The ordinary objects of our daily lives – from where we sit and eat to where we store things – have a long and complicated history. From basic to ornamental, furniture construction has grown exponentially over the centuries as tool usage, particularly with the development of metallurgy, progressed, and designs became increasingly elaborate and decorative.
The Oldest Known Piece of Furniture: Neolithic Stone Architecture at Skara Brae
The oldest intact piece of furniture is from neither Egypt nor from Anatolia, the seat of early Copper Age civilizations, but from a place maybe more unexpected – Scotland. Skara Brae is a Neolithic settlement on the Orkney Islands of northern Scotland. Inhabited around 3180-2500 BC, the stone construction of not only houses but also furniture shows some of the earliest deliberate furniture construction in existence. The village is interesting not only for its preservation, but also because evidence suggests the inhabitants may have departed suddenly, leaving both valuables and uneaten food behind. The site predates many other ancient structures, including the pyramids of Egypt and Stonehenge.
The Oldest Chairs: Egyptian Craftsmanship and Royal Tombs
The oldest surviving fully intact “normal” chair is the Chair of Reniseneb, an Egyptian scribe who lived during the reign of Thutmose III. Crafted around 1450 BC from carved ivory, ebony, and wood, it shows artistry in its construction. It has clawed feet and a hieroglyph-style depiction of Reniseneb on the back. The only part of the chair that degraded was the reed seating material. Another chair that came from ancient Egypt was the Armchair of Queen Hetepheres I, dating to around 2800 BC.
Queen Hetepheres I was the mother of the famous Pharaoh Khufu, who built the Great Pyramid. In her burial chamber were found two chairs – her armchair and her sedan chair on which she traveled. Both are the earliest known examples of chairs, but the wood had rotted away, leaving only the gold inlay and other fragments behind. The discovery of her tomb in 1925 led to meticulous excavation that allowed archaeologists to reproduce the furniture found inside, including an ancient bed.
The Oldest Bed: The Engineering Behind King Tut’s Folding Travel Frame
While there are some examples of beds in caves which are as old as humanity, the oldest constructed intact bed also comes from ancient Egypt. It was located in one of the most famous archaeological finds of all time – the tomb of the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun. “King Tut” ruled around 1330 BC, and the discovery of his tomb also revealed an ancient folding bed for traveling. The bed in his tomb may have been for his funeral rather than the one he usually used, and its ornateness displays both the wealth of the ancient kings of Egypt and their view of the afterlife.
The Oldest Table: Preserved Phrygian Woodwork from Gordion
While we know that tables were in use as far back as ancient Egypt, surprisingly few wooden examples exist from that time period. The oldest wooden table still in existence dates from much later, in another part of the world, and is associated with another famous ruler. A tomb of either Gordion (of whom the Gordion Knot was named) or his son Midas was unearthed in Gordion, Turkey, in what was the capital of the ancient, powerful kingdom of Phrygia. Dating from the 700s BC, it revealed several pieces of wooden furniture, rare in that part of the world due to an environment more conducive to deterioration.
