Tomb 52. Material and object type unclear at time of excavation but thought to be shell or bone. During conservation, these were reconstructed into four separate objects. A single delta number is assigned to the group although the decoration varies slightly for each egg.
White faience; hollow; egg-shaped, with one curved and one flat face. The flat reverse has a central fused seam with gaps at each end which would allow them to be threaded and worn as necklaces. The curved face of each scaraboid is decorated with a different figural scene, with a combination of pierced-through and relief carving. The bottom quarter of each is decorated with rows of carved dots, either representing the ground or a basket (Hölbl, vol. 2, 29). Found on the bronze patera (Δ1211) and excavated as a single SU for later reconstruction. Variable preservation; green staining.
H. 3; W. 2.2; D: 1.4. Slight variation in size due to reconstruction process.
1: Animal figure, possibly a sphinx or lion, possibly wearing an Egyptian crown. Seated on a three-legged stool, flanked by vertical lines. Complete.
2: Figure, possibly a baboon with a pronounced spiral, possibly a crown, emerging from the back of the figure. Seated on a three-legged stool flanked by two vertical lines, with spiral designs on the outside. Fragmentary, partially reconstructed.
3: Wide three-legged stool, with a central figure flanked by outward curving spirals. Extremely fragmentary and incomplete.
4: Figure, human or animal, with a spiral, possibly a crown, emerging from behind the head. Seated on a three-legged stool, flanked by vertical lines with outward curving spirals on the outside.
Comparanda: The form of these objects appears to mimic a cowry shell, although their style of decoration is reminiscent of the seal of an Egyptian scarab. An almost identical set of five complete “eggs” with similar iconography were found in Cerveteri-Monte Abatone t.4 (Hölbl, cat.92.96) Hölbl (vol. 2, 29) identifies the iconography of the human figure as the Horus child and the animal figure as the Egyptian goddess Bastet, seated on a “nub” sign. He identifies the curved shapes that flank the central figure as snakes (uraei), and the crowns as representing the dual crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Only a few are attested in the Mediterranean, and they have been labelled by Hölbl as Cypraea moneta, and are related to Egyptian cowroids as a result of their cowry-shell shape (Hayes1959, 399). Hölbl identifies the workmanship as Egyptian from the Nubian period, although the basis for this is unclear. The link to Cyprus is also not supported by specific comparanda. See Hölbl, vol. 1 127-28 for further discussion. See also Capua-Fornaci t.365.38 (Melandri, 40 pl. 11) for an undecorated cowrie shell as an ornament. Melandri (360) associates the use of cowrie shells in general with unmarried women as a symbol of fertility, with links to Neolithic European practices. Whether this interpretation can be applied to the decorated faience artefacts is debatable and more examples would be needed to verify an association between the items and adult or juvenile female graves.
Date: Insufficient close comparanda for a specific date but, based on parallels and the overall date of the tomb, Period III-IV is probable.