Egypt has a beautiful history of hair styling. Appearance, looks, beauty, and hair were significant aspects of ancient Egyptian times, as seen in the creative and beautiful ways that ancient Egyptians did their hair. Hair grows, has different textures, shades and thicknesses; sometimes hair changes colour during its life, and sometimes becomes sparse or falls out completely. In short, head hair seems to have an intrinsic personality that distinguishes it from body hair and nails. It is therefore natural that people have conferred on it a separate status, a vitality, or even an autonomous power.
Note: Please keep in mind that ancient Egypt encompassed a rich and varied culture that evolved over thousands of years. It’s almost always the case that every religion in world history advocates for their practitioners to be clean both on the inside and the outside. Therefore, it is not improbable that the ancient Egyptians shaved their heads because it helped keep them free from lice. It probably did not take too long for the first ancient Egyptian settlers to figure out that having a clean shaved head did the world of good in the hot climate they found themselves in.
Ancient Egyptian culture held hair in very high regard as it represented one’s individuality.
Statues in Karnak Temple, Luxor, showing various hairstyles and headdresses typical of ancient Egypt.
Hair and Social Status
The higher the social status of an ancient Egyptian, the more intricate and elaborate their clothing, hairstyle, and wigs became. Therefore, not everyone shaved their hair. It kind of depended on one’s gender, social class and age. Wealthy Egyptians often shaved their heads and wore wigs made of human hair or more elaborate headdresses, demonstrating their social standing and affluence. Such wigs, skilfully made of human hair, which was a valuable commodity in the Egyptian barter economy, could only have been afforded by the wealthy and acted as a visual signal of the social status of their owner.
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In general, wigs in Ancient Egypt were almost entirely confined to the elite due to their price. Wigs allowed them to change hairstyles frequently and maintain a fashionable appearance.
Men of all classes wore their hair short or had shaven heads but elite men also wore elaborate wigs.
Wigs in Detail
The nicest wigs were made from human hair. These were also the most expensive. Wigs were part of daily life in ancient Egypt. Both men and women could wear wigs. Children did not wear wigs. Instead, girls either braided their hair or wore pigtails, and boys often sported shaved heads. Slaves and servants were prohibited by law from wearing wigs.
Most wigs were colored deep black. Queen Nefertiti, however, bucked both of these trends and had a fondness for dark blue wigs, which she made famous.There were countless ways to adorn these valuable hairpieces. First, wigs could be curled and braided. Bangs extensions could be added. Women’s wigs became even larger and bulkier, and decorations became hugely popular, including beads and ribbons, and fancy caps. As a testament to how well these wigs were made, many have survived until this day. That’s how we’ve been able to learn so much about them.
Given that wigs could often be quite large and thick, the hairpieces could have acted as sun hats. Wigs were worn on special occasions and religious ceremonies. To cover thinning hair, even back then, people were concerned about hair loss.
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Hair first had to be collected. It was extremely valuable, and people probably bartered or sold their hair to wig-makers in exchange for goods. Once a wig maker had the required amount, they first cleaned the hair of any lice eggs. After cleaning the hair, it was separated into various lengths. After creating the basic wig, styles would be applied such as braids and curls.
Ready made wigs were made in factories, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of wig factories. Barbers also made wigs, and so did women.
Canopic Jar with a Lid in the Shape of a Royal Woman's Head, ca.1349-1336 B.C.
Hairstyles for Women
Women in ancient Egypt's Middle Kingdom kept short hair, but this faded away, and long, curly, and plaited hair became more popular. Speaking of gender, women, for example, did not shave their head as often as men. It was very much common for women in ancient Egypt to have long hair, with young girls preferring to have some kind of ponytail style. Their hair was usually worked into multiple narrow plaited, twisted or crimped tresses. Styles favoured by women included a thick shoulder-length bob in the early period, followed by a tripartite style, where three separate sections of hair were arranged down the back and in front of the shoulders, and a voluminous style, which covered most of the upper body.
The women with high status used wigs and adorned their hair with beautiful Egyptian jewelry. This adornment varied according to the occasion and could include flowers, gold strands, beads, ribbons, and more. People experiencing poverty didn't have the money to pay for expensive and good-looking hair ornaments. As a result, they used to decorate their hair with amulets of fish, hair rings, or clasps.
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Elite women and female household servants were distinguished by “long hair falling below the shoulders, often to breast level.” Women wore their own hair long, even beneath wigs, and are shown with short hair mainly in devotional contexts. Women marked other life stages by changing hairstyles or wigs.
Hairstyles for Men
Men in ancient Egypt kept their hair completely shaved or cut off in most cases. The ordinary men adopted this style, whereas the kings and those with high status had long and elaborate wigs.
False Beards of Pharaohs
The beards worn by pharaohs were known as “osirids” and were crafted from precious materials such as gold or silver. They were exclusive to the pharaoh, and its usage was mandatory during ceremonial occasions. The tradition of donning the false beard dates back to one of the oldest customs observed in ancient Egypt. The beard that ancient Egyptian pharaohs wore are called false beard. The term for them are “osirids”, a word that obviously stems from the ancient Egyptian god Osiris, the deity of vegetation, rebirth and afterlife. It’s important to note that Egyptian pharaohs were believed by their people as the human embodiment of the gods, often times the falcon-headed god Horus.
Crafted from materials such as gold or silver, the false beard (i.e. postiche) symbolized the pharaohs dominion and power in the land. It, along with ancient Egyptian symbols such as the ankh (i.e. These false beards were typically worn during festive occasions and grand gatherings. While the pharaoh was alive, the beard was straight, but upon their death, it was transformed into a curly style. Again, this transition symbolized the pharaoh’s elevation to a divine status - i.e. The false beard, contrary to its name, resembled more of a goatee rather than a full beard.
Khafre Enthroned statue - a funerary statue of Old Kingdom pharaoh Khafre made from diorite.
Although most Egyptian men were clean-shaven, they sometimes adopted a trim moustache, a short beard complete with side whiskers and moustache, or a small goatee-style beard.
Ancient Egyptian Afro Wigs
Hair and Religion
Considering the fact that ancient Egyptians absolutely loved and feared the numerous gods and goddesses in the pantheon, priests in the land were extremely powerful. Next to the pharaoh, ancient Egyptian priests were almost like the mouthpieces of the gods. As a result, you would only defy them if you wanted to your soul to be consumed by the fierce underworld creature Ammit. Just ask Pharaoh Akhenaten (also known as Amenhotep IV) how much hit his name and legacy took when he decided to go against the very powerful priests in Thebes.
For starters, ancient Egyptian priests were required to frequently shave off all the hair on their bodies. As stated above, it was believed that being clean shaven symbolized cleanliness. Remember how we said in the earlier point that being clean shaven symbolized cleanliness, which in turn was a trait liked by the ancient Egyptian deities? Like many other ancient civilizations, ancient Egypt did not so much distinguish between political power from religious power. both the political and religious institutions in ancient Egypt.
Artist's sketch: Walk in the Garden; limestone; New Kingdom, 18th dynasty, c. 1335 BC.
Children's Hairstyles
Ancient Egyptian kids were expected to cut off or shave their heads other than an S-shaped lock. This lock was considered the "lock of youth," and it was cut off when children reached puberty. When it came to children, their hair was shaved leaving just a single lock (i.e. the “Lock of Youth”) on the right-hand side.
Wrongly called the ‘lock of childhood’ when it can also be worn by teenagers, this ‘sidelock of youth’ does not correspond to an Egyptian term, although the word uperet is the closest designation. It refers to the characteristic hairstyles of Egyptian children during the New Kingdom, who are customarily depicted with a shaved head, leaving just one mid-length or short sidelock. Since many adolescents have been depicted in the iconography with this sidelock on a head almost entirely shaved, or with hairstyles that appear to be wigs, it is difficult to persist in asserting, as some Egyptologists have, that the onset of puberty coincided in all cases with the complete shaving of the head.
Ancient texts are silent on the subject, and as skeletons and mummies of children have been found with short hair, it is hard to hold to the theory. Although it is impossible to estimate the age at which the lock was cut, it was not a mere formality, but a ritual that protected the child from many sorts of dangers - natural and supernatural.
Hair as a Source of Power
In ancient times, the belief that hair was a source of power existed in multiple societies and has persisted to this day, particularly with the use of hair in black magic rites. The story of Samson springs to mind. He was betrayed by Delilah, who shaved his head after the hero told her that the secret of his Herculean strength was linked to his hair. In ancient Egypt, hair was considered a source of vitality and therefore of power. The Egyptians gave hair a great deal of attention, using ointments and rituals to prevent it from falling out, becoming grey or white, while some tried to make it thicker.
Hair had the power to protect an individual - especially children and the deceased, the beings most vulnerable to attacks by invisible entities - or conversely to defeat enemies if used against them. Even today, black magic practices or voodoo rituals use hair to reach the person to whom it belongs. In this context, we can understand why the cutting of a hairlock of a young Egyptian was a true rite of passage, meaning that the child had officially crossed the threshold of dangers threatening the youngest.
Hair Offerings
Many burials have included hair offerings, often in the form of braided locks, sometimes wrapped in cloth, sometimes in the form of wigs. The oldest date back to the Predynastic Period (c.4500-2900 BC) and were unearthed in Mostagedda, Abydos, and Naga el-Deir. Evidence of this practice can still be found in Roman times, for example in Hawara.
This custom was practised by all layers of society, and the royal sphere was no exception: hair offerings were discovered in the tomb of Ahmes-Meritamun, Great Royal Wife to her brother Amenhotep I, and in the tomb of an anonymous princess buried in the Valley of the Queens.
While this burial custom has been observed many times at all periods throughout Egypt, evidence of its use in child burials has remained marginal since, to date, only one such case has been noted in excavation reports. This related to a lock of hair discovered in the tomb of a child aged about one year, buried in Lahun during the Middle Kingdom.
The nature and therefore the value of these hair offerings is difficult to establish with certainty in the absence of any ancient written record on the subject. Émile Amélineau, excavating at Abydos, interpreted these deposits as offerings to the deceased, since the hair he discovered did not belong to the deceased individuals.
Relatives may have deposited one or more locks of their own hair in the grave so that the deceased would use its power, from the afterlife, to watch over them. In the absence of textual evidence, it is difficult to speculate further on the value given to these hair deposits.
Finally, mention should be made of the discovery of human hair inside plaques and balls of clay. Some were discovered in Upper Egypt, in the Valley of the Queens; others in Middle Egypt, at Tell el-Amarna, the city of Pharaoh Akhenaten; and others in Lower Egypt, at Lahun. Egyptologist Jean Leclant suggested that these are artefacts related to the ritual protection of the deceased.
Hair was seen as a powerful source of benevolent magical power for the living and for the reborn spirits of the dead in the afterlife, who needed the same protection. But it was considered an effective means of weakening, fighting or destroying a person or a supernatural entity as well.
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