EGYPTIAN
MUMMY FAIENCE
BEADS
circa 700 BC
10 pieces
provided pictures show ten beads of obverse and reverse
2-4 mm each
PRIVATE
ANCIENT ART COLLECTION
SOUTH FLORIDA ESTATE SALE
( Please, check out other ancient art items we have available for sale)
An interesting lot of ten small Egyptian mummy faience beads. These beads come with free display case, easel and attribution label attached. A great way to display an ancient collection! You are welcome to ask any questions prior buying or bidding. We can ship it anywhere within continental U.S. for a flat rate of 7.50$. It includes shipping, delivery confirmation and packaging material.
Egyptian Mummy Beads
The earliest Ancient Egyptian mummies were created naturally due to the environment in which they were buried. In the era prior to 3500 BCE, Egyptians buried the dead in pit graves, without regard to social status. Pit graves were often shallow. This characteristic allowed for the hot, dry sand of the desert to dehydrate the bodies, leading to natural mummification.
The natural preservation of the dead had a profound effect on Ancient Egyptian religion. Deliberate mummification became an integral part of the rituals for the dead beginning as early as the 2nd dynasty (about 3400 BCE). Egyptians saw the preservation of the body after death as an important step to living well in the afterlife. As Egypt gained more prosperity, burial practices became a status symbol for the wealthy as well. This cultural hierarchy lead to the creation elaborate tombs, and more sophisticated methods of embalming.
External video Arte romano-egizia, mummia di herakleides, 50-100, 02.JPG
By the 4th dynasty (about 2600 BCE) Egyptian embalmers began to achieve "true mummification" through a process of evisceration, followed by preserving the body in various minerals and oils. Much of this early experimentation with mummification in Egypt is unknown. The few documents that directly describe the mummification process date to the Greco-Roman period. The majority of the papyri that have survived only describe the ceremonial rituals involved in embalming, not the actual surgical processes involved. A text known as The Ritual of Embalming does describe some of the practical logistics of embalming, however, there are only two known copies and each is incomplete.
Another text that describes the processes being used in latter periods is Herodotus' Histories. Written in Book 2 of the Histories is one of the most detailed descriptions of the Egyptian mummification process, including the mention of using natron in order to dehydrate corpses for preservation. However, these descriptions are short and fairly vague, leaving scholars to infer the majority of the techniques that were used by studying mummies that have been unearthed.
By utilizing current advancements in technology, scientists have been able to uncover a plethora of new information about the techniques used in mummification. A series of CT scans performed on a 2,400 year old mummy in 2008 revealed a tool that was left inside the cranial cavity of the skull. The tool was a rod, made of an organic material, that was used to break apart the brain to allow it to drain out of the nose. This discovery helped to dispel the claim within Herodotus' works that the rod had been a hook made of iron. Earlier experimentation in 1994 by researchers Bob Brier and Ronald Wade supported these findings. While attempting to replicate Egyptian mummification, Brier and Wade discovered that removal of the brain was much easier when the brain was liquefied and allowed to drain with the help of gravity, as opposed to trying to pull the organ out piece-by-piece with a hook.
Through various methods of study over many decades, modern Egyptologists now have an accurate understanding of how mummification was achieved in Ancient Egypt. The first and most important step was to halt the process of decomposition, by removing the internal organs and washing out the body with a mix of spices and palm wine. The only organ left behind was the heart, as tradition held the heart was the seat of thought and feeling and would therefore still be needed in the afterlife. After cleansing, the body was then dried out with natron inside the empty body cavity as well as outside on the skin. The internal organs were also dried and either sealed in individual jars, or wrapped to be replaced within the body. This process typically took forty days.
After dehydration, the mummy was wrapped in many layers of linen cloth. Within the layers, Egyptian priests placed small amulets to guard the decedent from evil. Once the mummy was completely wrapped, it was coated in a resin in order to keep the threat of moist air away. Resin was also applied to the coffin in order to seal it. The mummy was then sealed within its tomb, alongside the worldly goods that were believed to help aid it in the afterlife.