Cartouche Jewelry Pendant

Translate your name into ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs on this beautiful personalized handmade cartouche jewelry pendant. The pendant will be custom made, by hand, in the ancient bazaar of Khan el-Khalili in the heart of Cairo. Each cartouche is stamped, often in two places, with the Egyptian government’s hallmark certifying the gold or silver content.

Each pendant is made by hand from start to finish. The cartouche is nothing more than the elongated shape of the circular sign “shen”, which was most probably the symbol of the solar disk. It was exclusively used for the name of the king, protecting him and functioning almost as a magical barrier.

In modern times, cartouche jewelry often includes personalized engravings of names or initials within the cartouche design. These pieces can be found in various forms such as pendants, necklaces, bracelets, or rings. They are popular as unique and meaningful gifts or as a way to connect with ancient Egyptian culture.

In ancient Egypt, amulets in the form of cartouches had the same function: used both for the living and for the deceased, they ensured their eternal protection. It was used in ancient Egypt to enclose the hieroglyphs representing the name of a pharaoh or a deity.

A cartouche is the nameplate or seal that was used by ancient Egyptian royalty as a powerful amulet of protection for all eternity. The oval shape is encircled by a rope, tied in a knot at the bottom, and symbolized ‘all that the sun encompasses’.

Detail from from the decoration on the golden throne, in wood, gold leaf, silver, glass gems and precious stones, discovered in the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) whose name is here given as Tutankhaten – a relic from the time before the worship of Amun was restored and the king changed his name.

The earliest examples of cartouches date back to the 2nd Dynasty of Egypt. Their common usage started under king Sneferu during the 4th Dynasty. The ancient Egyptian word for cartouche was shenu.

Personalized Cartouche Jewelry

The hieroglyphic language dates back to 3000 BC, and remained in use until 400 AD. It was a complex system of symbols, some of which represented sounds (phonetic) and others represented ideas. Of the many phonetic symbols, approximately 30 represented sounds close to English.

Hieroglyphs are always read from top to bottom. But sometimes you start on the left side and sometimes on the right. The animals, birds or people used in hieroglyphic language.

Fun fact: When Napoleon was in Egypt in the 1800’s the French soldiers thought that the shenu symbol looked like a paper powder cartridge, and referred to them as ‘cartouches’ the french word for cartridges.

— Personalized Cartouche Jewelry, available in gold and sterling silver (#aff)