97-Mummy Bead Net with Winged Scarab and Amulets

In the Third Intermediate and Late Periods, bead nets were purely funerary and positioned on top of the mummy wrappings. Composed of faience beads, called tjehnet, meaning “dazzling” in ancient Egyptian, relates to luminosity and the sun.¹ Their blue-green hues symbolized heaven and water, Nut as the “Mistress of the Sky” and Hathor as the “Lady of Turquoise.”²

This bead net is composed of tubular turquoise, blue, and brown faience beads laid in a lattice pattern. Additional faience beads in hues of brown to light turquoise provide a frame. A winged scarab is sewn into the net. Three funerary genies are laid on the net. These deities protected the viscera and guaranteed the eternal survival of the deceased. The genies include the human-headed Imsety, who protected the liver; the jackal-headed Duamutef, who safeguarded the stomach; and the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef, who guarded the intestines. The winged scarab, composed of a beetle with bird wings, protected the heart, believed by the ancient Egyptians to be the seat of thought, memory, and emotion. The bead net’s material, color, and amulets played a protective and magical role in regenerating the deceased.³ The stringing of this bead net is a modern reconstruction using ancient faience beads and amulets.

MH

1. Friedman 1998, 15. ↩︎

2. Kaczmarczyk and Vandiver 2006, 57. ↩︎

3. Spizzichino 2022. ↩︎