The intimate format of this two-dimensional pendant suggests that it was worn on the body as a talisman. Such personal embellishments were crafted to respond to the specific needs of a patron. Concerns ranged from help with conceiving children to gaining political influence. The pendant’s cost was proportionate to the scale of the owner’s request and the complexity of the metal casting. Associated with power and prestige, horses were present in the southern Sahara by the first millennium B.C.E. Bred in the region by the fourteenth century, horses continued to be imported in large numbers, and at great expense, from northern Africa and Bilad al-Sham (the eastern Mediterranean) Provenance: Loed van Bussel, Amsterdam 1994