Treasure of El Lahun

The treasure of El Lahun is the name given to the discovery of a significant cache of Middle Kingdom artefacts in 'tomb 8', a subsidiary burial belonging to sꜣt-nsw^[a] Sithathoriunet,^[b] presumed daughter of Senusret II, at his funerary complex in El Lahun. The treasure was held in decorated ebony chests and features a unique 'crown of Sithathoriunet' bearing an ajouré uraeus with an accompanying gold embellished wig; an exquisite cloisonné 'pectoral of Senusret II' with a minutely-detailed ciselé reverse; a second near identical 'pectoral of Amenemhat III'; two sets of jewellery with distinct motifs; a set of toiletries, including a mirror with an intricate, inlaid handle; a set of alabaster oil and obsidian cosmetic jars; and many other varia. The majority of these finds now reside in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York City, though a few items^[c] are held by the Egyptian Museum (the EMC) in Cairo.

Sithathoriunet lived through the reigns of three pharaohs – Senusret II, Senusret III, and Amenemhat III – in the apogee of the Middle Kingdom during which she amassed a considerable collection of valuable items. On her death, she was buried with these in a shaft tomb built south of the pyramid of Senusret II. The tomb was plundered in antiquity, but the robbers failed to notice the small 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall recess that had been carved in the lower half of the antechamber's west wall and into which were emplaced a set of five chests bearing many of her riches. The breaching of her tomb left it open to the elements where successive waves flooded the recess with mud burying her treasures. The organic contents of her hoard decayed away – the wood of the chests, the threads of her jewellery, the hair of her wigs – and the tarnishable materials corroded irreparably – the silver reflector, the copper fittings and knobs, the bronze of her razors – over the course of the millennia.

Here the artefacts sat otherwise undisturbed until in early February 1914 archaeologists working for the British School of Archaeology in Egypt (BSAE) under Flinders Petrie rediscovered and cleared the recess carefully documenting every minute bead – thousands of them –, every scrap of material, and every surviving artefact. The then Director-General of the Department of Antiquities, Gaston Maspero, chose only a few items to be taken by the museum in Cairo – it had already received similar hoards from the galleries of Sithathor and Mereret from the pyramid of Senusret III in Dahshur – whilst the rest were put up by Petrie for sale. In 1916, they were purchased by The Met, but the course of the Great War prevented their immediate delivery. They sat in London awaiting the end of hostilities, which came in 1918, and were transported to their new home in New York City where they are currently held the following year.

The cache was discovered about 10 February 1914 and reported by Flinders Petrie in The Times (UK) on 20 May 1914,^[2] but the full publication of the excavation reports at the site of the pyramid of Senusret II – Lahun by Guy Brunton and Lahun II by Petrie, Brunton, and Margaret Alice Murray – was delayed until 1920 and 1923 respectively owing to the course of the Great War.^[3] A similar hoard was discovered by Jacques de Morgan at Dahshur on 7–8 March 1894^[d] and is in the possession of the Egyptian Museum (the EMC), such that only a few items from the Lahun cache were taken for it by Gaston Maspero, the then Director General of Antiquities in Egypt, whilst the majority were purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in 1916 from the Rogers Fund and a gift from Henry Walters, the Second Vice President of the Museum.^[5] The war too delayed the transfer of the artefacts, which were stored in Britain until 1919 when it was finally shipped to New York.^[6]

The treasure was contained in the easternmost of four shaft tombs sunk south of the pyramid, designated 'tomb 8', and was built during the reign of Amenemhat III some 38 years after Senusret II's death. It had been robbed anciently, as evidenced by looting of her sarcophagus. It was accessed through a deep shaft that led to the antechamber. This chamber's walls were separated into two sections, with the treasure recess inset in the centre of the lower half of the west wall. It was approximately 1 m (3 ft 3 in; 1.9 cu) wide, cut 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in; 3.1 cu) deep, and had a sloped ceiling 1 m (3 ft 3 in; 1.9 cu) high.^[7] On discovery, it was three-quarters filled with mud which had to be carefully cleared to retrieve its contents.^[8] The treasure was originally held in five wooden chests stored within the recess that had since decayed, along with other organic material, such as the threads of the necklaces and wigs of hair, and tarnishable materials, such as silver and copper fittings.^[9]

It belonged to Sithathoriunet, a sꜣt-nsw of the Twelfth Dynasty who lived through the reigns of her presumed father, Senusret II, and the pharaohs Senusret III, a possible husband, and Amenemhat III, a possible nephew.^[10] Her name and title^[e] survived on the banded alabaster canopic jars and magic jar recovered from her burial chamber.^[12] Her tomb contained the only extant records of her existence.^[13] She lived during the cultural apogee of the Middle Kingdom,^[14] and was the beneficiary of its fruits as the recipient of some of the finest jewellery crafted by ancient Egyptians.^[15]

• The cloisonné 'pectoral of Senusret II' hung from a necklace of gold and semi-precious gems
• The recumbent lion wristlets, broad bracelets, cowrie shell girdle, and broad anklets of gold and semi-precious stones
• The recumbent lion wristlets, leopard head girdle, and claw anklets all of gold and amethyst
• The gold crown of Sithathoriunet adorned with rosettes and streamers and bearing the royal uraeus

Two of the five chests belonging to Sithathoriunet were reconstructed by Arthur Cruttenden Mace for The Met^[16] who wrote of them, in the museum's Bulletin, 'weary of reference-hunting and the quest of the elusive adjective, an object with a story comes as a real godsend ... for not only do we know their full past history ... but we have been the means ... of adding a further chapter to that history by restoring them'.^[17] For the reconstruction, the ivory inlays were restored by Mikumasa Miki, the wood by George Clarihew, and the colour by 'Miss Cartland'.^[18]

The larger ebony chest – the jewellery chest – had decorated ivory panels inlaid with 20 gold-sheathed wooden ḏd pillars representing 'stability', and 16 blue faïence and gold-framed carnelian false doors. These images were arrayed so that six pillars and five false doors appeared lengthwise, and four pillars and three false doors presented depthwise. Each image was framed with ivory veneers and separated using ebony strips and the panels were laid in a projecting ebony frame with curved silver struts flowing down to the gold encased ebony feet. The frame was crowned by a gold torus mould and ivory cavetto cornice replicating an important style in Egyptian architecture.^[f][α] The body thus imitated the niched facade of a monumental enclosure wall or the panelling of a sarcophagus.^[20][β]

The forward face of the chest had a fastened knob, probably originally of copper but reconstructed of silver, and a second one inserted into the lid above. The ebony lid had a prominent curve, reminiscent of a shrine or naos but oriented perpendicularly to the norm,^[γ] that was decorated with four inlaid images of Ḥwt-ḥr. Her face was gold with slots into which white stone eyes with black pupils and blue faïence eyebrows were set. Gold horns sprouted from her head to host a carnelian sun disk encircled with a band of gold and silver whilst wavy hair of gold and blue faïence strips flowed into a curl^[g] of gold embedded with a carnelian gem. Finally, from her neck hung a pectoral of horizontal carnelian and blue faïence strips partitioned by gold. Interspersed between the Ḥwt-ḥr heads were probably three ivory inlays bearing the titulary of Amenemhat III, but these had been assigned to the smaller ebony chest during Mace's reconstruction.^[22]

The interior was presumably divided into compartments to host the chest's articles, but their composition is now indeterminate. The chest contained two sets of items: adornments for the princess including the 'pectoral of Senusret II', and the principal components of two sets of jewellery; and toiletries including a mirror, razors, whetstones, and a silver dish.^[23] There is slight evidence from the burials of Sithathor and Mereret at the pyramid of Senusret III in Dahshur to suppose that other similar chests existed, but none have thus been recovered.^[24]

• Restored ebony jewellery chest in The Met bearing images of Hathor
• Restored ebony cosmetic chest in The Met bearing the titulary of Amenemhat III

The smaller chest – the cosmetics chest – had the same basic form as the first, but different decoration. By Mace's own admission, the reconstruction for this second chest is much less firm than for the first. It had ivory panels with inlaid false doors composed of strips of red wood, ebony, and ivory presenting a variation of the niched design of the first. This was framed by an ebony body with plain ebony feet and was crowned with a gold torus moulding and an ebony cavetto cornice; however, this moulding originated from a third chest and there was no ivory to support the rebuilt cavetto. It had a curved lid with an ivory and wood border, a frame for the three ivory veneers bearing the nomen, praenomen, and Horus name of Amenemhat III. These probably originate from the jewellery chest interspersed between the images of Ḥwt-ḥr. The single internal compartment of the chest was used to store alabaster ointment jars, but this too was probably not their original purpose. The manner and placement in which the remnants of the chest were found, remarkably allows a portion of its story to be recounted. Upon Sithathoriunet's burial, the cosmetics chest was placed within the recess atop the jewellery chest. Once her tomb was breached by graverobbers, periodic flooding of the recess with mud instigated the rotting process of the jewellery chest, which, weakening with time, buckled under the weight of the chest atop giving way and causing the cosmetics chest to tumble off and onto its lid. Here it lay upturned for millennia, until it was fortuitously rediscovered by the team of British archaeologists that toiled away at the site in 1914.^[25]

• sꜣ-rꜥ n ḫt f ỉmn-m-hꜣt
  'Son of Ra, of his body, Amenemhat'^[h]
• nsw-bỉty nb tꜣwy nỉ-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ
  'King of Upper and Lower Egypt,^[i] lord of the Two Lands, Nimaatre'
• ḥrw ꜥnḫ ḏt ꜥꜣ-bꜣw
  'The everlasting Horus, Aa-bau'
• Detail of the face of one of the inlaid Hathor heads

The remaining three chests cannot be properly reconstructed. The third appears to be made from red wood based on minute finds and had the gold torus moulding applied to the cosmetics chest. It may have contained obsidian jars and a kohl pot. Its position was behind the second chest as it too tumbled when the jewellery chest broke. The fourth which held the crown, a wig, the 'pectoral of Amenemhat III', and some jewellery is posited to exist principally on the premise that such valuables must have been stored somewhere. It was probably purely wooden, explaining its complete deterioration. The fifth is known to have been the largest, but also the plainest of the five chests, and is believed to have held spare wigs that have since disintegrated, thus accounting for its vacant state. It was identified from the dust and copper nails, some of which had gold heads, that had endured the millennia.^[26]

Sithathoriunet possessed a crown^[j] consisting of a polished gold band adorned with fifteen inlaid rosettes, three streamers and two feathers, and, in its centre, an inlaid royal uraeus all principally of gold. The rosettes are cloisonné inlaid with carnelian and coloured faïence – since bleached – representing lapis lazuli and feldspar or turquoise.^[k] The rosettes each represented four flowering nymphaea waterlilies.^[l] They were riveted to the band with three of them having additional gold rings soldered to their base. These served as attachments for the streamers which were hinged to swing freely. In the inner rear side is a riveted tube crowned with a papyrus flower which receives the tang-like stem of the two feathers that projects high-above the wearer's head. Opposite to this sits a detachable uraeus that establishes its owner as a member of the royal family. The cobra is ajouré and cloisonné of gold inlaid with carnelian, lapis lazuli, and a once green faïence that has bleached white. The cobra's head was fashioned from a single piece of lapis lazuli and given garnet^[m] encrusted eyes with a gold trim.^[32] The crown is unique, distinct from the crowns of Khnemet discovered in Dahshur. It is similar to the painted band depicted on a statue of rḫt-nsw^[n] Nofret – wife to Rahotep, son of the pharaoh Sneferu – in the Fourth Dynasty^[δ] and to the crowns depicted on a procession of female dancers and musicians in the tomb of Ukhhotep IV, a local governor, in Meir.^[33]

The crown was accompanied by a wig adorned with 1,251 gold rings of two sizes. The rings are rounded strips of gold sheet fragile enough to be crushed with little pressure. This limited possible uses for them significantly, yet Winifred Brunton proposed them as adornments in a wig. The precise arrangement of the rings on Sithathoriunet's wig is unknown owing to the latter's disintegration. One plausible format was reconstructed by Winlock with gold stripes. The Met in their current reconstruction of the wig referenced a wooden statuette head^[o] found in Senebtisi's pit at the pyramid of Amenemhat I in Lisht which bore a wig displaying a chequered pattern formed by the distribution of gold rings.^[35]

• The crown is one the few items from the cache taken for the museum in Cairo by Gaston Maspero
• A modern wig adorned with the recovered gold rings reconstructed in a checkered pattern by The Met

The 'pectoral of Senusret II' is the first of two that were gifted to Sithathoriunet and is so-called because it is designed around his praenomen Ḫꜥ-ḫpr-Rꜥ or 'Kha-kheper-re' which serves as its central motif. It came from the jewellery chest alongside a collection of beads that formed the basis of a necklace from which it hung. The pectoral comprised a thin gold plate with tiny strips of gold soldered on forming 372 cloisons on its obverse to hold 195 turquoise, 140 lapis lazuli, 35 carnelian, and 2 garnet gemstones.^[36] The artefact is widely recognised as a masterwork of the ancient Egyptian jeweller.^[p]

The design is composed principally of hieroglyphs: The base bears the n sign representing the primordial waters; in the centre kneels the god Ḥḥ, an aspect of Nnw and the sign for 'one million', with a ḥfn sign for 'one hundred thousand' suspended from his right elbow; Ḥḥ clasps a pair of palm branch signs for rnpt or 'years' that support the cartouche of the king; flanking him are a pair of falcons, representations of Rꜥ-Ḥr-ꜣḫty, oddly with blue-green solar disks,^[q] perched atop šn signs for 'to encircle' with a claw outstretched to clutch one of the palm branches; pinned between the falcon's chests and the cartouche are a pair of ꜥnḫ signs representing life which hang from the tails of two uraei, representing the Two Ladies, Nḫbt and Wꜣḏt.^[45] The pectoral thus reads: 'May Ra-Horakhty grant eternal life and dominion to Kha-kheper-re'.^[r]

The reverse is no less impressive with its meticulous, minute chasing of the falcons's feathers, cobras's scales, scarab's chitin, and god's hair and clothing. The horizontal attachments for the necklace are located behind the solar disk atop the falcon's head and have been shaped into the form of a coil.^[50] Acknowledging Brunton's assessment of the pectoral's obverse that '[t]he inlay [wa]s not so minute ... [that it] had to be viewed in general at a respectful distance',^[37] Winlock remarked of the reverse '[y]et it will bear the most intimately close inspection ... with each detail molded and chased with microscopic accuracy, [it] is perhaps even more wonderful than the obverse'.^[38]

The pectoral was hung from a necklace, apparently on a single thread, comprising alternating gold, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and feldspar drop and gold, turquoise, and amethyst^[s] spherical beads. There were thirty-seven drop and thirty-eight spherical beads.^[52]

• The cloisonné pectoral inlaid with 372 stones of turquoise, lapis lazuli, carnelian, and garnet
• Exquisitely chased gold plate reverse of the pectoral with meticulous, minute detailing

The second of the two pectorals gifted to Sithathoriunet has the same principal design but is organized around the praenomen of Amenemhat III Nỉ-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ or 'Ni-maat-re' indicating that it was commissioned during his reign. This pectoral originated from the fourth chest, with the crown and wig rings, along with the beads that belonged to its necklace.^[53]

Despite the general similarity between the two pectorals, there are a few notable differences. Foremost, there is a distinct degradation in the abilities of the craftsman that created the later pectoral. The falcons of the piece are less refined, noticeably with the claws that clutch the šn rings and the base of the falcon's tails, and the chasing of the reverse is substantially less intricate in detail, particularly about the falcon's feathers and claws, Ḥḥ's garb and ḥfn suspended from his elbow, and the reed mat upon which the god kneels. There are further changes in the inlay materials used: the solar disks are red from carnelian stones, the falcon's eyes are now of amethyst, and most significantly a blue or green faïence – since bleached – was used as replacement for a semi-precious stone, probably turquoise or feldspar. The attachment 'coils' on the solar disk's reverse are here oriented vertically instead of horizontally.^[54]

The pectoral was hung from a necklace of drop and sphere shaped beads much like its predecessor. It had the same number of drop beads but a different distribution of materials among them with one greater carnelian and one fewer lapis lazuli bead compared to the older pectoral; it also had the same number of sphere beads, but here they were all of amethyst. The length of the necklaces for the two pectorals suggest that they must have hung just above the hips.^[55] The pectorals may have adorned the body of Sithathoriunet, but their intended beneficiary was the king himself, hence the presence of his name on the pectoral. In her afterlife, Sithathoriunet took on the duty of protecting the king and assisting his rebirth.^[56]

• The second pectoral organized around the praenomen of Amenemhat III
• The necklace from which the second pectoral was originally hung

The pectoral is a rare article of jewellery in the Middle Kingdom with few surviving examples and only sparse appearances in Egyptian artworks. The pectoral of the type organized around the pharaoh's name, to which both of Sithathoriunet's belong, is attested only during the reigns from Senusret II to Amenemhat III. The few other royal pectorals that have been recovered were found in Dahshur, with one belonging to Sithathor, bearing the praenomen of Senusret II, and two belonging to Mereret, one bearing the praenomen Ḫꜥỉ-kꜣw-rꜥ of Senusret III and the other of Amenemhat III. The corpus of royal pectorals from the Middle Kingdom are considered to be among the finest extant examples from ancient Egypt.^[t] They also belonged exclusively to sꜣt-nsw of the dynasty. There are a couple non-royal examples from the period as well, one from el-Riqqa and another fragmentary one from Harageh,^[u] and two others of unknown provenance, one possibly from Byblos held in Beirut and the other possibly from Dahshur held in Eton College. Pectorals are further depicted on the daughters of Djehutyhotep, a nomarch, in his tomb in Deir el-Bersheh and on a statue of sꜣt-nsw Neferet.^[60]

In amongst the goods of the jewellery chest of Sithathoriunet was a girdle^[v] composed of eight gold cowrie shells and twin strands of ninety-six acacia seed stones evenly distributed into thirty-two^[w] of gold, carnelian, and feldspar.^[x] Each shell was separated by six pairs of acacia seeds, though the reconstructed order is purely speculative. Seven of the shells were hollow to accommodate a handful of copper-silver alloy pellets, which chimed with the wearer as she walked or danced, while the eighth was fashioned into a tongue-and-groove clasp.^[66] A few other cowrie girdles are known from the Twelfth Dynasty. Two or three belonged to Sithathor and Mereret, the latter lady having one with large cowries like Sithathoriunet's and apparently another with much smaller shells.^[67] A fourth girdle was owned by Weret II which lacked the pellets and clasp present in other girdles.^[68] Such girdles are commonly depicted adorning figurines of nude women in the Middle and New Kingdoms, but are not attested in reliefs or paintings of elite women.^[69][ε] The cowrie shell is an amuletic image with a striking resemblance to female genitalia. Its placement on a girdle, worn about the hips, with chiming pellets indicates their purpose to enhance the sexual allure of the wearer and imbue her with elevated fertility. This is particularly supported by their appearance in artworks depicting concubines.^[70] They may also have played a role in performances for the cult of Hathor.^[71]

A pair of broad bracelets and anklets also appeared in the jewellery chest with the cowrie girdle. These were composed of small tubular beads of gold, turquoise, and carnelian separated by gold spacers and slides that framed the ends. The clasps of the bracelets are cloisonné of gold inlaid with carnelian and two coloured faïence imitating turquoise, which has since bleached white, and lapis lazuli, that remains an Egyptian blue. The cloisons frame an inscription for Amenemhat III that reads nṯr nfr nb tꜣwy Nỉ-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ dỉ ꜥnḫ meaning 'the good god, lord of the Two Lands, Ni-maat-re, given life'.^[72] Mereret had a similar pair of bracelets gifted to her by Amenemhat III, others include Ita's, Sithathor's, and Weret II's with clasps inscribed with a ḏd pillar, and Khenmet's with sꜣ for 'protection'.^[73] Two near identical anklet pairs belonged to Ita and Khenmet.^[74] Two others belonged to Sithathor and Mereret with similar designs^[75] and a third to Senebtisi that was evidently made for her burial.^[76]

The reconstruction of these two item pairs is particularly complicated, owing to their being made principally from minute, fragile beads that were scattered once the organic threads that originally bound them had disintegrated, and has involved repeated revisions. The original reconstruction^[77] by the excavating team was rejected by Winlock for bearing an unattested design with voids through which flesh showed, inconsistently arranging the spacers, and assembling the bracelets and anklets with circumferences too similar to be plausible for the wrists and ankles. The revised reconstruction by Winlock also went through many iterations.^[78]

Two pairs of wristlets each with four gold recumbent lions, probably representations of the god Šw and goddess Tfnwt, were also recovered. The lions of the first bracelet pair have two thread holes and have been reconstructed on a bracelet of carnelian, gold, and turquoise beads.^[y] This bracelet pair is fastened with square knot clasps.^[81] Such recumbent lions from wristlets were also among the possessions of Sithathor, Mereret, and Weret II.^[82] These jewellery pieces formed the first set from the chest, which omits a typically expected broad collar.^[83]

• The pellets in this cowrie shell girdle jingled brightly as Sithathoriunet walked and danced
• nṯr nfr nb tꜣwy nỉ-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ dỉ ꜥnḫ
  'The good god, lord of the Two Lands, Ni-Maat-Re, given life'
• These broad anklets were assembled from thousands of minute gold, carnelian, and turquoise beads
• The recumbent lions of these wristlets probably represented the two Egyptian gods of Šw and Tfnwt

Sithathoriunet possessed a second girdle which was stored in the jewellery chest and belonged to a feline-themed jewellery set. The girdle^[z] was composed of seven large opposite-facing feline-heads with fourteen small opposite-facing leopard-head pairs interspersed on two strands of 140 evenly distributed amethyst beads in groups of ten. Six of the large feline-heads were hollow to accommodate diorite pellets while the seventh was fashioned into a tongue-and-groove clasp. As with the cowrie girdle, these must have chimed, here with a sharp ring, as the wearer walked or danced.^[86] The relative dating of the girdle is uncertain: Brunton believed it to date to Senusret II's reign owing to the superior workmanship of the heads compared to the cowrie shells;^[87] Cyril Aldred proposes it should be assigned to a later reign.^[88] A very similar girdle with eight opposite-facing feline-heads was owned by Mereret.^[89]

The significance of the feline-heads is subject to interpretation. They may have represented the hieroglyphs for pḥty meaning 'strength', though this was written with two leopard-heads facing the same direction;^[90] perhaps they served an apotropaic function to protect the wearer;^[91] or as representations of Šw and Tfnwt derived from a typical presentation where they face opposite directions with the sun rising between them;^[92] they may depict the eye of Ra often represented as a companion goddess to Rꜥ that protected him from his foes during his daily journey;^[92] or they may have served as symbols of rejuvenation and fertility.^[93]

The set was completed by a pair of recumbent lion wristlets and claw anklets.^[aa] The lions of the wristlets and the claws of the anklets were gold. The wristlets had a single thread, while the anklets featured double threads, each of which was fitted with gold and amethyst beads. The anklets were additionally fastened with a square knot clasp.^[96] This set of jewellery was probably worn during ceremonial performances.^[92] The recumbent lions of the wristlets face each other in the reconstruction, but there is no justification for this in preference to them facing opposite directions.^[97] Two other identical pairs of claw anklets were owned by Sithathor and Mereret;^[98] two more in different styles were owned by Khenmet and Weret II.^[99]

• The leopard head girdle of the second ritual jewellery set
• The feline claw anklet with its double strands of gold and amethyst beads
• One of the wristlets with amethyst beads and gold recumbent lions

A set of toiletries were also present in the jewellery chest: a mirror, razors, whetstones, and a dish.^[100] The mirror is a substantially corroded silver reflector resting upon an elaborately decorated handle. The handle is fashioned into the form of an obsidian papyrus plant with a two-sided hathor head interposed between its culm and involucre. The base is inlaid with carnelian, gold, and lapis lazuli in the form of the plant's leaves from which rises the obsidian culm. Four gold bands inlaid with carnelian, lapis lazuli, and a once green – now white – faïence emulating turquoise form a collar connecting the plant and hathor head. The faces are gold with inlaid lapis lazuli brows, silver eyelids, and white stone eyeballs with crystal pupils. She has two gold cow ears soldered to the side of each face which were cire perdue cast and soldered together to form the head. From her head sprouts the papyrus's curved obsidian umbel with an electrum plate representing the flower clusters.^[101] Mirrors are a particularly common grave good find in the Middle Kingdom. They are most often copper, but may also be bronze, gold, or – rarest and most expensive of all for the period – silver. Sithathor also owned a mirror and Mereret between three and five.^[ab] The ornamentation of the mirror with Hathor heads was an Eleventh Dynasty innovation that retained cultural relevance for centuries.^[105]

With the mirror were the remaining toiletries. There were two razors with gold handles and bronze blades, and two knives entirely of bronze which had substantially corroded requiring replacement. Two white sandstone whetstones came with the razors, forming a shaving set. Finally, there was a small concave silver dish formed into a šn glyph.^[106]

• Sithathoriunet's silver mirror and obsidian handle

The cosmetics chest held a set of eight Egyptian alabaster ointment jars that originally held different aromatic oils. The first seven presumably carried the 'seven sacred oils', the eighth contained an unrelated unguent such as a sweet oil or myrrh. The jars were standard in their design with a beaker shape and flat lid that had been devised as early as the late Predynastic period. Two of the jars still retained a gum resin of pinkish hue that had dried out inside the recess. The dried residue gives further evidence of the placement of the cosmetics chest atop the jewellery chest as it has left markings within the jars indicating that they stood on a slope.^[107]

These ointment jars were typical of Middle Kingdom burials and are well-attested in other burials.^[108] Four sets of eight oil jars were found in the galleries beneath the White Pyramid of Amenemhat II belonging to Ita, Khenmet, Itaweret, and Sithathormeryt. The jars in these sets bore the names of the oils they held and the seven sacred oils were present in all sets: ḥknw, nẖnm, sṯy-ḥb, sfṯ, twꜣwt, hꜣt-ṯḥnw, and hꜣt-ꜥš. The contents of the eighth jar varied between burials: Ita and Khnemet had jars of ỉbr oil,^[ac] Itaweret of tpt-n-ꜥntyw oil, and Sithathormeryt of ꜥntyw oil.^[112] Ten oil jars were recovered from the pyramid of sꜣt-nsw Neferuptah, daughter of Amenemhat III. One of those bore the name of a sacred oil, indicating that probably at least seven of the jars belonged to a set.^[113] The tomb of Nubhoteptikhered – in the complex of the Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III, by the tomb of Hor, her presumed husband – also contained a set of seven such jars and a kohl pot.^[114] Two other sets of alabaster oil jars were recovered from the pyramid of Senusret III belonging to Sithathor, who had six banded alabaster jars, and Mereret, with seven of various sizes. These did not belong to ritual sets containing the seven sacred oils like the others mentioned.^[115]

The third chest, that sat behind the cosmetics chest, apparently held a set of three obsidian and gold cosmetics jars alongside an obsidian and gold kohl pot. The obsidian jars are of the same form as the alabaster jars though slightly shorter and wider and additionally have gold trimming around jar and lid rims. The jars held aromatic unguents whilst the kohl pot contained eye powder. The powder was applied to the eyes with a small, bulbously-ended stick which was not discovered in the cache. The jars and pot were analysed for their contents. One jar contained rouge composed of iron oxide and organic matter, including ochre to obtain a red colour. The other two contained perfumes composed in one instance of a gum resin and fragments of aromatic wood and in the other pure resin. The kohl pot contained iron oxide, possibly black, mixed with earth. Typical sources for eye-shadow were ground galena to create msdmt, a black eye-shadow, or ground malachite to create wꜣḏw, a green one.^[116] Winlock notes that the craftsman precisely turned the objects such that no deviation in their dimensions exceeds 1 mm (0.039 in).^[117]

• An Egyptian alabaster jar that contained a sacred oil or unguent
• An obsidian and gold jar that held rouge or a perfume for the princess
• The kohl pot that Sithathoriunet used to hold her eye-shadow

There were two similar inlaid scarabs mounted on thin gold wires formed into rings by wrapping the ends about each other that were contained in the jewellery chest. One is held by The Met and the other by the EMC. The scarabs have polished gold bases and cloisonné bodies. The sides are inlaid with carnelian and blue and green – now white – faïence, the stripes of the wings are framed with gold and inlaid with lapis lazuli and turquoise, and the thorax is inlaid with carnelian. The heads differ between the two with The Met's having an elaborated, inlaid feldspar stone and the EMC's a simple one of lapis lazuli. The scarabs represented Rꜥ-Ḫprỉ.^[118]

Five cloisonné motto clasps were recovered from the recess, of which three came from the jewellery chest and two from the crown chest. Each clasp was gold inlaid with carnelian and coloured faïence simulating lapis lazuli and turquoise. The clasps were small with a pair of gold tubes on their reverse through which a thread could be strung, but none of the recovered beads were associated with them, suggesting they were strung on bare thread which had disintegrated. They have been reconstructed to be worn above the elbow. Two were fashioned into šn for 'eternity', and three into one each of ꜣw-t ỉb for 'joy', sꜣ ꜥnḫ nb for 'all life and protection', and nṯrï ỉb ḥtp for 'the two gods's heart is contented'. Such clasps were common to the period and were found in the tombs of Khenmet, Sithathor, and Mereret.^[119]

• The feldspar headed scarab ring of Sithathoriunet
• The five motto clasps from the jewellery chest top and crown chest bottom^[ad]

Two lapis lazuli scarabs, one plain and one inscribed, were discovered alongside the crown in the fourth chest. They are similar in size and form, but markedly different in workmanship and quality of stone. The simpler plain scarab is made from a fissured stone, while the inscribed scarab was carved from an exceptionally high-quality piece of lapis lazuli free of fissures, high clarity, and consistent colouration. It has a gold tube running through its middle for stringing. The base is inscribed with Nỉ-mꜣꜥt–rꜥ, below which kneels Ḥḥ clasping a pair of palm branch signs for rnpt or 'years' enclosing Amenemhat III's praenomen, all flanked by a three-fold scroll either side. The inscription thus grants 'millions of years to Ni-maat-re'.^[120] Scarabs were also found in Sithathor's and Mereret's collection from Dahshur, five to nine and twenty of them respectively.^[121]

• An immaculate lapis lazuli stone was used to fashion this scarab
• The inscription on its base grants 'millions of years' to Amenemhat III
• A comparatively inferior stone with fissures and poor colouration forms this scarab

Finally there was an assortment of items that could not be connected to any of the discovered objects.^[122] These include additionally a tiny crystal eye, a copper implement that may possibly have been a ring-stand, and piece of gold leaf with a possible nymphaea motif.^[123]

• A spare square knot clasp, partially slid open, as on the writslets and claw anklets
• Leftover spacers from the restoration of the broad bracelets and anklets