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Announcer: This is a Getty

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podcast.

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Host: Do you ever feel like
something is watching you?

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Could it be something
you’re wearing?

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Today, we hear from a
gold bracelet that is

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thousands of years old
and shaped like a snake.

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Welcome to If Objects Could
Talk, a podcast where art

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and artifacts get to leave
the museum vault and tell

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their side of the story.

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Thanks for joining us as we
bring objects into the light!

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Today’s snake bracelet was
discovered in Egypt and was

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made between 100 BCE and 100 CE.

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Can you imagine what it
must have been like there?

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Take a moment to feel the sun
on your skin, listen to the

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Nile, and watch people from
different cultures exchanging

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goods in the marketplace.

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Now picture this: A golden
snake with two glass eyes and

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a textured surface to mimic the
look of a snake’s scaly skin.

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In its glory days, it was worn
on the wrist or upper arm.

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While we don’t know anything
about the maker, we are so

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lucky that the bracelet isn’t
shy at all and agreed to

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share a little about herself.

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Here she comes now:

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Snake: Oh my goodness, can
it be any brighter in here?

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I mean, it’s fine, I’m just,
you know, I’m used to the vault

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being a cool, dark environment.

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Actually, can we turn the
lights down just a tad?

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Oh thank you, that’s
better, much better.

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And I feel a little far
from the microphone.

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Is there any way someone could
help me s-s-s-slither a little

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closer so I can properly spin
a story for the children?

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Oh, thank you.

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If I’m going to tell you all
about myself, I should at least

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be comfortable, don’t you think?

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Now where should I begin?

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I suppose I should begin in
the fire where I came alive.

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I

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was once a small
nugget of solid gold.

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But I was heated and turned
into hot, liquid gold.

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I remember cooling down and
found myself in a new shape.

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Then I was hammered and
stretched into another

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shape, and then my end was
coiled to form my tail.

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They twisted me into big
loops like, what’s that

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thing you snack on nowadays?

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With the salt and its bread and
you have it with yellow sauce?

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You know?

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Vendor Voice: Pretzels!

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Get your pretzels here!

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Snake: A pretzel.

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Yes!

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They twisted and coiled
me like a pretzel.

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And then the goldsmith
embossed my surface, giving

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me the texture of scales.

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He shaped my face,
giving me my smile.

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Then he gently inserted
my glass eyes and POOF!

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I was myself...a golden snake
bracelet of the highest quality.

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And I know what you’re
thinking about me:

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I’m a talking golden
snake bracelet, I must

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be sneaky or something
like that, but I’m not.

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People get the wrong
idea about snakes.

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What would you do if you
saw a snake right now?

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Scream?

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Run?

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Cry out to the gods to strike
it from your presence?!

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But in my time, snakes were
considered very special.

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It was believed we moved between
earth and the underworld.

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We were feared but also admired.

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And wearing the likeness
of one was like wearing

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a talisman or amulet.

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I was a protector!

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You see, I was born in
Egypt, which at that time

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was part of the Roman Empire.

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And when you think of
the Roman Empire you

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probably think of roads and
aqueducts and backstabbers!

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But when I think of the Roman
Empire, I think of the parties.

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Oh,

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the parties!

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The food!

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The wine!

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The music!

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The people!

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Everything is divine at a party.

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The gods walked among us on
those nights, I’m sure of it!

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Who would want to be left
out of the hottest gatherings

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in the Mediterranean.

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I’ll never forget
my first party!

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That’s where I met her.

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My Maxima!

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She was the daughter of a
wealthy, Roman merchant.

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You see, he moved to
Egypt in order to better

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oversee his stone quarries.

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You know, there was
plenty of money to be

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made in trading granite.

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Anyhoo, he had two daughters:
a really annoying one whose

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name I can’t remember for the
life of me...and my Maxima.

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I was her Saturnalia gift.

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Child: What’s Saturnalia?

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Snake: You don’t
celebrate Saturnalia?

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Oh that’s too bad,
you would love it.

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Saturnalia was a week-long
winter festival timed to

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celebrate the winter solstice,
the promise of a bountiful

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spring harvest and to honor
the god of wealth, time,

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and agriculture: Saturn.

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There was feasting,
partying, relaxing

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and REPEAT!

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Saturnalia was all about
ease, even social norms

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and rules were lightened.

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For instance, gambling was
illegal, but during Saturnalia

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a little bet didn’t hurt anyone.

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Dress codes were also loosened
which was disappointing because

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fashion is very important.

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People also exchanged
gifts, which is how I

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bring this back to me!

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Maxima wore me on her arm,
a symbol of her wealth, her

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status and her father’s favor.

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Maxima loved me, I matched
her golden earrings

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and necklace perfectly.

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She had such beautiful things.

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When she wore me for the
first time, my golden body

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coiling around her upper arm.

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I was warm again.

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The first time since I was
a hot pool of liquid gold.

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Maxima’s skin was balmy from
dancing being alive and loved

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on that perfect December night.

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Candles were lit to make
sure the festivities would

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not extinguish in the dark.

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In the candlelight, Maxima and
her friends and family dined

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on boar, root vegetables,
fresh fruits, nuts, and cakes.

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They played games, wore silly
hats, and talked about how

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they should stay up all night
long and take the party to the

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streets with song and dance!

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They took eating, drinking and
being merry very seriously.

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I was only supposed to be
worn for special occasions

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like Saturnalia and birthdays
but she seemed to always get

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her way, so life became a
special occasion and I was

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always coiled around her upper
arm, witnessing everything.

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There isn’t enough papyrus in
the world for me to have written

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down all the wonders I’ve seen.

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But this is nice...having
a brief record of

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my side of things.

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And since I’ll be around
forever, maybe I’ll share

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another story another time.

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For now I must rest
so that I can dream of

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parties by the Nile.

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Will you dream of it with me?

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Host: I

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hope you enjoyed learning
about jewelry and Saturnalia!

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Join us next time when
an ancient kind of dice

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tumbles into the studio.

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To see photographs of the
snake bracelet and learn

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more, visit our website at
Getty dot edu slash podcasts.

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This episode was written
by Tocarra Elise and

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produced by Zoe Goldman.

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Yolanda Spearman
voiced the snake.

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Theme music, mixing and sound
design by Alexandra Kalinowski.

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Christopher Sprinkle
is executive producer.

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Special thanks to curators
Ken Lapatin and Judith Barr,

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conservator Susanne Gaensicke,
and educator Lilit Sadoyan

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as well as Ethan Marshall.

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Catch you next time!