Ancient Egyptian garments: clothing materials, production, articles of dress, laundering, footwear
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Pleated kalasiris Late New Kingdom Source: Karl Köhler: A History of Costume 
Draped dressNew Kingdom Source: Boston Museum Bulletin No.354 |
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Garments
Clothing materialsThe Egyptian climate with its hot summers and mild winters favoured light clothing made from plant fibers, predominantly linen and in Roman times occasionally cotton, an import from India [15]. Wool was used to a lesser extent [16], and seldom by Egyptians proper.Small amounts of silk were traded to the eastern Mediterranean possibly as early as the second half of the second millennium BCE and traces of silk have been found in Egyptian tombs [2]. Animal skins, above all leopard skins, were sometimes worn by priests and by pharaohs in their role as first servants of the god. Such outfits were found in Tutankhamen's tomb and were depicted quite frequently on the walls of tombs. At times kings and queens wore decorative ceremonial clothing adorned with feathers. Production
The manufacture of clothes was mostly women's work. It was generally done at home, but there were workshops run by noblemen or other men of means. By beating and combing the flax plants were turned into fibers, which could be spun into thread.
Model of weaving women at a horizontal loom, excerpt The tools such as knives and needles changed over the centuries. Blades were made from stone during the Neolithic, then from copper, from bronze during the Middle Kingdom and finally from iron, though flint knives, which had sharper edges than iron ones, continued to be used to an ever decreasing extent until Roman times. Needles were fashioned from wood, bone and metal. The Egyptians succeeded in making eyes in millimetre thick copper needles. Scissors came into general use late in Egypt's history though the principle was known since the second millennium BCE. |
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Articles of dressThey wear tunics made of linen with fringes hanging about the legs, called "calasiris", and loose white woollen cloaks over these.
The clothes were generally made of linen and kept simple: a short loincloth resembling a kilt for men, a dress with straps for women. These basic garments with minor variations accounting for social status and wealth did not change much through Egypt's history. The length of the the kilts varied, being short during the the Old Kingdom and reaching the calf in the Middle Kingdom, when it was often supplemented with a sleeveless shirt or a long robe. The cloth, which was sometimes pleated, was wrapped round the waist and held in place by a belt. Very little sewing was done. Tutankhamen's tomb yielded many pieces of clothing: tunics, shirts, kilts and sashes, socks, head-dresses, caps, scarves, gauntlets and gloves, some of them with fine linen linings, others with separate index and middle fingers and a hole for the thumb. Underwear in the form of a triangular loincloth was also found. |
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The robes worn by both sexes in Egypt were called kalasiris by Herodotus. Material and cut varied greatly over the centuries.
The kalasiris might cover one [3] or both shoulders or be worn with shoulder straps. While the top could reach anywhere from below the breast to the neck, the bottom hem generally touched the ankles. Some had short sleeves, others were sleeveless. The fit might be very tight or quite loose. They were often worn with a belt which held together the folds of cloth. Source of the kalasiris picture on the right: University of Indiana website [1] They were sewn from a rectangular piece of cloth twice the desired garment length. An opening for the head was cut at the centre of the cloth, which was then folded in half. The lower parts of the sides were stitched together leaving openings for the arms. |
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Women's dresses could be ornamented with beads and the cloth was at times pleated. They covered the breasts most of the time, though there were periods when fashion left them bare [4]. Circular capes date back as far as the Old Kingdom. They were generally made of linen and had an opening for the head cut at the centre. They were often dyed, painted or otherwise decorated and covered little more than the shoulders. Shawls were sometimes worn during the New Kingdom. |
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Apparently, servants and slave girls wore at times little more than skimpy panties and jewellery [7]. But mostly working women dressed in a short kind of kalasiris. Men doing physical labour wore a loin cloth, wide galabiyeh-like robes or, if they were working in the water, nothing at all.
Children usually ran around nude during the summer months, and wore wraps and cloaks in winter when temperatures might fall below 10°C. The gods had to be dressed as well. Nesuhor, commander of the fortress at Elephantine under Apries, took care that the temple of Khnum had all the servants necessary to serve the needs of the god: I appointed weavers, maid-servants and launderers for the august wardrobe of the great god and his divine ennead.As a rule ordinary Egyptians did not wear any headdress, similar to Africans further south. The better-off put on wigs - perhaps just on special occasions. These grew to a remarkable size during the New Kingdom. The pharaohs are always represented wearing crowns, but whether this is a pictorial convention or whether they did so in every day life is undecided. Laundering
They wear linen garments, which they are specially careful to have always fresh washed.Washing clothes was hard work. The ancient Egyptians did not know the soap, so lye, made of castor-oil and saltpetre or some such substances [18], or detergents made of soapwort or asphodil [19] were used. The laundry was beaten, rinsed and wrung by pairs of workers. By 1200 BCE there were fire-proof boilers in the wash-houses, which lightened the workload. Since 2900 BCE the titles of "chief washer" and "washer to the pharaoh" are known. Many, above all the poorer people had no access to facilities and had to do their laundry under at times difficult conditions. Washing on the shore of the river or the bank of a canal could be dangerous: The washerman launders at the riverbank in the vicinity of the crocodile. I shall go away, father, from the flowing water, said his son and his daughter, to a more satisfactory profession, one more distinguished than any other profession.In the eyes of Kheti at least, washing women's clothing was not really work a man should be doing. He says disparagingly of the washerman: He cleans the clothes of a woman in menstruation. |
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Footwear
Plaited reed sandalsNew Kingdom Picture source: mfa Boston website [14] 
People living around the Mediterranean had little need for elaborate footwear, with exceptions like the Hittites in their Anatolian highlands who wore shoes with turned up toes, though in Egyptian reliefs Hittites are depicted unshod.
Birdnetter in cornfield wearing sandals
Egyptians went barefoot, but wore sandals on special occasions [8] or when their feet were likely to get hurt. The sandals were tied with two thongs and, if they had a pointed tip this was often turned upwards. They were made of leather [17] or rush [12] woven or stitched together, and often had leather soles and straps.The cheapest kind of sandals were affordable to all but the very poorest. Ipuwer in his Admonitions used the lack of sandals to describe the destitute who, in the topsy-turvy world of chaos he warned from, attained great wealth: He who could not afford sandals owns riches [9]. The kings wore at times very elaborately decorated sandals,  and sometimes decorative gloves as well, but generally they were depicted barefoot, as were the gods.
Sandal of Ramses III, excerpt One of the changes in daily life which occurred during the Middle and New Kingdoms was the increasing use of sandals, above all where soldiers [10] or travellers were concerned. In the story of The Two Brothers Anpu set out on a journey: Then he took his staff and his sandals, as well as his clothes and his weapons, and he started to journey to the Valley of the Pine. Sandals seem to have had an importance which mostly escapes us nowadays, symbolizing prosperity and authority. Thutmose III speaks of the countries he conquered, and possibly of the rest of the world as well, as all lands were under my sandals [11]. Among the oldest images of the dynastic period are depictions of the sandal-bearer of the pharaoh, and for the sixth dynasty official Weni this post was seemingly an important stage in a splendid career, mentioned twice in his autobiography. Sandals were very closely and beautifully stitched up of rush, and usually soled with leather. A small bundle of rush was wound round by a rush thread, which at every turn pierced through the edge of a previous bundle. Thus these successive bundles were bound together edge to edge, and a flat surface built up. This was edged round in the same way. In basket making exactly the same principle was followed, with great neatness. The rush sandals soled with leather, leather sandals alone, and leather shoes, were all used. The shoes seem to have been just originating at that period; two or three examples are known, but all of them have the leather sandal strap between the toes, and joining to the sides of the heel, to retain the sole on the foot ; the upper leather being stitched on merely as a covering without its being intended to hold the shoe on the foot. These soles are compound, of three or four thicknesses.Early Middle Kingdom shoes were little more than sandals with straps between the toes and joined to the sides at the heel with the upper leather just covering the foot without being fastened to the foot itself. During the New Kingdom there were times when some Egyptians seem to have taken to occasionally wearing shoes, as in 
a depiction of Queen Nutmose at Karnak. This may have come about as an influence of the Hittites, with whom they came into contact at this time.
Rush slippers
Picture sources [ ] Man wearing a loincloth: Lionel Casson Ancient Egypt, Time-Life Books, 1975 [ ] Model of women weaving with a horizontal loom: V.Easy [ ] Pleated kalasiris, Late New Kingdom: Karl Köhler: A History of Costume [ ] Linen kalasiris, New Kingdom: University of Indiana website [ ] Women's clothes: the two pictures to the right are excerpts from 'Ancient Egypt' by Lionel Casson, Time-Life Books, 1975 [ ] Sandals: mfa Boston [10] Footnotes [2] A few strands of material, which analysis proved to be hydrolysed Chinese silk, were found in the hair of a 21st dynasty female mummy (Inventory No. 15/8 Hrdlicka Museum of Man, Prague) which was discovered in the workers' cemetery of Deir el Medina. (Source of info: Charles R. Jones & Marianne Luban) [7] The skimpiness of dress of servant girls may have been an attempt of the male grave owners at improving the quality of their after-life. [8] In the afterworld one put one white sandals to meet the gods, just as one did during temple services: In the monthly service, wear the white sandals,
The instruction addressed to King Merikare
[9] M.Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 1, p. 151
[10] During the reign of Mentuhotep III Henu set out for Punt accompanied by 3000 men. For their crossing of the rocky Wadi Hammamat he supplied his people with sandals:
M.Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 1, p. 102 The asses were laden with sandals [/// /// /// ///]. J.H.Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, Part One, §430
In the Papyrus Lansing the scribe mocks the professional soldier:
He is called up for Syria. He may not rest. There are no clothes, no sandals. M.Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 2, p. 172
[11] J.H.Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, § 148. The claim is repeated in a great many inscriptions with similar wording having become synonymous with rightful rule, e.g.
Back I am satisfied with victories, thou hast placed every rebellious land under my sandals which thy serpent-diadem has bound... J.H.Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, § 245
and the subjects of Ramses III are exhorted to transfer their allegiance to his successor, Ramses IV
Be ye attached to his sandals, kiss the earth in his presence, bow down to him, follow him at all times, adore him, praise him, magnify his beauty as ye do to Re every morning. J.H.Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Four, § 412
[12] Papyrus Harris lists the supply of 15,110 pairs of papyrus sandals and 3,720 pairs of leather sandals for the festival of Usermare-Meriamon-L.H.P.-Making-Festive-Thebes-for-Amon.
[15] Pliny's gossypium was cotton. According to him it was grown in the south of the country.
The upper part of Egypt, in the vicinity of Arabia, produces a shrub, known by some as "gossypium," but by most persons as "xylon;" hence the name of "xylina," given to the tissues that are manufactured from it. The shrub is small, and bears a fruit, similar in appearance to a nut with a beard, and containing in the inside a silky substance, the down of which is spun into threads. There is no tissue known, that is superior to those made from this thread, either for whiteness, softness, or dressing: the most esteemed vestments worn by the priests of Egypt are made of it.[16] Most articles of dress found in tombs were made of linen. There were apparently also cultic restrictions to wearing woollen clothing. According to Herodotus wool was not worn in temples They wear a linen tunic fringed about the legs, and called calasiris; over this they have a white woollen garment thrown on afterwards. Nothing of woollen, however, is taken into their temples or buried with them, as their religion forbids it.[17] In the reign of Amenemhet III Horemsaf wrote Year of the reign 4, Month 4 of the season of Shemu, day 3[18] Many of the everyday substances used have not been identified. Lucas (p.172) suggested that it seemed possible that the fused ashes of special plants, or natron, might have been employed for some such purpose as washing clothes or the person... The papyrus of Imhotep, son of Pshentohe, describes the preparations for the ritual of the transfiguration of the Osiris: He was purified with netjeri-natron, bed-natron, and lye of hesmen-natron (mw-nw-Hzmn) which are prescribed in the words of god (i.e. holy writings).where netjeri, related to netjer - god, is a general term for natron, bed is granulated natron and mw-nw-Hzmn is natron water or fluid. [19] R. J. Forbes, Studies in Ancient Technology, Brill Academic Publishers 1966, p.83f. |
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| These are just suggestions for further reading. I do not assume any responsibility for the content or availability of these sites. | |||
 | [1] Oriental Costumes: Their Designs and Colors by Max Tilke | ||
 | [3] Picture of a woman wearing a dress, from the tomb of Ukhhotep III, Middle Kingdom | ||
 | [4] Picture of a woman carrying offerings, from the tomb of Ukhhotep III, Middle Kingdom. | ||
| [14] Sandals (mfa Boston) | ||
| Textiles in Egypt (Petrie Museum) | ||
| Shoes in the New Kingdom (Petrie Museum) | ||
| Las sandalias en el Antiguo Egipto by Alejandra R. Cersósimo | ||
| Historic Fabrics from Karanis (Coptic Period) | ||
| Textile production and clothing | ||
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