Bead Net Funerary Shroud

Description

The winged scarab beetle in the center of this beaded shroud invokes Khepri, the morning form of the sun god, whom ancient Egyptians depicted as a dung beetle. Just as the sun is born anew each dawn, Egyptians planned to be reborn into a new form of existence after death. As symbols of this renewal, scarab amulets were secured to the body with linen wrappings or incorporated into nets made of beads and laid over a mummified body. The image’s power is strengthened by the hieroglyphic meaning of the scarab shape, “to come into existence.”

Provenance

Reverend Chauncey Murch (1859-1907), Luxor, Egypt; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1894; price reimbursed by Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1894.

Bead Net Funerary Shroud

Ancient Egyptian

Late Period, Dynasty 26 (664-525 BCE)

Accession Number

128013

Medium

Faience beads on bast fiber (probably linen)

Dimensions

45.7 × 40 × 3.8 cm (18 × 15 3/4 × 1 1/2 in.)

Classification

beadwork

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson