Beaded jewels for the afterlife : A preliminary report on sets from the tomb of the dignitary Nefer (AS 68d)
Abstract
Faience beads in the form of jewels, which decorated the bodies of the deceased, represent a regular constituent of the burial equipment of officials, priests and their families in the Old Kingdom period. While most tombs were robbed already in ancient times, beaded jewels were often disregarded by the robbers.
Despite the fact that the context had been disturbed and the threading material usually decomposed, the beads still allow us to get an idea of the appearance of the original jewels. The odds improve further if an intact burial is discovered.
Such situation has occurred twice in the case of the rock-cut tomb of the dignitary Nefer. During the archaeological seasons in the years 2012-2014, two of the four shafts uncovered were found intact (AS 68d, Shafts 3 and 4).
The three sets of beaded jewels which were found in Nefer's tomb belonged to a man, woman and a child, providing an opportunity for a remarkable comparative material study. The potential of these finds consists not only in their state of preservation, but also in the variability of their owners that will enable us to compare the burial practices used for individual members of a high-ranking family who lived in the second part of the Old Kingdom period.