Journal Number 2

Today we will be talking about the Egyptian and Mesopotamian Clothing!

Egypt Clothing

All the finds that we know of the clothing from Egypt came from their artwork and engraving.  Clothing in ancient Egypt consisted of mostly linens fabrics, from canvas like materials to filmy, translucent sheers. They used fibre of the stalk of flax plant to creates linens. The drapery was from the waist down and sometimes draped over the shoulder for women. Nudity was very common in Egypt and often the poor had less clothing. Egyptians loved to decorated themselves and a jewelry was a big part of this. The jewelry was made of stones and metal, gold, sliver copper and semi-precious gems like amethyst, cornelian, jasper, onyx, and quartz crystal. They also decorated themselves with tattoos, necklaces, anklets, bracelets, and elaborate head dress. The rich and power had simple or figure of serpents on their headdress to symbol their status. Cleanness was a big deal in ancient Egypt, they would shave their heads and face with the exception of a man’s mustache or goatee. They created wigs to help keep the body cleans and used perfume balls and oils to keep up hygiene. Most of what they worn was to help with the hot climate and keep the status of cleanliness. They wore the light ropes and shaved to stay cool and wigs to gain insulation from the sun.

Mesopotamian Clothing 

A lot of the clothing we saw in Egypt is seen in many other cultures throughout history, including the Mesopotamians. However, there are some larger differences. A lot of the information we have from the Mesopotamian era is studying from their statues. Mesopotamian clothing was mostly made of wool and decorated with feathers, petals, or tufts of fabric. They wore the upper torso bear and used pins to hold up the fabrics. Men wrapped themselves in skirts and women worm long ropes called Launkas. Their clothing was made out of local materials and it was easy to remove and add lavers, adjusting for the weather. We see the same passion for decoration. They used lots of leaves and jewelry as well. Jewelry was made from thin gold metal leaf set with brightly-colored stones. They had necklaces, headdress and helmets for soldiers. Fancy jewelry and ropes were also a sign of wealth. Throughout the progression of time we see elaborated necklaces and headdresses as well as beautiful beaded dresses. We also see the development in women’s clothing of cross the materials around their breasts and behind the back to make a pinned up v-neck or a pinned-up dress from neck to ankles. From the sculptures, we see men had both shaved heads and long hair and beards as well as shaved faces women often had shorter hairstyles than the men or wore their hair in long elaborately- entwined braids or wrapped up in fabric. The nobility and priest hood were the top, and we see shaved faces or nudity for the priests.