Jewelry from the burials of the three foreign wives of King Thutmose III (ca. 1479–1425 B.C.).

The women had the non-Egyptian Semitic names Manuwai, Manhata, and Maruta (Martha), but when they were buried in a rock tomb at western Thebes, their burials were fitted out almost entirely according to Egyptian customs and beliefs. A few Near Eastern items are also among the equipment. According to the custom of the time, daughters of rulers from neighboring countries were given as wives to the Egyptian pharaoh to strengthen political ties.

Courtesy & currently located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photos taken by Klaus Wagensonner.