The Golden Pectoral

This heavy pectoral (an ornament worn around the neck) is the most impressive piece of jewellery from a gold cache purportedly found in the ruins of a cloister near Assiût, a city in Upper Egypt on the west bank of the Nile. The assemblage of almost forty objects – high-carat gold jewellery inlaid with stunning precious gems – was sold on the art market in 1909 and the years following. Twelve of them came to Berlin through the generous gift of Friedrich Ludwig von Gans, a patron from Frankfurt, while others now reside in New York, Washington, D.C., and London.
A broad plaque on the smooth neck ring is fastened to a large medallion by a hinge and pin. The medallion is mounted in a setting surrounded by a beaded border and pierced by lotus and palmette cut-outs. On the medallion itself is a relief of the Annunciation. Wearing a nimbus, the mother of Christ sits on a high basketry chair with a footstool. She lifts her right hand in surprise, while the end of a skein of wool sitting in the basket at her feet slips from her left hand. Her gaze is directed at the angel hurrying in from the right, raising his right hand in greeting and carrying a cross-topped scepter in his left. The scene corresponds to the apocryphal Gospel of Jacob, depicted in art from the fifth century AD onward, in which Mary is said to have been busy weaving a new temple curtain in purple and scarlet when she was surprised by the appearance of the angel.
The back of the medallion’s openwork setting was not smoothed, indicating that it was not meant to be seen: burrs still remain from the process of puncturing the thick gold sheet with a chisel. Yet at the center is a relief that perfectly matches that on the front. This rear relief depicts the transformation of water into wine during the marriage at Cana. Marked by a nimbus, Jesus touches a staff with a cross at the top to six containers arrayed on the ground. A servant pours water from a pointed amphora into the jugs. In the background, the host of the feast grasps a wine goblet and holds up his left hand in surprise. The Greek inscription proclaims “The first wonder.”
The wide plaque above the medallion, affixed to the rigid neck ring by hinges at either side, contains a large pseudo-coin at its centre. An unnamed emperor wearing a diadem, cuirass, and military cape is shown in a bust portrait format. On the reverse side is the enthroned city goddess of Constantinople. Both sides feature the inscription “Lord, help the wearer [of this pectoral]!” The feminine grammatical form may indicate – as suggested recently – that the huge chest ornament, weighing 547 grams, once belonged to a very high-ranking eunuch at the Royal Court in Constantinople. To each side of the central disc are settings for seven coins minted by Byzantine emperors from Justinian I (527–565) to Mauricius (582–602). Two of the settings hold small gold strips with the Greek letters for “light” and “life” arranged in a cross. A large twisting tendril connects the sixteen coins, while flower appliqués hide the supporting struts.
The pectoral in Berlin has a “male” counterpart from the Assiût Hoard, split between The Metropolitan Museum in New York (neck ring and plaque) and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. (medallion). It holds a pseudo-coin with the bust of Theodosius I on the front and the emperor as “Restitutor Rei Publicae” (restorer of the republic) on the reverse, flanked by seven gold coins from Theodosius I (379–395) to Justinian I (527–565).
Between them, these unique pieces of jewellery present an uninterrupted sequence of Byzantine coins from Emperor Theodosius I to Mauricius. Created around AD 600 or soon thereafter, they count among the latest objects in the treasure from Assiût. The Christian reliefs on the Berlin medallion signal the coming reign of the Lord Christ, whose representative on earth was the emperor. As a complement to this message, the enthroned figure of Constantinople on the reverse of the central pseudo-coin in both Berlin and Washington D.C. stands for the centre of power. The commissioners and wearers of these pieces must have lived in that metropolis.
The “treasure of Assiût,” with its contents spanning over two centuries, was probably part of the imperial treasury in Constantinople and thus owned by the state. At some point it must have been whisked away to safety instead of falling into enemy hands: for had it been seized as booty, the treasure would have served to legitimate the plunderers via its various insignia of power. Thus we might imagine that the treasure was brought to Egypt as a region thought to be safer from the Arab invaders than the Byzantine capital was.