The carved images kings wore on their foreheads and chests projected supernatural power. This gold fragment with a male figure was likely originally suspended from a necklace, worn hanging over the chest. Though only partially visible, the figure is shown in profile, surrounded by vegetation. This image may represent an ancestor, an elite individual, or the ruler himself. Objects such as these often accompanied the king on his journey through death to the otherworld.

Elaine Higgins Smith, Digital Collections Content Coordinator, 2016.

Drawn from

• Carol Robbins, Label text [1968.20], A. H. Meadows Galleries, 2010.

• Getty Vocabulary, AAT (pendants (jewelry): AAT: 300046002).