. To the left of the bird's body is a cobra, rearing back as if ready to strike. Together the vulture and the cobra signify the union of Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egypt was divided into two regions, known as Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. To the north was Lower Egypt where the Nile fanned out with its several mouths to form the Nile Delta. To the south was Upper Egypt, stretching to Syene. and were the standard symbols of the pharaoh. ?? What do you see that gives you the impression that this is a powerful bird? GalleryCard submitted by Judy Murray, Gallery Instructor Program Coordinator, Department of Education and Public Programs, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. |
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