Historians already know quite well what the ancient Egyptians wore. Thanks to the drawings on the walls and the mummified remains, it is known that most of them wore tight-fitting clothing, the quality of the material of which depended on the social status of each person. Also, scientists have long found out that the peasants worked under the scorching sun with kerchiefs on their heads, and the pharaohs wore the so-called claft, which was a scarf made of striped fabric. Only here in some images the Egyptians were depicted with cones on their heads and historians for a long time could not understand what it was. Previously, it was believed that the triangle on the head of the painted people was something like a halo among Christians and indicated the holiness of the person depicted. But as it turns out, some Egyptians did wear tapered headdresses.
This, at least, is stated in the research results published in the scientific journal Science. The article describes how a group of archaeologists from the Amarna Project discovered the mummies of the ancient Egyptians with the remains of unusual caps in the burial of the ancient Egyptian city of Akhetaton. In particular, the bodies of two people from the poor were found by archaeologists, and one burial was once plundered long ago, and the second was partially preserved.
Ancient Egyptian drawings depicting people in mysterious headdresses.
What did the ancient Egyptians wear?
Researchers estimate that the people found died about 3,300 years ago. Judging by the remains, they were buried with cone-shaped headdresses worn on their heads and about eight centimeters high. Analysis showed that the cone caps were made of beeswax and pasted over with cloth from the inside. Since the hats were made from organic materials, it is not surprising that the remains had many holes left by various insects.
Remains of an ancient Egyptian with a beeswax headdress.
According to the researchers, these are the first remains on which such headdresses have survived. Thanks to this discovery, the theory that with the help of triangles over their heads the ancient Egyptian artists marked in the drawings of the saints was completely rejected. In addition to her, there was another theory that the Egyptians really wore such hats so that the beeswax melted on their heads and thereby spiritually cleansed them. However, no traces of wax or other substances were found on the heads of the buried people, so this theory is also subject to great doubt.
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It was also popular among historians that the cones above the heads of the painted people indicated, if not holiness, then at least a high social status. But they were wrong, because the buried people were clearly not rich. However, this theory may also be true, because some studies have shown that the poor Egyptians tried very hard to be like the rich. For example, some poor people were buried in the same way as the pharaohs, although this turned out to be extremely ridiculous.
In general, there are a lot of rumors around the mysterious caps of the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt. Some of them seem very strange and far-fetched, but some sound quite logical. For example, an archaeologist from the American state of Georgia named Rune Nyord is confident that the cone-shaped headdresses had no ritual purpose. In his opinion, the Egyptians wore them just for beauty, just like we wear hats and baseball caps.
Ramis Ganiev