Beaded Netting for a Mummy
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Object Label
Attached to a linen shroud, this type of bead net covered the mummy from just below the shoulders to the feet. It was once adorned with faience figures of a winged scarab and the Four Sons of Horus. Blue bead nets were believed to assure rebirth by linking the deceased to Osiris and the sky goddess Nut. These gods were often depicted wearing bead net garments that were in fashion during the Old Kingdom, almost two millennia earlier.
Caption
Beaded Netting for a Mummy, 760–656 B.C.E.. Faience, 13 x 1/4 x 59 1/16 in. (33 x 0.7 x 150 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1814E. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Gallery
Not on view
Title
Beaded Netting for a Mummy
Date
760–656 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 25
Period
Late Period
Geography
Reportedly from: Abusir, Egypt
Medium
Faience
Classification
Dimensions
13 x 1/4 x 59 1/16 in. (33 x 0.7 x 150 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
37.1814E
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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Frequent Art Questions
What is this?
That beaded netting was used to wrap mummies before putting them into the coffins. It would have added more symbolic decoration to the linen wrappings. The color blue held a lot of meaning especially connected with rebirth in Ancient Egypt.What is this?
That is called "beaded netting." It's basically a decoration for a mummy. It's made of blue glaze faience beads. The color blue was associated with rebirth and precious materials--like lapis and turquoise.Could you tell me how faience was made?
Faience is a man-made mixture of "ground quartz or quartz-sand held together by and alkaline binder. The bright and shiny surface seen on this figurine is a result of glazing. The glaze was made of a form of powdered glass mixed with a liquid and applied either with a brush or by dipping the entire figurine.It gets it's blue color from copper that is mixed into or applied to the surface of the quartz body before firing.Read about how Glass was a foreign import to Egypt and this information lead me to revisit the beaded netting. I see that these bugle beads are baked clay. I am a bead worker. I naturally thought that these were glass. It was only when I read about glass not being worked in Egypt that I identified and upon closer look see that this piece is baked. Awesomeness!
Yes! I do love the beaded netting too. Faience is a truly fascinating material! As you may have read it was meant to be draped over a mummy. It wasn't just random decoration though, the diamonds formed by the net of beads mimicked patterns on clothing the deceased would have worn in life.The travel of glass production techniques is really interesting too! It was first developed in the Near East (Mesopotamia), the Egyptians learned it from them. The Greeks learned from the Egyptians and the Romans learned from the Greeks!How did they make these beads?
These beads are made of faience, a versatile material that the ancient Egyptians used to make many different types objects. Faience is a quartz-based paste that could be molded into a variety of small forms and then fired. The paste is naturally sparkling white and to color these beads they applied a copper based glaze that was also fired.If you see some more matte faience objects, that color was applied by mixing the chemical pigments into the paste. The color rises to the surface in the kiln.Tell me more.
A net like this would have been draped over a mummified body placed in a coffin! The pattern is not unlike those the ancient Egyptians would wear in their lifetime and was actually meant to mimic the pattern of the dress.Blue beads were thought to assure successful rebirth into the afterlife by linking the deceased with Osiris, who was often depicted wearing bead net garments.This is a real mummy cover? Well part of it?
Yes! A net like this would have been draped over a mummified body placed in a coffin. The arrangement of the beads mimics the pattern of the cloak worn by the god Osiris, king of the afterlife.
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