I purchased this piece in Awsan - early 90's. Its strung on a very soft cotton thread. It's old - how old? I have no clue, The Faience beads are comprised of very fragile clay like material. The overall length is 29 inches. Myself - I only used this piece for display purposes. There are 8 smaller carved scarabs that measure 1/2" long. The much larger blue scarab measures 1 1/8" long and 3/4" wide. It has the usual hand carved impressions on the underside. This item is being sold as found.
It is estimated that there was most likely 2 million people in Egypt at the time of the Pharaohs. Thousands of burial sites have been discovered in the last 150 years. The common people were also buried with adornments. The people of Egypt have been traditionally very poor. These beads have been salvaged for trade for years so I think it's really very hard to set a date on them. I just love these pieces and always marvel that I could be holding something thousands of years old. Pretty cool.
Will ship via USPO with delivery tracking.
