Necklace with 6 Taweret amulets
Third Intermediate Period
This is one of three necklaces of two-ply linen found around the neck of Henettawy’s mummy. Instead of beads, the linen has been knotted twenty-four times at regular intervals and six Tawerets of red and yellow breccia added, with two knots between each amulet. A composite of three of the most dangerous animals in the Egyptian landscape—the hippopotamus, crocodile, and lion—Taweret was a household deity whose principal role was to protect mothers from harm during pregnancy and childbirth. The twenty-four knots may, like the knots in the other two strings around Henettawy’s neck (see 25.3.189a and b), may be meant to link the deceased to the daily cycle of the sun and thus ensure her perpetual rebirth.
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