Beadnet dress: A 4,500-year-old ancient Egyptian funeral 'gown' that was in vogue during the Old Kingdom

By Kristina Killgrove published 6 hours ago

This rare example of an ancient Egyptian beaded dress was likely crafted specifically for a woman's funeral.



This ancient Egyptian beadnet dress was fashionable back when the pyramids were built. (Image credit: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Public Domain))

Archaeologists discovered this beaded ensemble in the Old Kingdom tomb of a female contemporary of King Khufu in Giza in 1927. The linen string holding the 7,000 beads together had disintegrated, but based on where the beads were found and how this type of dress has been depicted in ancient Egyptian art, experts have been able to reconstruct the intricate garment.

According to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which has this dress and several other examples of beadnet objects in its collection, the net was made from linen string and faience — a glazed ceramic made from finely crushed quartz. In this case, before firing, the faience paste was mixed with copper, which turned the beads blue and blue-green to mimic the semiprecious stones lapis lazuli and turquoise.

The midi-length beadnet features a diamond-patterned skirt and an empire-waist bodice made with rows of vertically strung faience beads. The dress is topped with a neckline of beads in concentric circles, and the bottom features a beaded fringe of mitre shells (sea snails). The completed beadwork net was likely draped over a linen dress or sewn directly onto it, rather than worn by itself.

Since Egyptian faience beads are quite fragile, the dress may have been worn only on special occasions, or it might have been made specifically for the woman's funeral, according to Tom Hardwick, an Egyptologist at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The blue and green on the dress may symbolize the Nile River and springtime, both of which were tied to the Egyptian idea of resurrection in the afterlife, according to Hardwick.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-egyptians/beadnet-dress-a-4-500-year-old-ancient-egyptian-funeral-gown-that-was-in-vogue-during-the-old-kingdom



color co-ordinated undergarment