Phot. Jarosław Dąbrowski/PCMA
In ancient Egypt, beaded necklaces were worn by both men and women. Depending on the owner’s wealth, the beads could have been made of bone, faience, semi-precious stones, or gold. Sometimes cheaper versions of gold beads were made out of other materials wrapped in golden foil. Displayed is a necklace of made of bone beads from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw; the photograph shows a necklace of bone beads covered with thin golden foil, recovered from the tomb of an anonymous 6th Dynasty official at Saqqara. In the tomb of Merefnebef, a scene on the south wall depicts dwarfs stringing a necklace, while the vizier himself is shown wearing various necklaces in several other scenes.