| Introduction
Ancient Egyptians basically are the civilization
who embraced the Egyptian culture. However, they
never recognized the theory of race in the early
ages as it is used presently. Therefore, in ancient
times the way they incorporated themselves into
the Egyptian society was the basis of their recognition
as Egyptian civilization. However, with the development
and modernization of the Egyptian civilization,
the Egyptian civilization is now recognized as
the African civilization as ancient Egypt bestrides
two major regions of the continent, which are
Africa and Middle East.
On the other hand people belonging from different
races, color and cultural background as well as
ethnic groups migrated to Egypt therefore, it
is not possible to categorize the ancient Egyptians
as the “white” or the “blacks”
according to the racial distinction to recognize
a race as it is in the present era of modernization.
Therefore, in order to classify the physical appearance
of the ancient Egyptian civilization, one needs
to opt for an evidential study of the language,
cultural materials, and historical records as
well as the physical remains of this ancient civilization.
However, the bone structures and skulls are also
used as an evidence to study the DNA structure
and identify the ancient Egyptian civilization.
At the same time, the study shows that basically
the ancient civilization is dark, which we presently
known as black.
However, this paper will discuss briefly the
physical appearance of Egyptian civilization observing
the clothing and temperament towards fashion,
makeup and jewelry.
Physical Appearance
The African nation is a large family amongst
which The Egyptian civilization is included. Though
it is really difficult to trace back the physical
appearance of the Egyptian civilization as only
images of artwork is traced as the original historical
evidences. Since, the Egyptians are basically
related to the Nile Valley. Therefore, their physical
appearance reflects the culture and environment
of the Nile Valley. So their skin tones are darker
then the people related to the South and the Mediterranean
basin.
However, the physical appearance of any civilization
is generally determined by their clothing that
also differentiates among sex, hairstyle, life
style, make up, their temperament towards fashion
etc.
Clothing
Ancient Egyptians were very much concerned about
cleanliness and the social status of the Egyptians
was determined by this factor. A person who was
not neat and well groomed, he was considered to
be as an inferior class of the Egyptian society.
Women and men never dress until they wash themselves,
where the washing space for the rich people was
tiled while the poor people use to bath on the
riverside. After completing their shower, the
rich women use to massage themselves with perfumed
oil and then wore their cloths. Their clothing
style was unique as they use to place large rectangular
shape linen over their heads gathering loose corners
up and tying them into a knot below the chest.
However, both men and women wore linen, which
was lightweight and according to the hot climate
of Egypt. Though there was no gender discrimination
in the ancient Egyptian society, but the working
class, wealthy class and the royal classes were
the three basic classes that we observed due to
the different clothing style. Therefore, the wealthy
classes basically use to wear Kilts, which are
short skirts wrapped around their waist. They
also use to wear Knee length shirts and lion cloths.
Moreover, the wealthy men use to wear pleated
kilts while the older men use to wear kilts with
longer length. On the other hand the working class
men also wore kilts but the length was shorter
then the wealthier men. They also wore lion cloths
and usually were dressed in long shirts tied with
sash at the waist. However, men belonging to both
these classes use to wear lion cloths specifically
when heavy work was required.
Women on the other hand were also distinguished
into working class women and wealthy class women
according to their clothing and life style. Women
of the working class use to wear long gowns that
were tightly wrapped all over and sheaths, which
were fitted to them according to their figure.
On the other hand the children usually were found
naked running here and there specially in the
months of summer.
However, the Royal image of the ancient Egyptian
civilization is portrayed as a symbol of beauty
and self-confidence. The artistic evidences shows
that men were broad shouldered having slim bodies
with muscular arms and legs. Where women were
portrayed as delicate and sexy having flat stomachs,
small waist and rounded busts. However men and
women belonging to the Royal classes were portrayed
in elegant and decent clothing.
On the other hand the Priests use to dress more
carefully as they were suppose to be very neat
and pure to approach God Amun. Therefore, they
use to bath several times in a day and their body
hair was continuously removed to have a pure and
tidy look. At the same time, the Priests were
not allowed to wear leather sandals or woolen
cloths as they were considered to be unclean.
Moreover, the Priest used to wear a leopard robe
when they plan to serve the God. Though they use
to wear a wig but in many churches, priests were
also seen with out a wig.
Fashion and Jewelry
Though the Egyptian women enhanced there physical
appearance by applying different kinds of cosmetics
like face oils and body oils, various perfumes,
facial paints and eye make up was the common fashion
among the elite Egyptian women. The most interesting
thing about the ancient Egyptian civilization
is their keenness towards fashion. Both men and
women use to apply eye make up, which specifically
use to be black eye lining outlining the eyelids.
However, the material used for making make up
was usually mineral pigment. At the same time
Galena and malachite was grinded on some stone
and made powdered to produce eye shadows or paints.
Where ochre was used to make red color for lips.
On the other hand it was a common fashion to wear
cones, which were filled with melted fat and added
perfumes. In order to protect the skin they used
to apply a mixture of oil and fat with some perfume
in it. However, no example of cones is traced
in the historical evidences of ancient Egyptian
civilization.
Similarly both men and women were very active
in wearing different styles of jewelry. However,
there jewelry was mostly earrings, bracelets,
anklets, rings and necklaces made of beads. Since
the ancient Egyptian civilization was a very superstitious
civilization, they use to believe on luck and
luck stones. Therefore, their jewelry also contained
different kinds of minerals and stones.
Though jewelry was commonly wore by people belonging
from all the classes of the society but the elite
class use to wear rich jewelry. In fact the social
status was also classified by the jewelry style
adopted by these people. For instance, the elite
class use to wear mostly gold and silver bracelets,
rings, and necklace and even buckles, pins and
belts were also golden or silver. At the same
time stones were the most important element used
in their jewelry.
Nutrition and Diet
Though beer and grape wine was the common beverage
drunk by the ancient Egyptians but it was only
affordable by the wealthy and royal class of the
society to drink on a regular basis. At the same
time, a large variety of fruits and vegetables
were irrigated in various gardens so that all
people of the society can approach to a healthy
and nutritious diet easily. However, the Egyptians
also use to eat a very good variety of meat that
included fish, mutton, beef, pork and fowl that
also included domestic pigeons and a variety of
wild birds and geese. Therefore, they use to have
a diet full of nutrition, though the wealthy and
royal class regularly afforded this healthy and
nutritious diet while the poor people of the society
rarely enjoyed such nutritious and balanced diet
on regular basis.
Conclusion
The ancient Egyptian civilization is basically
the civilization of the black Africans, as the
hot climate and skin tones as well as the life
style is portrayed by the historical artwork.
However, the difference in the sexual characteristics
was concealed by the clothing style and the hairstyle.
At the same time the make up and fashion trends
also determined the sexual characteristics of
the ancient Egyptian civilization. Since these
people were very active towards fashion, make
up, jewelry and adopted a specific dress style
which was very trendy at that time, they also
focused on a fit figure with slim and smart bodies
as women use to have flat stomachs and men had
slim body with muscular arms. Therefore, they
usually followed a balanced diet program to maintain
the level of nutrition’s. At the same time
the nature of work helped them maintaining their
body shape as work made them do exercise. Similarly,
the different dressing style and clothing choices
among the different classes of the ancient Egyptian
society also indicates the health of a cultured
member of the society.
On the other hand, makeup was not only used by
women but also men use to apply eye makeup and
perfume though women used cosmetics which included
lip color, eye shades and face powder. The material,
which was used in making make up or shades was
extracted from the natural minerals and elements
while the powder and paste obtained from them
was known as paints at that time. This was used
as eyeshades and lip shade.
Therefore, the physical appearance of the ancient
Egyptian civilization was divided into various
standards, which were determined by the different
clothing styles among the working class, wealthy
class and the Royal class. Similarly the activities
towards fashion that includes both paints and
jewelry all together describe the various cultural
standard of the physical appearance of the ancient
Egyptian civilization.
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