DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3720#0056
40 DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE EGYPTIANS.
singular was the wig; which offered gradations as marked as
from that of a judge to the bobwig of later times, It was worn
by every gentleman; and though it might appear ill-suited to a
hot climate, the interlaced texture of the ground to which the
hair was fastened, and the protection of this last against the
sun, rendered it a most effective, and at the same time the
coolest, kind of covering for the head. He was not obliged to
have a wig of one particular shape, nor always to wear it; and
a priest frequently performed his religious duties with the head
uncovered. Some people wore close-fitting caps; .and the
lower orders often worked with bare heads; which being a
custom from their youth, was supposed by Herodotus to account
for the hardness of their skulls—a peculiarity very fortunately
inherited by their successors, who have many a blow to test it
from a tyrannical master. All the Egyptians shaved the head
and face, and indeed the whole body; but the same apparent
contrariety, which made them place a covering.of hair on their
shaved head, suggested a false beard; not like the full scrub-
bery that plants out half the features at the present day, but a
conventional twist, whose length and shape depended on the
quality of the wearer,—a god's beard being turned up at the
end, a king's square, and that of a person of less rank being a
short square block. Though the beard seems to have been
confined to certain occasions, connected with religious and
funeral rites, it was not so with the wig, which might be worn
at all times; but women had their own long plaited hair;
and a boy, being a sort of neutral animal (like a young woman
in German), was permitted to leave a lock or two of hair, to
denote his non-arrival at manhood.
Their linen was often of a beautiful texture; and an Egyptian
gentleman prided himself on the texture of the dress he wore.
He was particular about the transparent fineness of his outer
singular was the wig; which offered gradations as marked as
from that of a judge to the bobwig of later times, It was worn
by every gentleman; and though it might appear ill-suited to a
hot climate, the interlaced texture of the ground to which the
hair was fastened, and the protection of this last against the
sun, rendered it a most effective, and at the same time the
coolest, kind of covering for the head. He was not obliged to
have a wig of one particular shape, nor always to wear it; and
a priest frequently performed his religious duties with the head
uncovered. Some people wore close-fitting caps; .and the
lower orders often worked with bare heads; which being a
custom from their youth, was supposed by Herodotus to account
for the hardness of their skulls—a peculiarity very fortunately
inherited by their successors, who have many a blow to test it
from a tyrannical master. All the Egyptians shaved the head
and face, and indeed the whole body; but the same apparent
contrariety, which made them place a covering.of hair on their
shaved head, suggested a false beard; not like the full scrub-
bery that plants out half the features at the present day, but a
conventional twist, whose length and shape depended on the
quality of the wearer,—a god's beard being turned up at the
end, a king's square, and that of a person of less rank being a
short square block. Though the beard seems to have been
confined to certain occasions, connected with religious and
funeral rites, it was not so with the wig, which might be worn
at all times; but women had their own long plaited hair;
and a boy, being a sort of neutral animal (like a young woman
in German), was permitted to leave a lock or two of hair, to
denote his non-arrival at manhood.
Their linen was often of a beautiful texture; and an Egyptian
gentleman prided himself on the texture of the dress he wore.
He was particular about the transparent fineness of his outer