Found in Giza 100 years ago, an Egyptian dress made of 7,000 beads belonged to a woman from the time of Khufu and impresses with the details preserved after millennia.

Written by Romário Pereira de Carvalho

Published on 11/04/2026 at 21:02

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Found in Giza, the beaded dress with about 7 thousand pieces was reconstructed and is considered the oldest example of this Egyptian style

Archaeologists found in 1927, in Giza, the beaded dress of a woman from the time of Pharaoh Khufu. The piece from ancient Egypt, recreated from about 7 thousand beads, is considered the oldest known example of this style.

Found in Giza

The dress was discovered in the tomb of a woman who lived during the Old Kingdom, in the same period as Khufu.

The linen cord that held the beads together had disintegrated over time.

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How the piece was made

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston preserves this dress and other examples of beaded nets. The making involved threads of linen and faience, a glazed pottery produced with ground quartz.

Before firing, the faience paste was mixed with copper. This process gave the beads shades of blue and turquoise, creating an effect similar to semi-precious stones like lapis lazuli and turquoise.

Shape and use of the dress

The piece has a medium length, a skirt in a diamond pattern, and a high-waisted bodice. The beads appear organized in vertical threads, while the neckline features concentric circles formed by beads.

At the hem, the dress displays a fringe of beads and seashells. The net was likely worn over a linen tunic or sewn directly onto it, rather than worn in isolation.

The Egyptian faience beads are delicate. Therefore, there is a possibility that the piece was reserved for special occasions or specifically made for the funeral of that woman.

Funeral value in ancient Egypt

Tom Hardwick, an Egyptologist at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, states that the colors blue and green may refer to the Nile River and the renewal of spring.

In ancient Egypt, both were associated with rebirth after death.

The dress is treated as the oldest known example of this style. There are about twenty similar pieces in museums around the world, and two have been reconstructed by MFA Boston, in addition to another recreated by the Petrie Museum.

When recreating the example from the Petrie Museum, Janet Johnstone concluded that the piece was too heavy for everyday use.

In the New Kingdom, between 1550 BC and 1070 BC, this type of dress lost ground to simpler nets used in funerals.

With information from Adventures in History.

Found in Giza 100 years ago, an Egyptian dress made of 7,000 beads belonged to a woman from the time of Khufu and impresses with the details preserved after millennia.