Pendant consisting of a repurposed New Kingdom Egyptian carved amethyst lion, set in a Napatan period golden base of seated baboons, dated to the Kushite 25th Dynasty, Sudan, c. 700 BC.

Pendant consisting of a repurposed New Kingdom Egyptian carved amethyst lion, set in a Napatan period golden base of seated baboons, dated to the Kushite 25th Dynasty, Sudan, c. 700 BC. 

“This pendant consists of two parts: a superbly carved lion’s head in amethyst that has been set into a D-shaped gold base consisting of a platform surrounded by eight seated baboons. The lion’s 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 pendant amulet. 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.”

-The Cleveland Museum of Art

Although the worship of the Kushite lion-headed god, Apedemak, is not well attested until the 3rd century BC (early Meroitic Period), lions had featured heavily in Kushite royal iconography since the Kerma Period well over a millennium earlier. Baboons are usually a symbolic representation of the Egyptian god Thoth (Ḏḥwtj), popular in Kush as well.