The Egypt Thread

[Witness]

More will be found…

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Beadnet dress
Egyptian
Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, reign of Khufu
2551–2528 B.C.

Depictions of women in Egyptian art occasionally feature garments decorated with an overall lozenge pattern. This design is believed to represent beadwork, which was either sewn onto a linen dress or worked into a separate net worn over the linen. This beadnet dress is the earliest surviving example of such a garment. It has been painstakingly reassembled from approximately seven thousand beads found in an undisturbed burial of a female contemporary of King Khufu. Although their string had disintegrated, a few beads still lay in their original pattern on and around the mummy, permitting an accurate reconstruction. The color of the beads has faded, but the beadnet was originally blue and blue green in imitation of lapis lazuli and turquoise.

Findspot: Egypt, Giza, Tomb G 7440 Z
Medium/Technique Faience
Dimensions Overall: 44 x 113cm (17 5/16 x 44 1/2in.)
Mount: 139.7 x 31.8 x 17.8 cm (55 x 12 1/2 x 7 in.)

Provenance From Giza, tomb G 7440 Z. 1927: excavated by the Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; 1927: assigned to the MFA by the government of Egypt.
(Accession Date: May 27, 1987)

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/146531


Modern reference (?):

NSFW:

(But the Egyptian bead dress was presumably worn over a light linen dress. )

[Hotarubi]

(But the Egyptian bead dress was presumably worn over a light linen dress. )

That's remarkably astute of you considering it says exactly that in the paragraph just above.

[Doctor X]

How did they walk?

– J.D.