The humble bead has been an element of jewelry for more than 100,000 years. In this necklace, created more than 4,000 years ago, six double rows of truncated, cylindrical, steatite beads, originally glazed greenish-blue, are separated by rows of gold beads. The row at the top includes rare stones like turquoise, possibly from mines in the Sinai Peninsula, and lapis lazuli likely from northeastern Afghanistan. It demonstrates the wide range of materials found in Egyptian jewelry and the variety of shapes that the culture’s expert craftspeople fabricated. Around the outer edge of the collar is a row of long, narrow gold beads in the shape of beetles, symbolizing resurrection. Each end is finished with a semicircular gold terminal inscribed for the wearer, Ptahshepses Impy, an official of King Pepy II. The collar imitates in precious materials a floral garland worn at a banquet, composed of ephemeral materials like berries and the petals of the blue water lily with the thoraxes of insects added for their luster. In contrast, the gold and gemstones are meant to last forever in the afterlife.