The assignment was to select something striking from a visiting exhibition of Egyptian art and write a paper about it.  I chose this Isis pectoral because I immediately recognized its significance, not only with regard to the assignment, but because of the exquisite magic crafted into the amulet by the unknown artist who created it.  Before taking the Art History class at CalPoly, Pomona, I had read the Egyptian Book of the Dead and had a reference copy in my personal library, so though the pectoral was only six inches wide and two and a quarter inches tall, it spoke volumes to me.  My report of April 28, 1974 follows: 

No. 66 ISIS
Meroitic 535-513 B.C.

Although 550 B.C. is usually considered to be the beginning of the XXVIth Dynasty by Egyptologists, as a Meroitic piece it belongs more properly to the XXVth Ethiopian or Cushite Dynasty which was still intact in the far south of Egypt.  During this period, Egyptian art had a brief renaissance.  Various leaders sent artists to study and copy art already 2000 years old.  Thus, this article, though very late in ancient Egyptian history, is very much in the modern style.  What firmly establishes its relative modernity is its material, symbolism, region of discovery and particular funerary use.

The Cushites were very devout and believed it imperative to secure the favor of Isis at any cost, for eternal life and death were in her hands.  King Amannataki-lebte wore to his grave a particularly fine artistic rendering of the evolution of thousands of years of religious and magical mythology.  Many amulets pertaining to the afterlife are combined in one all-powerful Isis amulet, wrought of gold and embodying enough mystical force to send this southern king safely on his way to his eternal reward.

In the CLVIIIth Chapter of the Book of the Dead, it calls for a collar of gold to be placed on the neck of the deceased on the day of the funeral.  Its purpose is intended to give the dead power to free himself from his swathings.  This practice dates from the XXVIth Dynasty.

In one hand Isis holds a Papyrus Scepter symbolizing vigor and renewal of youth also to be placed on the neck on the day of the funeral.  Beginning in the XXVIth Dynasty the Papyrus Scepter also represents Isis who derives it from her father, the husband of Renenet, the goddess of abundant harvest.

In her other hand Isis holds an Ankh, the symbol of life.  She also wears a crown that looks a little like Osiris enthroned as he is often seen when judging the dead.

Isis is herself portrayed in the form of a bird.  According to legend, when Isis found the dead body of her husband, Osiris, she hovered over it in the form of a bird, making air by the beating of her wings, and sending forth light from the sheen of her feathers, ultimately calling him back to life with words of power.

Thus this one amulet is the collar of gold, the Papyrus Scepter, the Ankh, Osiris enthroned, and most important the now dominant amulet, Isis, shown wings beating, and with the sheen of gold feathers sending forth life for the dead king.  By 550 B.C., Isis is emerging as the dominant goddess of the Egyptian Pantheon, a position she holds through Persian, Greek, and Roman conquest, until finally overshadowed by Christianity.

It was a bit of a risk, submitting such a report, but I received an "A."  The professor even asked me to consider becoming an art historian.

Some years later, window shopping at Farmer's Market in Los Angeles, my wife, Judy, discovered this Isis pectoral in a display case — not the original, but a museum replica.  Whimsically, certain I could never afford it, I asked the price.

I tell this tale, so you might understand my great respect for that long ago unknown who so brilliantly synthesized so many magical elements to create this golden masterpiece.  In my own way, I have attempted to do something similar in MORNINGSTONE, a fusion of many mysteries, a hero's journey for the 21st Century, storytelling in music and for film, meant, ultimately, to be  experienced in time like an unfolding dream — or nightmare.