Usekh collar

Broad Collar of Wah, 1981–1975 BC; faience, linen thread; Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Usekh or Wesekh was a type of broad collar necklace from ancient Egypt. It was made from tubular and/or teardrop-shaped beads arranged in curved rows with terminals and sometimes a counterweight. ^[1] Deities as well as both women and men were depicted wearing this piece of jewelry in as early as the Old Kingdom (c. 2670–2195 B.C.). ^[1]

Guests at a banquest wearing usekhs; Tomb of Nebamun and Ipuky (TT181)

Etymology

The ancient Egyptian word wsḫ can mean "breadth" or "width" so this adornment is often referred to as the broad collar. ^[2]

Construction

Artisans drilling and stringing beads to create usekh collars; Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100)

The usekh collar was laid on top of the shoulders and around the neck and was fastened in the back. It was typically made out of faience, glass, stone, or metal beads, which could be in many different colors, and were strung together with linen thread. ^[1] Construction of the usekh is depicted in a few ancient Egyptian tombs.^{[ citation needed ]}

Over time, the usekh went through many different variations of form.^{[ citation needed ]} These could be attributed to shifting mythological perspectives, or perhaps due to geographical movement across Egypt.^{[ citation needed ]}

Deities

A scene in the Fourth Dynasty tomb of Wepemnofret at Giza connects the usekh collar with dwarfs and the deity Ptah. Bernd Scheel has argued that Ptah, who is sometimes depicted wearing the broad collar, protects the deceased through the collar and that dwarves had access to that protective magic, because of their work making these types of collars. ^[3] In the Fifth Dynasty tomb chapel of Akhethotep (originally located at the Saqqara burial ground, but now in the Louvre), one scene distinguishes between two types of collars: the broad collar and the šnw or "encircling" collar. ^[4]

Gallery

• 
  Broad collar of Senebtisi, 1850–1775 BC; faience, gold, carnelian and turquoise; Metropolitan Museum of Art
• 
  Broad Collar, ca. 1336-1327 B.C., ca. 1327-1323 B.C., or ca.1323-1295 B.C.; faience; Brooklyn Museum
• 
  Broad Collar, ca. 1353–1336 B.C., faience, Metropolitan Museum of Art
• 
  Broad Collar of Nefer Amulets from the Tomb of the Three Foreign Wives of Thutmose III, ca. 1504–1450 B.C., gold, glass, Egyptian blue, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• 
  Broad Collar, 1479–1425 B.C; gold, carnelian, obsidian, glass; Metropolitan Museum of Art
• 
  Broad Collar Terminal; Metropolitain Museum of Art

See also

• Clothing in ancient Egypt

References

1. Andrews, Carol (1990). Ancient Egyptian jewellery. British Museum. London: British Museum Publications. pp. 119–123. ISBN   978-0-7141-0954-1.
2. Faulkner, Raymond O. (1991). A concise dictionary of Middle Egyptian (Repr ed.). Oxford: Griffith Inst., Ashmolean Museum. p. 169. ISBN   978-0-900416-32-3.
3. Scheel, Bernd (1999). "Ptah und die Zwerge". In Altenmüller, Hartwig; Germer, Renate (eds.). Miscellanea Aegyptologica: Wolfgang Helck zum 75. Geburtstag. Hamburg: Archäologisches Institut der Universität Hamburg. pp. 159–164.
4. Brovarski, Edward (1997). "Old Kingdom beaded collars". In Phillips, Jacke (ed.). Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Near East: Studies in Honour of Martha Rhoads Bell. [San Antonio]: Van Siclen Books. pp. 137–162.