bead
- Museum number
- 136816
- Description
-
String of eight sheet gold beads in form of recumbent lions; each made from two pieces of gold sheet, one punched to form the body and the second added to form the flat underside.
- Production date
- 5thC BC-4thC BC (possibly)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 0.50 centimetres
-
Length: 1.08 centimetres (bead)
-
Length: 8.80 centimetres (whole string)
-
Weight: 2.70 grammes
-
Width: 0.42 centimetres (bead)
- Curator's comments
-
Allegedly found in 1977,0226.1 (BM.136799).
These probably belong to a wider tradition of making beads of this form from stone. Examples made of amethyst, carnelian and lapis were found as part of a fifth-fourth centuries BC Achaemenid hoard of jewellery and precious metal at Pasargadae in Iran and a locally carved softstone piece was excavated at Shabwa (Stronach 1978, 169-70, fig. 88: 14, pl. 52c-d; Morrison 1991, 3889, fig. 2: 58). Granulated gold lion pendant beads were also reportedly part of the Muncherjee collection in Aden (Harding 1964, 11).
Harding, G. L., 1964. Archaeology in the Aden Protectorates, London: HMSO.
Morrison, H. M., 1991. The Beads and Seals of Shabwa', Syria 68, 379-92.
Stronach, D., 1978. Pasargadae. A Report on the excavations conducted by the British Institute of Persian Studies from 1961 to 1963, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
-
Bowers catalogue entry
Lion-shaped beads
Gold
Possibly from the Wadi Bayhan
Possibly 5th - 4th century BC
Each height 0.5 cm, l 1 cm, width 0.5 cm; 2.7 g weight
ANE 1977-2-26,18 = 136816
Purchased from Nicholas Wright; a previous owner is said to have been the Emir of Bayhan
Eight hollow sheet beads in the form of recumbent lions: each is perforated lengthways to enable them to be strung on a necklace. Each was made from two pieces of gold sheet, one punched to form the body and the second added to form the flat underside.These very distinctive beads probably belong to a wider tradition of making beads of the same shape out of stone as comparable examples made of amethyst, carnelian and lapis were found as part of a 5th-4th centuries BC Achaemenid hoard of jewellery and precious metal at Pasargadae in Iran, and a locally carved softstone piece was excavated at Shabwa. Granulated gold lion pendant beads were also reportedly part of the former Muncherjee collection in Aden. The Asiatic lion was smaller than its African cousin but was the largest indigenous predator within the Near East until it was hunted to extinction the early part of the 20th century.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2017-2018 17 Jan-2 Jul, Basel, Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig, 'Arabia Felix: Treasures from Ancient South Arabia'
2004-2005 17 Oct-13 Mar, California, Bowers Museum, 'Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality'
2002 5 Jun-13 Oct, BM, 'Queen of Sheba: Treasures from ancient Yemen' first exhibition of.
- Condition
- Fair; some old tears and partial distortion.
- Acquisition date
- 1977
- Acquisition notes
- Reputedly from the collection of the Sheikh of Baihan.
- Department
- Middle East
- BM/Big number
- 136816
- Registration number
- 1977,0226.18
