Carrying chair of Queen Hetepheres
Silla de manos de la reina Hetepheres
- Date
- c. 2550 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Giza Necropolis, Giza, Egypt
- Credited to
- Court of Khufu (4th Dynasty)
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A gold-plated wooden chair with carrying poles found in the tomb of Hetepheres I, mother of Khufu, together with her bed, canopy and other furniture. It is the oldest archaeological example of the sedan chair, the human-powered transport of persons of rank.
The chair was reconstructed by George Reisner from wooden remains found in 1925; the poles and its use as a carrying chair are a reasoned reconstruction rather than a complete object.
What it led to
- sedan chairs and litters as elite transport in Egypt, Asia and Rome
- the trade of bearers in the service of the court