1st millennium B.C. and later. Restrung designer necklace with two central feature beads; composed of graduated beads of various types of stone, glass and shell. Cf. Hussein, M.M., Altaweel, M., Gibson, McGuire, Nimrud The Queen’s Tombs, Baghdad-Chicago, 2016, pl.164, lett.b, for a similar bead necklaces made of a mixture of stones, glass and shell. 16.6 grams, 35 cm (13 4/5 in.).

Similar beads were found during the excavations of the royal tombs of Nimrud. Thousands of beads were discovered in the sarcophagi, including those of Nimrud’s Queens; they probably originally formed part of wide collars with multiple strands.

Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. [No Reserve]