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.
