Knot amulet necklace, Late Period

Knot amulet necklace with obelisk reliquary, cowries & papyrus bundle (M1344). Probably Late Period. Linen, wood, papyrus, shell etc. Provenance: Reputedly from Petrie and EES sale, New York 2004. A very rare and fine example of a knotted cord amulet. Connected to the knotted cord is a papyrus bundle bound with an intricate braiding, a wooden obelisk reliquary which is unopened with a wooden plug in its base intact, and several cowry shell beads. The band itself is intricately bound together with hundreds of small knots. An almost unique object of which very little is known. Such papyrus bundles were later stylized in carved greywacke and worn as amulets. Small obelisks in limestone or bronze, often used as back-pillars to figures of Osiris or Sekhmet, are sometimes found to be hollowed out as reliquaries and these have been found to contain the mummified remains of falcons. A rare example of a magical or possibly medical object for the common man. Literature: See W.M. Flinders Petrie,