Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · jewelry

String of beads

Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access), acc. 99.4.31. Public domain (CC0). Copy archived by egyptianinscriptions.org with attribution; original at the holding institution.

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Accession: 99.4.31
Find spot: Abadiya, Northern Upper Egypt, Egypt approx. site location
Period: Middle Kingdom
Dynasty: Dynasty 12
Date: ca. 2030–1640 B.C.
Date range: 2030 BCE – 1640 BCE
Materials: ['carnelian', 'amethyst', 'hematite', 'garnet', 'modern string']
Repository: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
At source: View original →

Cite & export

Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access), String of beads (99.4.31). Egyptian Inscriptions Database. https://egyptianinscriptions.org/object/59439

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Description

Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, ca. 2030–1640 B.C. Carnelian, amethyst, hematite, garnet; modern string. L. 23.7 cm (9 5/16 in.). From: Cemetery G, Tomb G6, Abadiya, Northern Upper Egypt, Egypt. Excavation: EEF excavations 1898–99. Credit: Gift of Egypt Exploration Fund, 1898.

AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano

Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

A loose string of small, rounded beads arranged in alternating dark and reddish tones on a modern suspension/cord, photographed against a plain background.

The image shows a necklace-like arrangement of closely spaced, spherical or near-spherical beads. The beads alternate between dark (blackish/near-black) and reddish-brown/orange tones. Several beads have a glossy surface, suggesting polished stone. The central portion includes a few slightly lighter/translucent areas where the cord and/or bead holes are visible, consistent with a drilled-bead string. No sculpted figures, inscriptions, cartouches, or carved iconography are visible; there are no clearly identifiable hieroglyphic signs, and no Greek/Coptic/Arabic text appears in the photograph. The supporting cord appears modern (thin and uniform), and the object is shown lying flat in a curved arc.

decorative Middle Kingdom (as catalogued); image does not show diagnostic chronological features beyond bead form. good

Materials polished stone beads (colors appear carnelian/red and dark stone; exact species unclear from image)modern cord/stringpossibly translucent/opal-like bead(s) or highlights

Connections

Found at Abadiya

Cross-references (4)

Wikidata-Q Q116432876 tier-1
Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
Inventory-Number 99.4.31 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
MET-Object 558481 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)

About this record's data

From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
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.