All the faience fruit and flower-shaped beads featured in this selection are intrinsically linked not only to aspects of everyday life in Ancient Egypt but also to the idea of afterlife. Indeed, lotus flowers grew on the Nile and were deeply admired by the Egyptians for their scent and beauty, but also because they were related to creation myths and therefore symbolised creation and rebirth. Grapes were cultivated there and used to make wine which played an important role in ceremonies. Poppy or thistle amulets often appear in association with of healing, removal of pain and death. Amulets of this type were also referred to the Egyptian god Osiris, who was the god of agriculture as well as death and the afterlife. Thistles were common all over Egypt, but especially around the Nile. It is thought that they were peeled and boiled before consumption, with the thistle used in some parts of the world as a herbal treatment for hepatic disorders. As in modern symbolism, poppies also carried associations with rebirth and resilience due to the hardy nature of the plant. Indeed, there is evidence for the extraction of morphine from poppies in the ancient world. The mandrake became a popular image in Egyptian art because the plant and its berries were associated with the concepts of love and desire, possibly to be achieved or aided by a potion made from the plant. Across the Ancient world, there are a number of pieces that would have been worn by their owners for the sake of protection, primarily amulets. Jewellery of this apotropaic nature most often takes shape in the form of pendants, and we find them in abundance from a number of civilisations, especially Egypt.
To discover more about Egyptian amulets, please visit our relevant blog post: Amulets in AncientEgypt.
