Diadem (Group Shot (.1-.11))

The Assemblage of Ptolemaic Gold Jewelry, was crowned by this gold diadem consisting of two leaf-shaped sides, each fashioned from a single piece of sheet gold and attached through two loops at the back. It is considered to have made in the same goldsmiths workshop, perhaps in Alexandria, Egypt, as the Hairnet. A single torch, created from highly skilled handling of granulation and running filigree, ornaments each side. The tips of the flames are pointed toward the diadem's central Herakles knot, a popular design of the Hellenistic period, once inlaid with garnet or red glass. Small rectangular panels, each individually designed and fashioned from complex manipulation of applied filigree and decorative granulation, make up the bodies of the torches. These are surrounded by delicate floral tendrils worked in gold filigree. Five tassels (from an original eight) dangle from the lower edges of the diadem. They are ornamented with beads of carnelian, crizzled green glass, and possibly shell.

In antiquity, the presence of torches generally confers religious symbolism and can also be symbolic of many divinities, including Nike, Eros, and Dionysos. In Egypt they were also important to the cult of Isis. While a royal context can be ascribed to the assemblage of jewelry, the association cannot be extended to the royals themselves. However it seems possible that the original owner was an elite of the exclusive circle of dynastic princesses, who, ornamented in her golden finery, served the queen in one of the royal cults devoted to her worship.