Even in a room full of amazing gold jewellery, this glorious beaded collar with two gold falcon heads at either end stands out. The collar is made of six closely-tied bands of blue lapis alternating with red carnelian. Each bead is capped in gold, so when strung it makes a thin gold stripe that separates the coloured bands. At the outer edge in the collar’s border is a line of about fifty tiny teardrop-shaped stones in colours that imitate nature.
The collar is about ten centimetres wide, and at 37 centimetres in diameter it would sit close to the neck. The two falcon heads are joined by a string of beads and at the centre back there’s a smaller gold falcon head pendant, with a beaded fringe. This ornament hung down the back, behind the neck, as a counterweight, to keep the necklace from drooping.
It was worn by Princess Neferuptah, the daughter of a Middle Kingdom Pharaoh, 500 years before Ramses the Great. It was found in her tomb, ready to wear in the afterlife.
