Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-03-05
PHARAOH'S DAUGHTERS
They Had Many Luxuries Women Enjoy To-
day, and Some Others.
The Great Variety Of Toilet Articles
and Jewelry Among the
AncienlS.

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The excavations and explorations of Ne
routsos Bey, Brougsch Pasha, and, more
recently. of DR.. Morgan and Flinders Pet
RE, have thrown so much light upon ancient
Egyptian society that we now know more
about the toilet, wardrobe and daily habits
Of the princess who found Moses in the
bullrushes than We do of the early queens
OF England or France. Strangely enough,
the difference between the ladies' of that
early period and of today seems to have
been less in social matters than between
those of the court of Queen Elizabeth and
today. An Egyptian lady of quality had a
suite of at least three rooms for her own
use. One, a boudoir or reception room, a
second a bath or dressing room and third
bed room She had dressing maid, an
assistant maid or fan bearer, bath maid,
SeamStress and a manicure. The manicure
seems to have been a chiropodist as WELL
because the bellies of that period used
sandals and bare feet, and not only be-
slowed the greatest care upon the toe nails
but in many cases put rings the toes
and magnificent anklets around the ankles
They took the same care of their hands and
their nails as the women of today, and for
ornament employed rings, thumb rings
bracelets and armletS.
The hair was dressed in many conyen-
tional forms, and there were fashions in
those years which slowly changed, the
same as there are at the present time.
There were mirrors made of FURNISHED sill
yer. gold, copper and brass There were
hair brushes, but these were not as good
as modern ones. Their combs, however,
were far more beautiful. They were made
Of bronze, silver and gold. and were often
5eweled. In shape there was considera BILE
variety: the working combs ranged from a
fine-tooth article. smaller than the regula-
ton affair of today, up to large, coarse
ones, similar. to what are called BARRIERS
combs.
For people not so well to do there were
combs of ivory horn, bone and wood. There
were pieces Of hair like our frizzes, bangs
and switches; there were plumpers over
which the hair was rolled; there were orna-
mental combs of various kinds, ranging
from the horseshoe shape, such as little
girls wear nowadays, to high shell combs
employed in the back part of the hair
There were hairpins, which must have been
quite costly. The cheapest were made of
bronze or brass, while all others were Of
silver or gold. Many of these pins were
stickpins with ornamental heads, the latter
being made of the precious metals, Of
enamel. carving, precious stones and semi
precious stones. such as jade, cats-eye, fire
stone, carnelian and coral.
On the dressing table there was powder
both blonde and brunette, rouge polishing
powder for the nails and teeth, antimony
for darkening the eyebrows, another prep
aration for making the eyes lustrous
scarlet paint or dye for staining the lips,
tweeZers for removing superfuous hair
scissors, needles, bodkins. thimbles, work.
baskets, Jewel cases, and there was even
powder puff which had pretty silver
handle, and was made Of the downy plum
age Of birds.
In the bath room there was hot and cold
water, tooth brush, nail brush, hand brush
and flesh brush, and there were also curious
little creations in wood intended for rub
bling the body, producing results of the
same nature as those obtained by massage
treatment. The height of luxury was OBJ
tained by an Egyptian princess in taking
bath a5 hot as she possibly could, while
immersed to the neck in water. having her
attendants fan her with great palm-leaf
fans.
Sho loved flowers, and had jars full Of
choice blossoms in all of her rooms as
well as pots of growing plants. She had
many favorites in the animal kingdom, in
Guiding song birds. parrots, falcons, owls,
birds OF brilliant plumage. monkeys kids
lambs, leopards, wild cats, ordinary tab
bies terriers. big dogs, donkeys and even
tiger cubs. She went to church with great
regularity, but, instead of spending an
hour or two, spent seldom less than half a
day at each service.