Young Brunette Girl On The Bed With Curtains

History
The Ancient World
Early beds (8000 BC) were little more than piles of straw or some other natural material (e.g. a heap of palm leaves). An important change was raising them off the ground, to avoid draughts, dirt, and pests. Beds found in a preserved village in northern Scotland which were raised boxes made of stone and likely topped with comfortable fillers, were dated to between 3200 BC and 2200 BC. Given the increased cost though, it was only available to the wealthy. The Egyptians had high bedsteads which were ascended by steps, with bolsters or pillows, and curtains to hang round. The elite of Egyptian society such as its pharaohs and queens even had beds made of wood, sometimes gilded. Often there was a head-rest as well, semi-cylindrical and made of stone, wood or metal. Ancient Assyrians, Medes and Persians had beds of a similar kind, and frequently decorated their furniture with inlays or appliqués of metal, mother-of-pearl and ivory.
The oldest account of a bed is probably that of Odysseus: a charpoy woven of rope, plays a role in the Odyssey. A similar bed can be seen at the St Fagans National History Museum in Wales. Odysseus also gives an account of how he crafted the nuptial bed for himself and Penelope, out of an ancient, huge olive tree trunk that used to grow on the spot before the bridal chamber was built. His detailed description finally persuades the doubting Penelope that the shipwrecked, aged man is indeed her long-lost husband. Homer also mentions the inlaying of the woodwork of beds with gold, silver and ivory. The Greek bed had a wooden frame, with a board at the head and bands of hide laced across, upon which skins were placed. At a later period the bedstead was often veneered with expensive woods; sometimes it was of solid ivory veneered with tortoise-shell and with silver feet; often it was of bronze. The pillows and coverings also became more costly and beautiful; the most celebrated places for their manufacture were Miletus, Corinth and Carthage. Folding beds, too, appear in the vase paintings.