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

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.

This beadnet dress is the earliest surviving example of the style, according to MFA Boston. Only about two dozen beadnet dresses exist in museums around the world. Two have been reconstructed at MFA Boston, and one has been reconstructed at the Petrie Museum at University College London. When ancient Egyptian clothing specialist Janet Johnstone, a clothing consultant who specializes in the interpretation and construction of ancient Egyptian clothing, reconstructed the Petrie Museum beadnet dress, she discovered that it was far too heavy to be worn regularly. (For anyone who wants to test their own beadnet sewing skills, Johnstone has provided a basic DIY guide.)

In the New Kingdom period (1550 to 1070 B.C.), the beadnet dress appears to have gone out of fashion while simpler beaded nets rose in popularity as grave goods. These “bead cloaks” have been found on top of New Kingdom mummies, revealing that beaded accessories remained an important part of ancient Egyptian funeral rituals for centuries.

For more stunning archaeological discoveries, check out our Astonishing Artifacts archives.