Raised wooden bed with rope-woven base
Cama elevada con armazón de madera y somier de cuerdas
- Date
- c. 2600 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Giza, Egypt
- Credited to
- Old Kingdom Egyptian carpenters
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A wooden bed on legs with a frame and a base of woven cords or strips, joined with tenons. The bed of Queen Hetepheres (Giza, c. 2600 BC) has a headboard and footboard and a slight slope.
Raised beds occur in other ancient cultures and no priority has been established; Hetepheres' bed is chosen as the oldest well-dated example.
What it led to
- sleeping off the ground, away from cold and pests
- joinery for luxury furniture
- spread of the rope-sprung bed across the Mediterranean and Near East