500067 Pendant, Napatan, c.700 BC (amethyst and gold) by Egyptian 25th Dynasty (780-656 BC); h:3.50 w:2.90 d:2.70 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art, OH, USA; (add.info.: This pendant consists of two parts: a superbly carved lion??? head in amethyst that has been set into a D-shaped gold base consisting of a platform surrounded by eight seated baboons. The lion??? head is an heirloom from the New Kingdom, most likely a gaming piece, that had been adapted in the Napatan Period to serve as an amuletic pendant. This procedure was fairly common in antiquity as a means of recycling precious stones. The importance of leonine deities in Nubian religion was obviously the motivating force behind the creation of this spectacular ornament. ); Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund; Egyptian, out of copyright.