This gold roundel, decorated with filigree and granulation, was formerly set with precious stones. It may have been hung on clothes or headgear. Jewelry was not only an important means of adornment, but also of displaying wealth and affirming power and authority. In his book on precious stones the polymath al-Biruni (early 11th century) declares that "jewelry and precious stones belong to kings, if they are in the possession of people for whom they are not appropriate, they might be suspected of theft or stealing."
