Necklace made up of thirty-two gold beads, three of vitreous paste and one of steatite.

It is the most outstanding piece from the Poble Nou cemetery and one of the most extraordinary examples of Phoenician-Punic jewellery from the Iberian Peninsula.

 

The techniques used to decorate all the gold beads are filigree, embossing and granulation. It contains several amulets that were considered very powerful at the time. Gold symbolises the eternal and unchanging and was believed to ward off evil spells and ensure well-being by protecting its owner even in the afterlife.

 

The centrepiece is the disc of the sun with a crescent of the moon. This astral symbol appears on tombstones and in the centre of many Phoenician necklaces, signifying the balance between day and night; life and death.

 

The lotus flower is depicted on two other pieces. Although its origin is clearly Egyptian, it is profusely represented in Phoenician architecture and goldsmithery, as well as in the stelae of Carthage. It is related to the cult of Tanit and Baal Hammon and is a symbol of rebirth and creation.

 

To the left of the lunar disc and crescent, carved in talc stone (steatite), the udyat eye of Horus, the falcon god, who embodied good in the Egyptian religion, gave clairvoyance and invulnerability to its possessor. As an amulet it enjoyed great importance, to the point of being considered one of the most powerful of all amulets.

most powerful amulets.

 

We also find two palmettes. This motif symbolises the tree of life par excellence and represents in ancient Eastern religions the victory of the divinity. It is also related to fertility.

6th c. BC
Cemetery of Poble Nou
Nº inv. Vilamuseu 003465