Mummy necklace Circa 600 B.C. Beaded Necklace Ancient Egypt

Ancient beads were worn by men and women. The most popular and extensively produced beads were made of faience, quartzite paste that was occassionally glazed and then baked. The paste was rolled around a string and the string was cut into sections for thin disc beads or longer tube beads. When the beads were baked, the string burned away, leaving the hole in the bead.

During the Late Period in Egypt, circa 1085 BC, faience beads were produced primarily for funerary use. Egyptians believed that to insure comfort in the netherworld, the deceased should be surrounded by items from daily life. Thousands of faience beads were buried with the mummy, sometimes having been woven into a shroud to cover the outer linen wrapping of the mummy.

The Egyptian word SHA meant luck, and SHA SHA became the word for bead, suggesting the beads could bring good luck. This faience mummy necklace is from the 26th Dynasty, circa 600 BC. This faience mummy bead necklace is from the same period, and is approximately 30" to 32" long. How's your SHA?

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