The Ordway new era., 1917-11-09


up their compleNions when courts were
held along the Nile OF the middle king
. lomS.
In the monthly Bulletin OF the Mu-
scum, Miss Carlandt has described the
clothes of fashionable society OF the
Egypt OF long ago Her descriptions
were taken from exhibits in the mu-
scum. Depicting the costumes of the
Old Kingdom, 29S0-2i15 Il. c., she
says:
Sheathlike Garment
The conventional sheathlike gar
ment worn by all women was of plain
unplaited stuff. that hung from the
| breast to the ankles so scant that II
clung to the figure and clearly showed
the form, fastened by straps over one
or both shoulders or merely held up by
belt. 1t was often pure white, but
sometimes II had narrow selvage
around the top, fringe on the bottom.
and braces that were parti-colored. In
the tomb OF Ptahhetep at Sahkara
there is a scene Of offering-bearers rep
resenting estates, where the dresses
are alternately red and dark green.
| These women, according to custom,
were adorned with necklaces, brace
lets and anklets Of blue and green
beads.
Aside from white. green seems to
have been the color most worn. al
though We do find in reliefs red and
yellow dresses as well. The fashions
for women were simpler and less VA
ried than those for men, with slight de-
viations from the conventional attire.
such as short skirt worn at times by
servants. The attire of dancing girls
varied from the regular long costume
to a short skirt. or in the later period
| to girdle of brightly colored beads.
Most women wore wigs or dressed
| their own hair long. II fell to the
shoulders or to the waist in the back
| in a large mass. with Il side-lock hang
ing on either side of the face. Some
| times a colored ribbon was tied around
the brow like fillet. and often = cir
cIet of real flowers was worn
I'VE know that cosmetics and oint-
ments were used by both men and
women. and In this connection II is In
teresting TO note a statuette in the first
| Egyptian room. the eyes Of which are
outlined with green band. Green
| malachite was used for this. whether
| purely for adornment or for medicinal
reasons We do not know. and rouge
and black paint were also employed as
/ part Of the makeup.
Shows Diversity.
Dress in ancient Egypt as in ev-
| cry civilized country, shows diversity
/ according to the class or occupation OF
4 the individual and variety dependent
I upon the fashion of the day. The king
| and his courriers set the styles, which
were soon assumed by subordinate Of
! acials uatil they forced their superiors
to adopt new modes. The fiuctuatio ions
0. fashion would be difficult TO follow
although there WAS a steady tendency
( 70 elSbo-e ton and luxury but let u:
coasieer The most distinct changes IL
the Old kin-dc3 t29SO-2i75 &. C.) tn.
Middle Kingdom t216llTSs 3. O., ans
ttss Empire tl5ssp9i5 B. c.. ss showl
Il 0ur Egyptian galleries
In he tomb Of Perneb we hav
Kingdom Humble people were salts
eesd with s belt, tied around the wais
vita the ends hanging down in from,
= skir1 Of linen. fastened Ioosel
sro7oe TIE ioins, or rarely they coz
tnTe5 rush mating Even these, q
oCes Eere laid aside, and the me
appeared nude when engaged in strer
ooZs exercise The offering-bearers /
the tozao chamber wore the short whit
, sEirt- The most common article {
ciothinz- Ii was a straight piece of whi,
Ensa Goth wrapped about their hir
IKE q kilt the ends being knotted
front o. being passed under a girdI
: AID sticking up above the waistline.
! Men in the Old Kingdom almost II
. TsrizbsJ clipped their hair close ar
!, sszred their faces, although up to Il
: Eth cynssty they sometimes wo
slight mustaches. but shepherds occ
sion2uJ allowed their hair to grow.
r-s1ou generally considered uuciea
The upper eiasses wore WIGS Of ty
!, ktDds-edfber short and ciose-fIttfu
With tight little euris In horixoot
Z rvu. OF long and bushy, parted in 4
nsddle ard falling well over ths 10,
den Ssch wfsS were probably M
: - sheeDfs ueoa. ed aetual spsesns
q Aase beD nsunA When = - viuN
: - aasnse - - eon11y, - a11Ie1
Z nee - - nee1no1 n6or ~
q ~