Miho Museum

This pectoral is the most splendid example of Achaemenid court jewelry presently known. It comprises three different parts: a collar-like front section that is flat; a long, clasp-like, tubular element that attaches at duck's-head terminals; and a pendant hinged to the front.

According to ancient sources, the Achaemenid "Kings of Kings" sometimes honored their followers with jewelry. These gifts befitted not only the receiver's rank but also symbolized his loyalty to the ruler. The battle scenes on this torque and pendant suggest they were made for a high-ranking male official, and definitely not for a woman. This was an idea entirely alien to Greek customs: the quantity of jewelry worn by high-ranking dignitaries in an Achaemenid battle-line gave a splendid and sparkling impression, prompting Alexander the Great at the battle at Issos to misinterpret the shining gold of his Asiatic opponents as a sign of their effeminacy and to spur his troops on with the expectation of rich booty.

Although almost entirely composed of Achaemenid motifs, this pectoral has undeniable Egyptian affiliations. The type of the pendant finds a parallel on the statue of an Egyptian official of the Achaemenid era who wears an Egyptian pectoral depicting Egyptian deities together with a Persian torque, a piece he was allowed to wear by explicit permission of the king. The cloisonn technique of the Shumei pectoral is likewise attested in Egyptian art; a famous inscription of Darius the Great from Susa mentions Egyptian goldsmiths being in Achaemenid service. Even such a detail as the tiny foliage of Egyptian Nymphaea nelumbo with turned-up tips, which borders the lower register on the torque, was widely used in Achaemenid ateliers and occurs in a technically quite similar execution on a pair of late Achaemenid earrings from Susa. On the torque the formerly Egyptian motif was combined with typical Near Eastern "stepped embattlements," which function as central veins of the leaves. In contrast to Near Eastern examples, though, this frieze has narrow interstices between the individual leaves, a detail most likely drawn from Greek "egg-and-dart" friezes. Therefore, this unobtrusive ornament likely reveals the decorative heritage of no fewer than three cultures. The band of rectangles with indented contours in the register above also has a perfect parallel on the above-named earrings from Susa.

Unfortunately Achaemenid art is extremely difficult to date, but in this case the technical analogies suggest a late Achaemenid attribution, to the fourth century B.C., before the collapse of the empire.