Ibex-head earrings

Ibex-head earrings

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hoops formed of wound wire with animal head terminals are the commonest type of Hellenistic earring. The heads on these earrings have been referred to as those of gazelles, but is now thought more likely to be an ibex. Ibex-head earrings are well-known in Egypt, but also Asia Minor and Cyprus. The inclusion o fthe garnet bead in the collar behind the animal's head points to a date in the 2nd-1st centuries BC.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.