posted
Hello all, I'm looking for informations about this kind of beaded collars,which is called Usekh I believe: I've read on the internet that one of these collars worn by Sety the 1st had 9 rows of beads because it symbolized the Ennead. However I've found countless of other beaded collars with less rows, like this one: Did these other numbers have a special symbolism?Did they denote a lesser importance of their bearers? Also does anyone know if the motifs of the usekh were sometimes sewed on clothes like it is for example done in modern Egypt?
Thanks in advance.
Posts: 203 | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
Similar beaded collars are worn by peoples from various other African societies spread across the continent. I don't know much about them only that I've seen various pictures of African people wearing such collars.
I also do believe that there is a symbolic significance to them. In fact I have seen some pictures of Egyptians parading their nome standards on poles with such collars right below the totems. Other pictures show the sacred hawk or vulture flying overhead holding these collars in their clutches; while there are busts of deities' heads with collars just below their necks.
the barque of AmunPosts: 26236 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
Don't know if this is what you want but there are two books dealing with ancient Egyptian jewerly. Unfortunately, both are out of print:
Ancient Egyptian Jewelry (Paperback) by Carol Andrews
Jewels of the Pharaohs: Egyptian jewelry of the Dynastic Period by Cyril Aldred
Posts: 8675 | From: Tukuler al~Takruri as Ardo since OCT2014 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
I'm still looking for info in regards to the symbolic or spiritual significance of such collars.
Posts: 26236 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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Broad collars (wesekh) were worn by the ancient Egyptians as adornments during life and made in non-wearable form for the grave. Like other types of Egyptian jewelry, wesekh collars had protective value for the wearer to ward away evil spirits.
Shebyu collar of Psusennes 1, from Tanis
The shebyu (shebu or shebiu) collar was first introduced by Thutmosis IV (New Kingdom). It was often worn by New Kingdom pharaohs, but was also given as a reward for valor or distinguished service, especially during the reign of Akhenaten.
Detail of Sn-Nfr, Mayor Thebes, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep II and Thutmose IV 1427-1391
Large Sn-Nfr carries honorary collars shebyu, indicating its distinguished character and his functions. The men as well as the women could carry collars shebyu, and the oldest known example comes from the tomb of a woman of the 17th Dynasty in Qurna.
Tutankhamun's mummy was equipped with gold-sheet collars of the traditional 'Usekh' 'broad or wide' type
The usekh-collar first appears in the 4th Dynasty and it continues unchanged until the end of the Middle Kingdom and, with some variations. A narrower type of collar was also in use. The large collar of Middle Kingdom made of ankh, djed, and was-signs with falcon-head terminals, the broad collar usekh, continued to be the main type of collar worn by men and women.
The Maasai, who in the fifteenth century migrated along the Nile to reach the East African savannah, have remarkably similar broad collars. Maasai women today assemble them with glass beads and buttons. Their beadwork embodies a woman's personal wealth and is full of indicators of her social identity and ceremonial status.
The Samburu Woman
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Posts: 1549 | From: California, USA | Registered: Jan 2006
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