Walk like an Egyptian

I saw this sarcophagus at a museum exhibit and I absolutely love it. It belonged to the Egyptian prince Pa-seba-khai-en-ipet who paid a pretty penny before his death to have his coffin painted. It was created somewhere between 1075-945 B.C.E. and made from wood pinned together with pegs, plastered over and gessoed. Depicting various deities and aspects of the afterlife the colorful images give a really great insight into Egyptian aesthetic.




Because I was at the exhibit with the intent of learning about Egyptian fashion, I was very excited to examine this artifact. The images below show two women wearing gorgeous patterned dresses. It is possible that this is an open-work beaded dress on top of a typical linen wrap dress.

 


Some other things I noticed about the images were the shape of the clothing (very form fitting) and the difference between our modern idea of modesty and the ancient Egyptians. For example, some of the images depict women with their chests uncovered. The accessories are also amazing, notice the patterned girdles, jewelry and shawls.