Golden, pomegranate-shaped bells dangle from braided chains on this beautifully crafted seventh-century B.C. pendant. Discovered in a cemetery at Kameiros, on the island of Rhodes, the pendant was hammered out of thin pieces of electrum, a naturally occurring compound of gold and silver. At the top of the pendant sits a rosette, a popular decorative motif throughout the ancient Near East. The chains, bells and spheres hang from smaller rosettes attached to the sides of the pendant. The body of the pendant consists of a short horizontal piece bearing two female faces and a longer vertical piece featuring a […]
