String of beads with Heh amulet
New Kingdom, Ramesside
The finely decorated tomb of the royal artisan Sennedjem (Sennudem) is located at Deir el-Medina in Western Thebes. It was excavated in 1886 by Gaston Maspero, then Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service. The intact burials in the tomb also included a number of members of Sennedjem's family.
This necklace is made of faience cylinder beads and a rectangular amulet depicting a kneeling figure holding a notched reed in each hand. The amulet is a hieroglyph for "millions of years," and represents a wish for an eternal life after death.
Other objects in the collection that were discovered in the same tomb can be viewed here.