Ancient Egyptian Women

Here's a little nugget of surprising information from about as far back as we can gauge history. We think of women's equality being a thing of recent development, but in ancient Egypt women could enter into a marriage of their own accord (be it with a non-relative, brother, or cousin), own their own property, manage said property even after marriage, buy and sell slaves, make their own will, adopt children, and divorce and remarry as they liked. They were even paid equal wages to men. That last one can't even be said of women working here in the United States today.

Adoption was not uncommon, and rather like in feudal Japan, if a family was unable to have children they would often adopt from a family that had too many, or just wanted their child to have a better life than they could give it. This breathes new life into the story of Moses, who was adopted by the wife of a Paraoh, but eventually rejected his adoptive family to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt.

Another interesting fact to me, is the way Egyptian tomb paintings show working class people, even in the afterlife- working! My first thought was that, like us, they would picture a happy afterlife as a place of rest and effortless enjoyment, but it was explained to me that for these people the process of planting and reaping and providing was a kind of happiness. They simply wanted life to continue, but in a pleasant unthreatened way, with no famine, sickness, or, presumeably, plague of locusts.

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Italian Renaissance Hairstyles

In keeping with my last post on Italian Renaissance costume I thought we would take a look at something we didn't touch much on; hairstyles. They were extremely varying; up and down, braided, netted, entwined with silks and ribbons, even pearls, and, of course, dyed, bleached, and curled. The only thing in somewhat short supply seems to be hats, and really who would want to cover up what you had spent so much time constructing? "Do you have any idea how long it took me to get the curls placed?!" 1544 Portrait of Laura da Pola by Lotto Occasionally a small cap, or scuffia, was worn either with side curls, or with most of the hair stuffed up underneathe:- 1490 portrait by Ghirlandaio 1502 Betrothal 1510 Portrait by Araldi Another notable hair decoration was the reta, or hairnet. Some of these were beaded, some woven in decorative patterns, and some left very simple. 1505-1508 Siena 1545 Lavinia Under and around these ornamentations, o...

How Our Ancestors Slept

As someone who wakes up during the night feeling frustratingly refreshed...and then struggles to rise in the morning, I found this article to be a kind of vindication. Apparently the way we sleep has changed. For more information you can visit the link here .

The De Berry Project- The Fabric and shoes

As I mentioned last time I am working on a version of the outfit to the left for an event coming up soon in July. I wanted something with a hat to shade my face, and not too hot since we are going to be outside in the middle of a Virginian summer. The fabric gods were not kind, when I went to my local fabric stores. There was really nothing in the right weight, color, pattern, fiber, or amount; especially the amount since I need about 8 yards for the undergown and 10 yards for the overdress. Part of the problem is that there are no waist seams, so each piece has to be cut from a long continuous length of material. Also, those sleeves are about four yards by themselves. I resigned myself to ordering online, which I hate doing because it's so hard to be sure of the color etc without seeing it in person, and by the time the fabric arrives often there just isn't time to send it back and get something else. I went first to an oldie, but a goodie; Thai silks. I knew they would...

Amphorae

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