Why do mummies wear dresses

Cite this Article Format. Gill, N. Women's Clothing in the Ancient World. Medieval Clothing by Region and Period. Ancient Egyptian Cuisine and Food Habits. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for ThoughtCo.

At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Noblewoman Elaborate gown; jewellery; plaited wig, hair ornaments and scented cone. Drawings by John Ide T he Royal Image C lothing W hen royalty, gods and goddesses were portrayed in statues, temple carvings and wall paintings, it was the beauty and self-confidence of the subject that was conveyed.

Egyptian artistic conventions idealized the proportions of the body. Men are shown with broad shoulders, slim bodies, and muscular arms and legs; and women have small waists, flat stomachs and rounded busts. Both wear elegant clothing and jewellery, and stand tall with their heads held high.

Their stately appearance commands the respect of all who gaze upon their portraits. I n the Old Kingdom, goddesses and elite women were portrayed wearing a sheath with broad shoulder straps. In the New Kingdom, they wore sheaths decorated with gold thread and colourful beadwork, and a type of sari; the sheath had only one thin strap.

These dresses were made of linen, and decorated with beautifully coloured patterns and beadwork. T he men wore knee-length shirts, loincloths or kilts made of linen. Leather loincloths were not uncommon, however. Their garments were sometimes decorated with gold thread and colourful beadwork. The priests , viziers and certain officials wore long white robes that had a strap over one shoulder, and sem-priests one of the ranks in the priesthood wore leopard skins over their robes.

H airstyles T he Egyptian elite hired hairdressers and took great care of their hair. Hair was washed and scented, and sometimes lightened with henna. Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tempera on paper facsimile by Charles K. Pair statue of Ptahkhenuwy and his wife , Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, ca.

Painted limestone; h: Findspot: Egypt, Giza, tomb G Mummy of Inamonnefnebu , - BCE. Faience; cm. Leiden: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Arts and Humanities Through the Eras notes that beadnet dresses seem to have been more popular in the Old and Middle Kingdoms:. Two archaeological examples date to the Old Kingdom.

The beads are cylinders of blue or green faience threaded into a diamond pattern. In the artistic evidence the bead-net dresses are worn over a wraparound dress. In art the bead-net dresses are fairly common in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, but decline in number during the New Kingdom.

Ready-to-wear dress , Fall Model: Margot Milani. Source: Vogue. Couture dress , Fall Model: Dauphine McKee. Custom crystal dress for Solange , November As they applied new layers, the embalmers coated the linen with hot resin material to glue the bandages in place. During this entire process, the embalmers uttered spells and laid protective amulets on the body for protection in the next world , wrapping them up at different layers. After the mummy was fully wrapped, the embalmers attached a rigid cartonnage cage to the body and affixed a funerary mask to the head.

This new face, which was either a likeness of the deceased or a representation of an Egyptian god, played an important role in the passage to the afterlife.

It helped the spirit of the deceased find the correct body among the many Egyptian tombs. When the mummy was completed, it was housed in a suhet , a coffin decorated to look like a person. The suhet was brought to the tomb in a procession of mourners. At the tomb, the priest, dressed as the jackal god Anubis , performed the "ceremony of the mouth," a ritual in which sacred objects were touched to the suhet's face, giving the deceased the powers of speech, sight , touch, hearing and taste in the next world.

The suhet was then leaned against the wall inside the tomb, where it was sealed up with all the food, furniture and supplies that the deceased would need in the next world. The best preserved bodies are from the middle period of Egyptian mummification.

In later years, Egypt was flooded with outsiders who also wanted to be mummified in the traditional way. With this high demand, and the desire to bring in some money, the Egyptian embalmers began to pay more attention to the mummy's outer appearance than its inner preservation.