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Material : Gold , Semi-precious Stones , and Glass Paste
Height : 15
Found in : Tanis , Tomb of Psusennes I , Grave of Sheshonq II (1940)
Period : Third Intermediate Period
Reign of : Sheshonq II
Dynasty: XXII
Belonged_to: Sheshonq II
Archeologist : PIERRE MONTET
This gold pectoral was found hanging down from the neck of the mummy of King Sheshonq II which was laid to rest in a grave in the Tomb of Psusennes I in Tanis . A great corpus of jewels made from faience , semi¬precious stones , and glass paste were found accompanying the deceased in his tomb , especially those with the ability to ward off evil . Believed to date back to the Twenty-second Dynasty , a scarab was one of the most common motifs decorating jewels preferred by ancient Egyptians . Ancient Egyptians noticed that the female scarab lays its eggs in a ball of dung and rolls it to hide in a safe place . From this they observed new life emerging . Similarly , they believed that Khephri (a gigantic scarab) rolled the sun like a huge ball through the sky , then rolled it through the underworld to the eastern horizon . Each morning Khephri would renew the sun so that it could give life to the entire world .
It is a rectangular pectoral decorated with a winged scarab topped by a winged sun disc . There is a cartouche in the name of the King over the insect's head and another below its body . Flanking the insect are the two squatting sisters Isis and Nephthys , each bearing the hieroglyph of her name on her head . Decorating the outer shrine-like frame is another smaller winged sun disc . Also highly admired are the eighteenth amulets supporting the base . They alternately depict the Djed pillar (symbol of stability) and the Tyt (also known as 'Tit , Tet , Tyt and the Knot of Isis) .
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