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Pendant with Solar Symbols

Neues Museum

Pendant with Solar Symbols

Material: Bronze
Date: 16th–9th century BCE
Culture/Origin: Central Europe — finds from Bonyhád (Hungary), Berlin-Spindlersfeld (Germany), Mantlach (Bavaria, Germany), and Saint-Denis (France)

Small, circular bronze pendants bearing solar motifs, characteristic of Late Bronze Age religious symbolism in Central Europe. The pendants feature incised and embossed designs, including crosses, concentric circles, and dotted patterns, representing the sun’s rays and cycles. Each disc has a small perforation near the edge, indicating that it was likely worn as an amulet, pendant, or decorative fitting.

Such symbols reflect the widespread solar cult of the Bronze Age, in which the sun was worshiped as a life-giving deity whose daily journey across the sky embodied cosmic order and renewal. The circular form and radiant patterns echo the sun’s shape and movement, embodying protection, fertility, and divine power.

Museum label number: 2 — Anhänger mit Sonnensymbolen / Pendant with Solar Symbols

2 Pendant with solar symbols Bronze 16th–9th century BCE Bonyhád, Tolna County (H); Berlin-Spindlersfeld; Mantlach, Bavaria (D); St. Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis Department (F) A sun deity was depicted in the form of discs or wheel crosses.

Supplementary images:

Pendant with Solar Symbols, Bronze | 16th-9th century BC | Central Europe - finds from Bonyhad (Hungary)
Taken on  Tuesday 06th of August 2019
Device: Google
Model: Pixel 3 XL
Source:  Berlin, Germany
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