Image Details

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.