It has often been maintained that the ancient Egyptians, like their modern descendants,
shaved their heads most carefully,
and wore artificial hair only. The following facts moreover are
incontrovertible: we meet with representations of many smoothly shaved heads on the monuments, there are wigs in
several museums,"
and the same person had his portrait taken sometimes with short, at other times
with long hair. Herodotos also expressly states of the Egyptians of his time that they shaved themselves
from their youth up,
and only let their hair grow as a sign of mourning. An unprejudiced observer will nevertheless
confess, when he studies the subject, that the question is not so simple as it seems at first sight. We
must therefore conclude that when a man is said to be shaven we are
as a rule to understand that the hair is only cut very short, and that those persons
alone were really shaven who are
represented so on the monuments, viz, the priests of the New Empire.
As a fact the monuments of the Old Empire show that short
hair (as seen in the accompanying
illustrations) was originally the fashion for all classes, for the shepherd and the boatman as well as
for the prince, and was even worn by those in court dress. At the same time the
great lords possessed also a more festive adornment for their heads in the shape
of great artificial coiffures. Amongst them we must distinguish two kinds of wigs,
the one made in imitation of short woolly hair, the other of long hair.
The former
consisted of a construction of little curls arranged in horizontal rows lapping
over each other like the tiles of a roof; as a rule very little of the forehead
was visible, and the ears were quite covered as well as the back of the neck. The
details vary in many particulars, though this description is correct as a whole.
The little curls are sometimes triangular, sometimes square ; the hair is sometimes
cut straight across the forehead, sometimes rounded ; in many instances the little
curls begin up on the crown of the head, in others high on the forehead ; other
differences also exist which can be ascribed only to the vagaries of fashion, It
strikes us as humorous that the people should ape this attire of their masters ;
in the earliest times the master alone and one or two of his household officials
wore this wig, but in the time of the 5 th dynasty we have many representations
of workmen, shepherds, or servants adorned with this once noble headdress. On the
other hand the second wig, that of long hair, seems never to have been displaced
from its exclusive position, although it was certainly a more splendid
head-dress than the stiff construction of little curls. In the long-haired wig the
hair fell thickly from the crown of the head to the shoulders, at the same time
forming a frame for the face ; while round the forehead, and also at the ends, the
hair was lightly waved. The individual tresses were sometimes twisted into spiral
plaits. Nevertheless, this marvel of the Egyptian wig-maker's art, with all the
variations which it admitted, did not content the dandy of the Old Empire ;
and he exerted himself to make his head-dress still more
imposing. A certain Shepsesre', who held the office of superintendent of the south
at the court of King 'Ess'e, must have been specially anxious to excel in this respect.
He caused four statues to be prepared for his tomb each representing him in a special
coiffure.
In two he wears the usual wigs, in the third his hair is long and flowing
like that of a woman, and in the fourth he wears a wig of little curls, which reaches
down to the middle of his back.^ The latter must have been an invention on the
part of the wig-maker, for it would be impossible ever to dress a man's natural
hair in such a wonderful manner. The same might be said of the wig which became
the ruling fashion under the 6th dynasty. This consisted of a senseless combination
of the two earlier forms ; the long-haired coiffure, the whole style of which is
only possible with long tresses, being divided, after the fashion of the other,
into rows of little curls, though its waving lines were retained.
Source: Adolf Erman, life in ancient Egypt.
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