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Pendant Shaped like a Star

Pendant Shaped like a Star

 
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Object Name: 
Pendant Shaped like a Star
Department
Ancient
Category
Origins of Glassmaking
Jewelry
Place Made: 
Northern Iraq, Nuzi
Date: 
1450-1350 BC
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 5.5 cm
Accession Number: 
63.1.26
Location: 
On Display
Description
Translucent greenish-blue glass, extremely bubbly; cast and subsequently drilled. Flat circular pendant with square suspension hole horizontally drilled, upper surface retained a star motif, central boss from which eight tripartite rays extend to the perimeter, a boss fills the space between each of the rays; the back is flat, undecorated and deeply pitted.
Label Text
This pendant decorated with an eight-pointed star is an early example of glass formed by casting. The glass was melted and pressed into an open one-piece mold, as is indicated by mold marks, folds on the underside of the glass, and overflow at the outer edge of the pendant. Disk-shaped pendants, either plain or decorated with a star, have been found at a number of sites, mainly in northern Mesopotamia. Similar pendants have been excavated throughout the eastern Mediterranean, from the Syro-Palestinian coast to Mycenaean Greece. The eight-pointed star motif is linked with the goddess Ishtar in Western Asiatic mythology. Ishtar is often associated with Astarte, the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of love and war, who had a star within a circle as her symbol. The presence of a threadhole in the pendants suggests that they were probably worn about the neck as amulets.
Provenance
Yehuda Hilea, Source to 1963-12-21
Glass, Knocking at the Door of Art (2010) illustrated, p. 24; BIB# 115616
The Corning Museum of Glass (2010) illustrated, p. 65;
From Cinderella's Slippers to Fiber Optics (2003) illustrated, p. 6; BIB# 75015
Beauty of Glass (2000) illustrated, p. 20; BIB# 77736
La Fenice di Sabbia: Storia e Tecnologia del vetro Antico (1995) illustrated, p. 14, fig. 10; p. 15; BIB# 39935
A Short History of Glass (1990 edition) (1990) illustrated, pp. 14-15, #1; BIB# 33211
Stained Glass: Jewels of Light (1988) illustrated, p. 14; BIB# 59584
A Short History of Glass (1980 edition) (1980) illustrated, p. 12, #1; BIB# 21161

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