Sumerian Bicone Bead Bracelet

$125.00 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Met-inspired art jewelry makes a unique gift. Our lapis bracelet evokes a striking strands of beads (ca. 2600–2500 BCE) found at the ancient Mesopotamian site of Ur. Though the original beads were Sumerian-made, the exotic materials from which they were constructed indicate long-distance trade connections: lapis lazuli was mined in Afghanistan, while the gold could have traveled from Iran, Anatolia, or Egypt. Later texts indicate that these materials were thought to have possessed amuletic properties. Our…