Anklet
Unknown Artist
A.D. 100–250
Medium
cupreous alloy
Dimensions
Diam. 11.3 × H. 4.2 cm (4 7/16 × 1 5/8 in.)
Classification
Anklet
Period
Meroitic Period
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Oxford University Expedition to Nubia, 1926
Accession Number
26.4.110a
Art Historical Context
This delicate anklet, crafted from cupreous alloy—a copper-based metal common in ancient jewelry—hails from the Meroitic PeriodA.D. 100–250) in Nubia, the region along the Nile in modern-day Sudan. Measuring 11.3 cm in diameter and 4.2 cm high, it would have encircled the ankle of its wearer, a practical yet elegant form of personal adornment. Donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1926 by the Oxford University Expedition to Nubia, it offers a tangible link to the Kingdom of Meroë, a powerful Nubian civilization that thrived as a trade hub between Egypt, Africa, and the Mediterranean world....