Mummy's Wrap

During the Middle Kingdom, the evolution of coiled basketry begins to be more significant. Acquired in 1905 by the Knoniklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis in Belgium, is a basket pertaining to Antinoopolois. According to the information given, the materials used are rushes. The basket measures 7.5 centimeters in height and has a diameter of 34 centimeters. Much like the two baskets analyzed pertaining to the Old Kingdom, this basket shows the evenly spaced blanket stitch-like wrappings exposing the inner core material. The core, however, is tightly wrapped, unlike the second specimen from the Old Kingdom mentioned above. The execution of this basket seems to be nearly flawless, with most of the damage coming from age instead of poor workmanship. The rim of the basket has begun to fray, but shows the technique used to finish the coiling process. As was mentioned earlier, the core can be tapered to create a smooth finish to the rim of the basket, as it appears in this basket (Artifact E.0785.23).

From the Museo Arqueológico Nacional in Spain, comes a reed basket in the form of a bowl. It possesses a height of six centimeters and a diameter of 12 centimeters. The technique mentioned in the description is that it was plaited and twisted, however, upon examination, the basket appears to be coiled. Like the previous example, the core is tightly wrapped, with the core tapering at the end of the coiling. The difference lies in the wrapping technique. Gone is the blanket stitch, and in its place is a simple looping technique. The stitches that were in the previous example evenly spaced, now appear slightly chaotic and closer together (Artifact 16229).

Also from the Museo Arqueológico Nacional in Spain is another reed basket, this one with a conical bottom and a diameter of 13.7 centimeters. Like the previous example, the basketry techniques described by the museum include plaited and twisted with no mention of the coiled technique. This basket, upon examination, is clearly made with the coiling technique. The looped stitches are evenly spaced over the entire body of the basket, each stitch abutting or almost abutting its neighbor. This form of coiling lends a smooth surface to the basket (Artifact 16230).

A number of baskets pertaining to the Middle Kingdom are housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One basket is made of grasses and pertains to the 11^th Dynasty, Thebes. The basket measures seven centimeters in height, 7.5 centimeters in diameter. The lid is 8.5 centimeters in diameter. The wrappings are very fine, tightly abutting each other and are dyed red and black. Braided handles and loops stem from both the body of the basket and the lid, possibly to secure the lid for transportation (Artifact 31.3.51a, b).

A plain palm leaf basket and lid set is also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection, pertaining to the Memphis region and dating to either the 12^th or 13^th Dynasties. This basketry appears to have a chevron pattern manipulated through the wrappings being threaded through their counterparts in the previous coils. The lid is larger than the basket and no threads or braids are evident to keep the lid in place (Artifact 33.1.37a, b).

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That's a Wrap!

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This entry was posted by Page Strong on Wednesday, March 30th, 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.