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Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian) · jewelry

Ball Bead

Source of record: Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Ancient Egyptians presented ball beads as votive gifts to the goddess Hathor, who was associated with beauty. In other contexts, these spherical beads could be strung on necklaces singly or in sets, or worn as hair ornaments. The hollow beads are made from Egyptian faience, a ceramic composed of quartz, an alkali, lime, and a colorant. In this example, painted black stripes accentuate the vibrant blue hue that was created by adding ground copper to the faience.

Connections

Deities Hathor

Cross-references (1)

  • ARTIC-id 141098 tier-2
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian).
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.