A Byzantine Gold Star Pendant, Eastern Mediterranean, ca. 6th–8th century CE Tools & Weapons or in death with the

or in death with the hope of rebirth

assembled in the 1970s - 2000s

One side depicts a bull with a snake in its mouth

The Met sent eight staff members to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to cast replicas directly from the artifacts

Small vials such as this became common household objects

A Byzantine Gold Star Pendant, Eastern Mediterranean, ca. 6th–8th century CE Tools & Weapons or in death with theAn exquisite Byzantine pendant of high karat gold, meticulously fashioned as a six pointed star. The front is ornamented with a raised domed boss encircled by delicate twisted wire filigree. Each arm of the star is further decorated with a single twisted wire circle, the precision of the work underscoring the technical mastery of the Byzantine goldsmith. The reverse is plain and lightly convex, the pendant formed of thin hammered sheet gold and