Skip Navigation

Corrugated Hoops

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
Earrings

Earrings were a late arrival in Egypt.


They first appeared in the Middle Kingdom—probably introduced from Nubia or western Asia—but did not become popular until early in the Eighteenth Dynasty. By that time, in the truly cosmopolitan civilization of the New Kingdom, men, women, and children of high social standing all wore earrings. Perhaps because they originated in a foreign culture, earrings seem to have had no protective function for the Egyptians, unlike other jewelry. The principal forms of earrings included hoops, “boats,” plugs, and studs. All four types were attached to the ear through a hole piercing the lobe.
MEDIUM Gold
  • Place Made: Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1539-1292 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 18
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 72.123a: 1 5/8 x 1/2 x 1 7/16 in. (4.1 x 1.3 x 3.7 cm) 72.123b: 1 5/8 x 9/16 x 1 5/8 in. (4.1 x 1.4 x 4.1 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 72.123a-b
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION One pair of gold corrugated hoop earrings. Each composed of two bands, the outer with corrugating and the inner similarly formed but with corrugated edges rounded. The two bands soldered (?) together forming six tubes and then curved to form the hoops. This comprises three-fourths of the earring. The final fourth, for insertion in the ear, is formed by a continuation of the two center tubes with a band of herringbone design attached to the top edge. This pair of earrings is larger than other existing examples. Condition: Good and complete. Both earrings have crushed areas especially on the outer edges, b more so than a.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Corrugated Hoops, ca. 1539-1292 B.C.E. Gold, 72.123a: 1 5/8 x 1/2 x 1 7/16 in. (4.1 x 1.3 x 3.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 72.123a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.72.123a-b_erg456.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, CUR.72.123a-b_erg456.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 9/6/2007
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
     <em>Corrugated Hoops</em>, ca. 1539-1292 B.C.E. Gold, 72.123a: 1 5/8 x 1/2 x 1 7/16 in. (4.1 x 1.3 x 3.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 72.123a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.72.123a-b_erg456.jpg)

    TAGS

    TAGS