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Bead Net

Third Intermediate Period–Late Period
ca. 945–525 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 130
Beginning in Dynasty 25, faience beads of brilliant blue were strung together into nets and sewn onto the outer wrappings of the mummies of elite individuals. Additional beads in different colors were often worked into the netting, as is the case here: a broad collar has been added to the top, where the garment lay over the mummy's neck; over the breast is a winged scarab to protect the heart; and on the abdomen are the four "canopic" genii who guarded the viscera.

Bead nets were thought to enhance the resemblance of the mummy to the god Osiris, ruler of the dead, who is often shown wearing this type of garment. The blue color evokes the sky, embodied by the goddess Nut, who protected the deceased. Turquoise, often cited in funerary texts as the material from which the sun was made, also linked the mummy with the solar cycle.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bead Net
  • Period: Third Intermediate Period–Late Period
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 22-26
  • Date: ca. 945–525 BCE
  • Geography: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Tomb MMA 57, just inside entrance to chamber, MMA excavations, 1923–24
  • Medium: Faience
  • Dimensions: L. 110 cm (43 5/16 in.); W. 30 cm (11 13/16 in.)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1925
  • Object Number: 25.3.211
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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