Menat necklace from Malqata

New Kingdom

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 119

A menat necklace consists of a heavy, keyhole-shaped counterpoise (menat) and many strands of beads. Although the necklace is sometimes shown being worn (fig. 2 above), it was more often carried by females participating in religious ceremonies. It functioned as a percussion instrument that was shaken to create a soothing noise that was thought to appease a god or goddess. In the New Kingdom the menat necklace and sistrum (68.44) were attributes of women who held the title "Singer of Amun-Re" such as Renenutet, who is depicted holding her menat on her lap in a statue.

In the early 20th century, the Museum conducted excavations at Malqata, a site at the southern end of the Theban necropolis where Amenhotep III had built a festival city for the celebration of his three jubilees (or heb seds). This miraculously preserved menat necklace and two single-strand necklaces of beads and amulets were found in the corner of a room in a private house near the King's Palace. According to the excavators, the three necklaces had been placed in a linen bag, traces of which were still visible.

Link to a blog about the Museum's excavations at Malqata
The Met's Joint Mission to Malqata

Menat necklace from Malqata, Faience, bronze or copper alloy, glass, agate, carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.