Why did the ancient Egyptians wear beeswax caps?

Historians already know pretty well whatdressed the ancient Egyptians. Thanks to the drawings on the walls and the mummified remains, it is known that most of them wore tight-fitting clothes, 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 scarves on their heads, and the pharaohs put on the so-called klaft, 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 nimbus among Christians and indicated the holiness of the depicted person. But as it turned out, some Egyptians did wear cone-shaped hats.

The headdress of the Egyptian pharaohs is called Klaft or Nemes.

This is at least stated in the results.studies published in the scientific journal Science. The article describes how a group of archaeologists from the Amarna Project discovered the mummies of ancient Egyptians with the remains of unusual caps in the burial place of the ancient Egyptian city of Ahetaton. In particular, the bodies of two people from the poor were found by archaeologists, moreover, one burial site was once plundered long ago, and the second was partially preserved.

Ancient Egyptian drawings depicting people in mysterious hats

What did the ancient Egyptians wear?

According to researchers, the people found diedabout 3300 years ago. Judging by the remains, they were buried with cone-shaped headdresses on their heads and about eight centimeters high. The analysis showed that the cone caps were made of beeswax and glued with fabric 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.

The remains of an ancient Egyptian with a beeswax headdress

According to the researchers, these are the first remains onwhich preserved this kind of hats. Thanks to this discovery, the theory that with the help of triangles over the heads of ancient Egyptian artists noted in the drawings of saints was completely rejected. In addition to her, there was another theory that the Egyptians really wore such hats so that 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, therefore this theory is also in great doubt.

This is interesting: Did tattoos exist in ancient Egypt?

It was also popular among historiansthe assumption that the cones over the heads of the painted people indicated, if not holyness, then at least a high social status. But they were mistaken, because the buried people were clearly not rich. However, this theory may be true, because some studies have shown that poor Egyptians tried very hard to be like the rich. For example, some poor people were buried in the same way as the Pharaohs, though it turned out to be extremely ridiculous for them.

What do you think, what were these hats intended for? You can share your suggestions in the comments or in our Telegram chat.

In general, around the mysterious caps of residentsAncient Egypt, there are a lot of rumors. Some of them seem very strange and far-fetched, but some sound very logical. For example, an archaeologist from the US state of Georgia named Rune Nyord is convinced that the cone-shaped hats had no ritual purpose. In his opinion, the Egyptians wore them just for beauty, just like we wear hats and baseball caps.