A very nice Bactrian banded stone amulet of a tortoise, Afghanistan, c. 3rd - 2nd Millennium BC, with short legs and head, the horizontal banding in grey and creme colors. Each legs has been drilled with a shallow hole, perhaps to mount the amulet into some form of jewelry or ritual object? L: 28 mm (1 1/8 in), W: 21 mm (13/16 in), H: 15 mm (9/16 in). A rare and very attractive piece! Ex-East Coast private collection, acquired Aug. 1981; Ex-California Museum of Ancient Art, donated 1989. (0532).

The California Museum of Ancient Art was founded in 1983 to gather the first collection focusing exclusively on the Ancient Near East in Southern California. Representing the geographic regions of Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Levant from approximately 3500 BC to 500 AD, the museum's goal is to tell the stories of the peoples of the Ancient Near East and their cultures and to promote a better appreciation for the roots of Western Civilization. The museum aims to do this in a way that is both historically accurate and user friendly and, most importantly, meaningful to the general public. From the influential peoples of Sumer, Elam, Babylon, Assyria, Hittite Anatolia, Canaan, Philistia, Israel, Judah, and Egypt of the Pharaohs to the beginnings of Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity, the aim is to bring these ancient peoples to life—actively engaging visitors by allowing the museum's ancient artworks and written texts to tell their amazing stories.

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