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This pectoral is composed around
the throne name of King Senwosret II. It was found among the jewelry of
Princess Sit-hathor-yunet in a special niche of her underground tomb beside
the pyramid of Senwosret II at Lahun. Hieroglyphic signs make up the design,
and the whole may be read: "The god of the rising sun grants life
and dominion over all that the sun encircles for one million one hundred
thousand years [i.e., eternity] to King Khakheperre [Senwosret II]." Jewelry worn by royal women during the Middle Kingdom was simply for adornment or an indication of status but was also symbolic of concepts and myths surrounding Egyptian royalty. Jewelry imbued a royal woman with superhuman powers and thus enabled her to support the king in his role as guarantor of divine order on earth. It was essentially the king who benefited from the magical powers inherent in the jewelry worn by the female members of his family, which explains why his name, rather than that of the princess, appears in the designs. Since the tomb of the princess was beside the pyramid of Senwosret, scholars speculate that she was his daughter. Other items in the tomb bear the name of Amenemhat III, suggesting that the princess lived during the reigns of three of the most powerful rulers of Dynasty 12: Senwosret II, Senwosret III, and Amenemhat III. |