Auction 001 Part 3
TimeLine Auctions Ancient Art, Antiquities, Antiques, Natural History
By TimeLine Auction Limited
Contact auction house
Mar 7, 2024
The Court House, 363 Main Road, Harwich, CO12 4DN, UK
Terms of sale
View demo
12:00 noon
- Egyptian (Lots 451-524)
- Greek (Lots 525-647)
- Roman (Lots 648-751)
15:30
- Roman (Lots 752-948)
- Byzantine (Lots 949-990)
- Archaeological Books (Lots 991-1093)
The auction has ended
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LOT 1123:
Mesopotamian Alabaster Lenticular Necklace Bead Group
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Sold for: £45
Start price:
£
5
Estimated price :
£50 - £70
Buyer's Premium: 36%
More details
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Mesopotamian Alabaster Lenticular Necklace Bead Group
Circa 3rd millennium B.C. Comprising a quantity of disc-shaped beads, each pierced for stringing. Cf. Golani, A., Jewelry from the Iron Age II Levant, Zurich, 2013, fig.30.3, for similar beads 53 grams total, 3-10 cm (1/8 - 3/8 in.).
UK gallery, early 2000s.
While slaves and the poorest people wore simple, functional clothes, the wealthiest classes of Mesopotamia could afford beautifully made jewellery. The royal tombs from Sumeria dating from around 2500 B.C. included an abundance of beaded necklaces, rings, bracelets for the wrist and ankles, stickpins, and other jewellery, made of gold and silver set with decorative gemstones such as deep blue lapis lazuli, red carnelian, white alabaster, and sparkling crystals. In the Lugale-Mythos the Alabaster is personified like a hero: ‘(And) the hero Alabaster, these heroes plundered the cities for him (= Asag)’. The hematite and the limestone/alabaster, two stones with a light and dark base colour, were used as aids in a divinatory ritual in which they were probably connected with the favourable and unfavourable answers to oracle inquiries. [No Reserve]
