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Jürgen Liepe

EGYPTIAN TIFFANY’S. During the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian pharaohs like Amenemhet II and his successors supported mining expeditions to the mountains of southern Sinai in search of turquoise, a semiprecious blue-greenish stone that had become a prized commodity in royal circles across Egypt and the Near East. These gold necklaces and armlets, once worn by Amenemhet II’s daughter Khnumet, include hieroglyphic-shaped pendants and accents made of turquoise.