The royal necklaces were of two kinds.  Some consisted merely of one or more strings of long lozenge-shaped beads slightly chased, and connected by small links, ribbed perpendicularly. [PLATE CXIII., Fig. 7.] The other kind was a band or collar, perhaps of gold, on which were hung a number of sacred emblems:  as the crescent or emblem of the Moon-God, Sin; the four-rayed disk, the emblem of the Sun-God, Shamas; the six-rayed or eight-rayed disk, the emblem of Gula, the Sun-Goddess; the horned cap, perhaps the emblem of the king’s guardian genius; and the double or triple bolt, which was the emblem of Vul, the god of the atmosphere.  This sacred collar was a part of the king’s civil and not merely of his sacerdotal dress; as appears from the fact that it was sometimes worn when the king was merely receiving prisoners. [PLATE CXIII., Fig. 8.]

The monarch wore a variety of armlets.  The most common was a plain bar of a single twist, the ends of which slightly overlapped each other.  A more elegant kind was similar to this, except that the bar terminated in animal heads carefully wrought, among which the heads of rams, horses, and ducks were the most common.  A third sort has the appearance of being composed of a number of long strings or wires, confined at intervals of less than an inch by cross bands at right angles to the wires.  This sort was carried round the arm twice, and even then its ends overlapped considerably.  It is probable that all the armlets were of metal, and that the appearance of the last was given to it by the workman in imitation of an earlier and ruder armlet of worsted or leather. [PLATE CXIV., Fig. 1. ]

[Illustration:  PLATE 114]

The bracelets of the king, like his armlets, were sometimes mere bars of metal, quite plain and without ornament.  More often, however, they were ribbed and adorned with a large rosette at the centre.  Sometimes, instead of one simple rosette, we see three double rosettes, between which project small points, shaped like the head of a spear.  Occasionally these double rosettes appear to be set on the surface of a broad bar, which is chased so as to represent brickwork.  In no case can we see how the bracelets were fastened; perhaps they were elastic, and were slipped over the hand. [PLATE CXIV., Fig. 3.]

Specimens of royal earrings have been already given in an earlier chapter of this volume.  The most ordinary form in the more ancient times was a long drop, which was sometimes delicately chased Another common kind was an incomplete Maltese cross, one arm of the four being left out because it would have interfered with the ear. [PLATE CXIV., Fig. 2.] In later times there was a good deal of variety in the details; but the drop and the cross were always favorite features.