Egyptian sculpture

50 EGYPTIAN SCULIPTURE

The women of the Old Kingdom dressed their hair in two different ways; in both methods a fillet, more or less elaborate, was often worn. The more commonly represented fashion is a long wig of twisted strands (p. 48. figs. 5~7) falling to about the level of the arm-pits both at the front and back; this mass of hair is symmetrically divided by the shoulders, so that half remains at the back; the other half is again divided into two equal parts, and falls in a heavy braid on each side of the neck. The hair is often parted in the middle and taken across the forehead in a flat curve on each side. This form of hair-dressing appears to have been worn by all classes, e.g. the goddesses who stand with Menkaura (Pl. X.) and the farm-women from the tomb of Nefert (Pl. XIII. 1). It is quite possible that this is a representation of the woman’s own hair dressed with strands of twisted wool to increase its apparent length and thickness, as is still done in the upper parts of the Nile Valley. The fillet worn with this form of hair-dressing consisted of a band of wide ribbon of many colours, fastened with an ornament at the back of the head, and with long, floating ends; the omament is in the shape of two lotus-blossoms, and was possibly a piece of jewellery. In the case of the Lady Khenut (p. 48. fig. 7), there is another ornament across the forehead as well, but this is rare. The other method of dressing the hair is known only in statues, not in the reliefs, and was undoubtedly a wig. It consists of short strands of twisted hair or wool, falling to a little below the level of the chin in front, gradually increasing in length towards the back till the strands touch the shoulders; the wig is always represented as being very thick and full. The parting was in the middle, and on the forehead under the wig can be seen the woman’s own hair, also parted in the middle and taken in smooth bands across the forehead. In the statue of Mertitefs (Pl. IX. 3), her own hair is repre-