Mummy's Wrap

Of the many underappreciated technologies of the ancient Egyptians, basketry is probably the most overlooked and ignored. This utility ware was ultimately functional for the ancient Egyptians, but could also be a source of beauty and so the subsequent ignorance of basketry in the realm of Egyptology is disheartening. Very few people have taken up the study of basketry to really analyze the technologies, materials and art surrounding them.

Only so much can be written about a general overview of basketry. Willeke Wendrich’s The World According to Basketry (Wendrich, 1999), studies the ancient basketry types and how they were made by comparing the processes used by modern basket makers in the same areas as the ancient baskets were discovered. The result of this ethno-archaeological study was the realization that basketry has changed little from ancient times through today. However, Wendrich’s book also appears to be the definitive book on basketry typologies. To write further on this subject would be superfluous. Instead, this paper will focus on one basketry type, in this case coiled basketry, and how much or little it changed through the history of ancient Egypt.

To begin a discussion of basketry, one must first define basketry. A basket, according to Merriam-Webster, is either “a receptacle made of interwoven material,” or “any various lightweight usually wood containers” (“Basket,” 2010). Basketry is defined as “the art or craft of making baskets or objects woven like baskets” (“Basketry,” 2010). While the definitions of basket and basketry are integral to the understanding of what basketry ultimately is, relying only on textbook definitions is problematic as they only tell the basics of any story. Indeed, this definition allows us to understand what basketry means to the modern person, but not what it meant to the ancient Egyptian. A study of the baskets used by the ancient Egyptians may lend clues as to the role basketry played in the everyday life of the ancient Egyptians, though for the purposes of this paper, this question will not be answered at great length.

Many baskets have been preserved in museums, allowing scientists to not only classify the baskets, but to look closer at the techniques used in the making of the baskets (Wendrich, 1991;1). When discovered in archaeological context, baskets are often, perhaps not completely ignored, but certainly not paid their due attention. Archaeologists are often unconcerned with basketry, doing little save mentioning its presence unless a basketry specialist is there to save the artwork from a lacking and ultimately disappointing description (Wendrich, 1991;1). As there are few basketry specialists, the descriptions of basketry left behind by archaeologists in charge of excavations past are often sketchy at best (Wendrich, 1999;1).

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That's a Wrap!

Tags: Ancient Egypt, ancient egypt basket, ancient egypt basketry, ancient egypt baskets, ancient egyptian basket, ancient egyptian basketry, ancient egyptian baskets, basket, basketry, basketry through time, basketry weaving, baskets, changes in basketry

This entry was posted by Page Strong on Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 at 09:30 and is filed under Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Basketry, Egyptology, Every Day Life, Everyday Life, Science/Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.