Civic Archaeological Museum of Bologna: necklace with cowries, amethyst, carnelian and silver.Inventory EG 3077.Personal ornament – Middle Kingdom: 12th Dynasty (1938-1759 BC).This splendid jewel is composed of a series of carnelian and amethyst beads, alternating with embossed silver cowrie shells, which represent its characterizing element. Thanks to the comparison with similar examples found in funerary contexts at el-Lisht, Dahshur and western Thebes, the necklace can be dated with certainty to the 12th Dynasty (1938-1759 BC). Considered by the vast majority of scholars to be a necklace, this rare jewel could not be excluded as it could have been used as a belt to be worn on the hips, not only to enhance the harmonious nudity of a young female body, but also to propitiate a sure fertility, evoked by the cowrie shells that are a traditional symbol.
