She threw me on her hair, and her eyes caught me ... her necklace made me bend, and her ring was braiding me (Chester
Papyrus)
Most murals and even statues in ancient Egypt are always centered on the human body or on the head, as the head is an important axis that symbolizes the person in terms of its shape and what is worn from gold rings to sweeten the hair and the way it is styled, whether it is natural or wig
And hair often appears in different contexts, considering the method of its demobilization is symbolic of the identity of the entire person being the most striking part of the human body, which can be formed without pain in different patterns, to attract attention in terms of diversity in adjusting layoffs from time to time ...
- Did the various hairstyles in ancient Egypt have a specific purpose and implications to reflect the social status of a person, for example?
- Or did they have symbolic implications for society, according to the place of residence of the individual, whether in Lower Egypt or Upper Egypt?
- Or were they to express various historical periods as signs through which they express the same person and his position and the time period in which he lived, whether it was a period of rise and prosperity or the collapse and decay of the state?
The hairdressing and styling method is an integral part of the nature of ancient societies and cultures, especially in Egyptian society, and hairstyles were associated with identity. And gender, especially between upper and lower Egypt, in addition to hairdos that distinguish between males and females to define gender roles in terms of childhood and adulthood, and to define each age group
For example, moving from childhood to adulthood, or hairstyles and hairstyles for religious considerations. Some hair styles are linked to specific ritual activities.
And do not forget the foreign influence in some of the late periods on the hairstyles as a result of the expansion of the Egyptian state or interregional contact with neighboring countries and how the hairstyles became a means for the ruling elite and other upper classes of their social status and their interaction between people through unwritten social communication (depending on appearance)
To understand why certain hairstyles were created and used through social contexts, hairstyles and their implications must be studied from an early date in family history, and the political, social and time context of that period must also be taken into account.
In this early period in the history of families, social changes were very rapid in forming and unifying the state, and this has an impact on the gender roles and the method that was used by each sex in the transfer of social relations based on the theory of social development about the changes that occurred in society, social status, relationships, people's roles, and the way In which the body is used and photographed, all of which helps illuminate the role of poetry in ancient Egyptian society through society, not through institutions.
The study of hairdos in the first place is based on the person himself and his social relations in communicating with others through appearance, either by means of natural hair or wigs (wigs) made through vegetable fibers that were used in ancient Egyptian wigs
A wig dating back to 1800 - 1700 BC was found inside a manufacturing workshop, and four vases of alabaster and a bag containing a wig were found in different stages of its manufacture: (tufts of hair, strings, rings along with five hairpins and two Flint knives), and in another container there were pieces of linen, leather straps, beads, etc.)
Through hair care, especially in the ruling class and noble classes, there were hairdressers and they had special titles that distinguished them, which is evidenced by some views of hairdressers and the high level of their close contact with the king or at least the ruling house, and focus mainly on tools used in hairdressing and hairdressing From combs, pennies, rings, etc. to keep hair, and more than that, put it in the graves next to the deceased
Also, the murals through the chronology recorded different hairstyles that differ from period to time in terms of the artistic representation of natural hair or wigs through different hairstyles, as well as the different hairdos of Egyptians from their neighbors, all of which gave a more complete picture of the role of hair and hairdos in identifying the identity of people The full and social or religious role that he plays through hairstyles for men and women, braids and tapes used to tie hair at the end and hair-holding rings or wigs made of human hair or animal wool, especially in the modern country where the hair is placed in the social context Consciousness and how poetry was an integral part of self-building in ancient Egypt .. However, all the interpretations of the murals focus on artistic or temporal interpretation and away from the interpretation of customs and hairstyles and their patterns, even though they reflect the result of social actions to describe joy in parties or to express mourning and sadness In funerary rituals, it is an integral part of Egyptian social life
To understand the importance of different hairstyles in ancient Egypt, it is necessary to understand the social and political composition and customs over time and space, there must be an approach to change in archeology, and Egyptian archeology is no exception, in order for the image to complete with the explanation of the murals, it is necessary to study the social and political composition Habits, interactions and appearance through the scene, the way the body is used, its depiction, and what it wants to convey to us. All the scenes of the murals are speaking scenes that speak for themselves, but what we lack is more realistic interpretation. Hair styles and their role in the murals reflect the stages of development a Social by controlling and dominating the customs of one region over another or transferring power from its families in the north to the south or vice versa through the procedures and the way in which some governments have acted on how to merge the two distinct cultures in Egypt, and at the same time creating a strong social condition for society in Lower Egypt with its customs Upper Egypt is in Upper Egypt with its customs. Rather, it was more than a development. Rather, it is "cultural unification", which embodies a bilateral opposition between Upper and Lower Egypt customs.
Moreover, at the beginning of unification, the Egyptians in the north did not accept the culture and customs of the Egyptians in Upper Egypt, and archaeological sources during this period indicate a gradual change that took control of both Upper and Lower Egypt once and the state was formed and Egypt moved from a community based on groups to one community Ruled by a divine king and officials, the elite lived in more detailed homes, wore clothes, jewelry, and wigs to distinguish them and the luxuries of comfort than the middle and lower classes, yet the various regions of Egypt maintained their own character, all of this helped shape the shape of the state, as well as laying the foundations of infrastructure For the bureaucrat Foreign relations with neighboring countries, especially Nubia and the Levant, as well as the authority of the king and the privacy of the surrounding class of nobles and ministers have been expressed, and their right to give loyal followers the right to wear what distinguishes them, although there were strict rules on permissible hair styles, it allowed hair Long wigs and hairstyles for some men, while women wear triple braid wigs on the sides and back and other long hairstyles
With the transfer of rule from Thebes to the Fayoum region under the rule of the twelfth dynasty kings who established a new capital in Lasht after the fall of the old state and the state of chaos in the first intermediate period, there was a need for new blood from the kings, and to give legitimacy to their rule, this was done by various means, including portraying themselves As the natural heirs of the glories of the ancient state, drawing on the ancient hair styles of the ancient state, this helped to link the ruling with a group of great kings who built the pyramids, and thus evoked the social and collective memory of the ancient state
Nevertheless, there were new developments in hairdressing during this period, especially in the hairstyle of Hathor, who is very visible on the statue of the great royal wife of King Senusret II, Queen Nefert II, in the Egyptian Museum.
Thus the situation in the Egyptian society was a big difference in hairstyles between the social classes, but even with this wide gap there were differences in the hairdressing of the hair indicating age, gender and rank by classifying and interpreting what constitutes their social and material environments, especially relationships with other individuals and groups, it has The symbolism of poetry helped define these boundaries that could be used as a measure to indicate that these changes are not only to define the foundations of periods of Egyptian history, but also to define age groups, gender, and classes and to define Egyptians in general from others.
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