Images of ancient Egyptians wearing distinctive, cone-shaped objects on their heads have, in the absence of physical examples, long elicited scholarly debate. Did people wear these cones, or were they a purely iconographic device? What was their function and meaning? Recent excavations at the Amarna cemeteries now provide the first material examples of head cones. Spectroscopic analyses indicate that their primary constituent is a biological wax, and not fat or incense, as sometimes speculated. The authors tentatively suggest that the Amarna cones were symbols meant to enhance the rebirth or personal fertility of the deceased in the afterlife.
~Anna Stevens (a1) (a2), Corina E. Rogge (a3), Jolanda E.M.F. Bos (a4) and Gretchen R. Dabbs (a5) DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.175Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 December 2019 From representation to reality: ancient Egyptian wax head cones from Amarna
quote: These mysterious Egyptian head cones actually existed, grave find reveals
Amarna Project
Look closely at paintings of ancient Egyptians and you might spot something strange: cones the size of a coffee cup sitting atop some of their heads. The objects have long baffled archaeologists, many of whom have wondered whether they were merely a symbol. Now, a new study finds these “head cones” were indeed real: Researchers have recovered two of the curious accoutrements in burials dating back 3300 years.
Archaeologists made the discoveries at Akhetaten, one of ancient Egypt’s most unusual cities. The site was occupied for no more than about 15 years during the 14th century B.C.E. while Egypt was under the rule of the pharaoh who gave the location its name, Akhenaten. He developed a short-lived (and, in the eyes of later pharaohs, heretical) religious system focused on the worship of a single god, represented by the Sun. He may also have been Tutankhamun’s father.
The two head cones come from low-status graves in a workers’ cemetery. One grave was much better preserved than the other, which had been rifled through by grave robbers. Both bodies still carried full heads of hair, each with a head cone tangled up in the tresses, the team reports today in Antiquity. The cones were cream-colored and seemed to be made of beeswax; both were about 8 centimeters tall. They were also in poor condition, full of holes where insects had tunneled through them.
The discoveries may help put to rest the symbolism theory—the idea that the cones were simply a way for artists to denote a wearer’s special status, like the halos used to signify holiness in Christian art.
But the discovery also potentially undermines another leading hypothesis about the cones: that they were perfumed lumps of unguent that slowly melted in the Sun to perfume and cleanse the body, both literally and spiritually. The idea is that, “by melting and ‘cleansing’ the hair, the cones might have ritually purified the individual, placing them in an appropriate state to participate in rituals,” says team leader Anna Stevens of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
But the team could find no chemical evidence from the well-preserved grave that the head cone had melted and dribbled onto the occupant’s hair.
This doesn’t necessarily disprove the unguent theory, says Lise Manniche, an archaeologist at the University of Copenhagen. She says ancient artwork suggests cones were generally worn by members of the upper classes, not by the sort of people buried in the workers’ cemetery. “I would interpret the two cones as ‘dummy cones,’ used by less fortunate inhabitants in the city” to imitate high-status fashion, she says.
If so, the cones may have been about more than simply mimicking the social elite. Some archaeologists think the objects signified sensuality and childbirth. It may thus be significant that the Egyptian in the well-preserved grave was a woman of child-bearing age, Stevens says. Perhaps, she speculates, the woman hoped the head cone would enhance her fertility in the afterlife.
But Rune Nyord, an archaeologist at Emory University in Atlanta, is skeptical. He points out that Egyptian art suggests head cones were worn in other contexts, too, such as at festival banquets or in the presence of the pharaoh. “Explanations invoking the afterlife are … common … in Egyptology,” he says, but we shouldn’t ignore the possibility that Egyptians didn’t see the head cones this way. Sometimes, a hat is just a hat.
quote: The head cones were actually solid lumps of perfumed fat that melted over the heads of their wearers and acted as a sort of ancient, fragranced hair gel.
quote:Using non-destructive analysis including portable X-ray fluoroscopy in the field, the researchers determined that the “interior of both cones showed peaks characteristic of plant or animal wax.” They further conclude that, “as beeswax is the only biological wax currently known to have been used by the ancient Egyptians, it can be posited to be the source of this material.”
quote: The Ethiopian tribes who use BUTTER to style their hair: Incredible photos reveal the elaborate curled creations of the Afar people, and the Hamer who mix ghee with red ochre to spectacular effect
The Afar tribe is famous for its butter-covered 'asdago' afro styles and elaborately curled 'dayta' 'do
But the Afar aren't the only ones to use dairy products as an unguent - the Bofana and Hamer also do
Particularly spectacular is the look adopted by the Karrayyu tribe who allow butter to drip through their hair
All four tribes are cattle herders by tradition and make the butter that they use on their hair by hand
Although many of their compatriots use shea butter, for the Afar and Hamer, using real butter is traditional
quote:Ancient Egyptian hair gel: new insight into ancient Egyptian mummification procedures through chemical analysis
Abstract
Artificial mummification in ancient Egypt involved the application of chemicals to the body mostly for the purpose of preservation; others were applied for ritual aspects. Unguents were used also in everyday toilette. Here we report a type of material which was applied specifically to the hair, a fatty material used as a ‘hair gel’. Personal appearance was important to the ancient Egyptians so much so that in cases where the hair was styled the embalming process was adapted to preserve the hair style. This further ensured that the deceased’s individuality was retained in death, as it had been in life, and emphasises the importance of the hair in ancient Egyptian society.
posted
Very interesting. Even the most Vicious Hyper-Eurocentrist can see The Ancient Egyptians surviving today amongst The Afar and other Cushitic Groups.
Posts: 371 | From: Queens,NY | Registered: Feb 2020
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quote:Originally posted by SMirk92: Very interesting. Even the most Vicious Hyper-Eurocentrist can see The Ancient Egyptians surviving today amongst The Afar and other Cushitic Groups.
Yes, and what they will trey to do is 1) claim them as "Eurasians" as a whole, or 2) with a lot of "Eurasians" admixture. Whatever "Eurasian" means?
Posts: 22234 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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quote:Originally posted by SMirk92: Very interesting. Even the most Vicious Hyper-Eurocentrist can see The Ancient Egyptians surviving today amongst The Afar and other Cushitic Groups.
Yes, and what they will trey to do is 1) claim them as "Eurasians" as a whole, or 2) with a lot of "Eurasians" admixture. Whatever "Eurasian" means?
They do that because those particular Africans are closest to The AE and anyone with two eyes can easily see Cushitic People being represented on those walls.
Posts: 371 | From: Queens,NY | Registered: Feb 2020
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quote:Originally posted by SMirk92: Very interesting. Even the most Vicious Hyper-Eurocentrist can see The Ancient Egyptians surviving today amongst The Afar and other Cushitic Groups.
Yes, and what they will trey to do is 1) claim them as "Eurasians" as a whole, or 2) with a lot of "Eurasians" admixture. Whatever "Eurasian" means?
They do that because those particular Africans are closest to The AE and anyone with two eyes can easily see Cushitic People being represented on those walls.
True, and that is why I have defended them from day one, ever since I was in Egypt and literally looked at the walls saw the murals and the people in living form. Over 90% of murals all over Egypt, all over Egypt show Cushitic Black people. Some posters here who have been to Egypt say it's even more than 90%.
This is why nobody has been able to convince me different. Not even these so called studies like the Abusir Melek.
Posts: 22234 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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quote:Originally posted by SMirk92: Very interesting. Even the most Vicious Hyper-Eurocentrist can see The Ancient Egyptians surviving today amongst The Afar and other Cushitic Groups.
Yes, and what they will trey to do is 1) claim them as "Eurasians" as a whole, or 2) with a lot of "Eurasians" admixture. Whatever "Eurasian" means?
They do that because those particular Africans are closest to The AE and anyone with two eyes can easily see Cushitic People being represented on those walls.
True, and that is why I have defended them from day one, ever since I was in Egypt and literally looked at the walls saw the murals and the people in living form. Over 90% of murals all over Egypt, all over Egypt show Cushitic Black people. Some posters here who have been to Egypt say it's even more than 90%.
This is why nobody has been able to convince me different. Not even these so called studies like the Abusir Melek.
Also The Hamadryas Baboon whom Tehuti was depicted as is Indigenous to Ethiopia but it also lives in Eritrea and Djibouti. So this is proof that they had to have known The Ethiopian highlands very well to be familiar with The Hamadryas so much to the point to make it a symbol of one of their most important Netchers.
Posts: 371 | From: Queens,NY | Registered: Feb 2020
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posted
I remember reading a source years back explaining how Africans have been using beeswax for centuries as products for styling hair as well as for candles and fuel for lamps or stoves.
From what I understand the beeswax cone was worn on the head like a hat and then animal fat and scented oils was applied on top of it and then the cone was heated by flame so the fats and oils melt and drip down the cone with time.
Why the beeswax was shaped into a cone was likely due to some significant ritual symbolism. Many Egyptian creation myths feature a primordial mound or cone rising from the waters of Nun. Others suggest the shape may represent something as sexually graphic as an oozing phallus, while others simply say that is the shape common to Egyptian candles and that it was the style to have a giant scented candle on the head.
Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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Sadly, even the skulls refuse to appease the afrocentric lies! Forensic Science 101.
What lies? lol
The cranial metric falls within Northeast Africas diversity. lol
And this practice is still prevalent in many parts of Africa. Especially Northeast/ East Africa. lol
quote:Post-Pleistocene climatic improvement in the Northern Hemisphere after ca. 9550 BC allowed human populations to recolonize large parts of North Africa in what is today the Sahara Desert. In the Egyptian Western Desert, the beginnings of human occupation date as early as ca. 9300 BC.
[…]
Between 4500 and 4300 BC, south-western fringes of the Gebel Ramlah lake served as an extended burial ground for different populations. Different ancestry and relationships of these populations can be followed on the basis of archaeological and, partially, bioarchaeological arguments.
[…]
Some groups (using cemeteries E-01-2, E-03-1, E-03-2, and E-09-4) show some affiliation with sub-Saharan Africans, readable in the pottery assemblage and other grave goods, as well as some morphological features (Irish 2010; Kobusiewicz and Kabaciński 2010; Czekaj-Zastawny and Kabaciński 2015).
~Agnieszka Czekaj-Zastawny & Tomasz Goslar & Joel D. Irish & Jacek Kabaciński Gebel Ramlah—a Unique Newborns’ Cemetery of the Neolithic Sahara African Archaeological Review volume 35, pages393–405(2018)
Posts: 22234 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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quote:Originally posted by SMirk92: Also The Hamadryas Baboon whom Tehuti was depicted as is Indigenous to Ethiopia but it also lives in Eritrea and Djibouti. So this is proof that they had to have known The Ethiopian highlands very well to be familiar with The Hamadryas so much to the point to make it a symbol of one of their most important Netchers.
Yes, ancient Egyptian had contact with people from the Horn and it is well documented evidence, but ancient Egyptians were a people like the Horn demographic. It doesn't mean it was them. I used to think that also when I started to learn about this.
quote:The Greek term aithiops (aitho- ‘burnt’ + ops- ‘face’) identifies African peoples as darker-skinned than their Greek counterparts. The place name, Aithiopia, can denote the upper Nile region just to the south of Egypt plus the Sahara and areas beyond. (Herodotus reserves the term Aithiopia for sub-Saharan Africa.) In the Iliad and Odyssey, Homer's Ethiopians inhabit the edges of the earth, where they are in close proximity to the sun, which has darkened their skin. In addition, they are notable for their privileged relationship with the gods. Related to the notion of the Ethiopians inhabiting the edges of the earth is the use of Africa in myth to indicate remoteness. Frequently, a visiting the Ethiopians is given as a reason for the absence of unavailability of a god or goddess. The Ethiopians themselves have the reputation of being unusually good providers of sacrifices to the gods. [9]
quote:Originally posted by SMirk92: Also The Hamadryas Baboon whom Tehuti was depicted as is Indigenous to Ethiopia but it also lives in Eritrea and Djibouti. So this is proof that they had to have known The Ethiopian highlands very well to be familiar with The Hamadryas so much to the point to make it a symbol of one of their most important Netchers.
A slight correction. The Hamadryas baboon was actually the totem of the deity Aani was god of measurements and equilibrium who was an assistant and loyal servant of Tehuti/Djehuti but became assimilated by the latter.
-------------------- Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan. Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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Sadly, even the skulls refuse to appease the afrocentric lies! Forensic Science 101.
Yeah Forensic Science 101 tells us that leptoprosopic (narrow faced), leptorhine (narrow nosed) features are found among black Africans too, but I take it all these blacks are still 'white' Caucasians.
-------------------- Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan. Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by SMirk92: Also The Hamadryas Baboon whom Tehuti was depicted as is Indigenous to Ethiopia but it also lives in Eritrea and Djibouti. So this is proof that they had to have known The Ethiopian highlands very well to be familiar with The Hamadryas so much to the point to make it a symbol of one of their most important Netchers.
Yes, ancient Egyptian had contact with people from the Horn and it is well documented evidence, but ancient Egyptians were a people like the Horn demographic. It doesn't mean it was them. I used to think that also when I started to learn about this.
quote:The Greek term aithiops (aitho- ‘burnt’ + ops- ‘face’) identifies African peoples as darker-skinned than their Greek counterparts. The place name, Aithiopia, can denote the upper Nile region just to the south of Egypt plus the Sahara and areas beyond. (Herodotus reserves the term Aithiopia for sub-Saharan Africa.) In the Iliad and Odyssey, Homer's Ethiopians inhabit the edges of the earth, where they are in close proximity to the sun, which has darkened their skin. In addition, they are notable for their privileged relationship with the gods. Related to the notion of the Ethiopians inhabiting the edges of the earth is the use of Africa in myth to indicate remoteness. Frequently, a visiting the Ethiopians is given as a reason for the absence of unavailability of a god or goddess. The Ethiopians themselves have the reputation of being unusually good providers of sacrifices to the gods. [9]
We know The Beja are The Medjay and they were apart of Egypt(Kemet) and their also close relatives of The Afar so there's no doubt that The Egyptians were a Cushitic type.
Posts: 371 | From: Queens,NY | Registered: Feb 2020
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posted
^ I used to have that same thinking that the Beja are the same as the ancient Medjay, but not only is there a large gap in time but also a change in material culture. While I have no doubt the Beja are descendants of the Medjay, I don't they are entirely so. The Medjay very likely mixed with another people or peoples who then produced the Beja.
-------------------- Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan. Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
I can see that. Seeing The Medjay's important role in Egyptian Society combined with the fact that The AE language is classified as Afro-Asiatic and the fact that Cushitic is apart of Afro-Asiatic. We can definitely confirm that The Ancient Egyptians Were Cushitic type people.
Posts: 371 | From: Queens,NY | Registered: Feb 2020
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quote:Originally posted by SMirk92: We know The Beja are The Medjay and they were apart of Egypt(Kemet) and their also close relatives of The Afar so there's no doubt that The Egyptians were a Cushitic type.
I will make an exception in answering this, but I'd like to stay on topic.
The topic is wax head cones etc.
quote:The Greek term aithiops (aitho- ‘burnt’ + ops- ‘face’) identifies African peoples as darker-skinned than their Greek counterparts. The place name, Aithiopia, can denote the upper Nile region just to the south of Egypt plus the Sahara and areas beyond. (Herodotus reserves the term Aithiopia for sub-Saharan Africa.)
In the Iliad and Odyssey, Homer's Ethiopians inhabit the edges of the earth, where they are in close proximity to the sun, which has darkened their skin. In addition, they are notable for their privileged relationship with the gods. Related to the notion of the Ethiopians inhabiting the edges of the earth is the use of Africa in myth to indicate remoteness. Frequently, a visiting the Ethiopians is given as a reason for the absence of unavailability of a god or goddess. The Ethiopians themselves have the reputation of being unusually good providers of sacrifices to the gods. [9]
posted
^ Right you are, so getting back to the topic...
Perfume Cone - the Mysterious Fashion Accessory of Ancient Egypt Odoriferous cones Egyptians began to use in the times of the New Kingdom. In particular, perfume cones became common during the time of 18. dynasty as evidenced by the many tomb paintings in which we can see feast participants - musicians and dancers, as well as guests. They are all wearing these strange cones on their heads. It turns out that perfume cones could be made of creamy scents. However, it is seems like the cones that are used as decorations on Egyptian wigs during The New Kingdom were made from either aromatic resin, or ox fat impregnated with myrrh. During the feast, these cones, slowly melting, released a sweet aroma. It was a tradition among men and women to adorn their heads with perfume cones especially during the feasts and celebrations. In addition, in ancient Egypt it was the usual habit to offer those perfume cones to guests, as soon as they arrived at the celebration place. The guests received those refreshing perfume cones that were soaked in, aromatic substances, creating truly the right environment for celebrations.
As I said, these cones were scented candles used for aromatherapy!
serving girl giving out cones Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote: 3 ancient African hair care products that worked wonders
Castor Oil, Egypt
In ancient Egypt, hair was a symbol of beauty, wealth, status and fertility. To maintain the growth and the strength of their natural hair, most Egyptians used castor oil for their hair due to its nourishing properties. The oil is massaged into the hair and scalp, and then a hot wrap is put over it. This is to enable the vitamins and fatty acids in the concentrated castor oil to penetrate deeply into the scalp and hair follicles. In recent times, castor oil has grown in popularity among beauticians and natural hair enthusiasts who want to achieve the perfect natural hair.
Butter, Ethiopia
Clarified butter (also known as Niter kibbeh) has been used by the people of the Afar tribe in Ethiopia as hair care products for centuries. To make this, butter is simmered for a length of time, allowing milk fat or solids to separate out and the water to evaporate leaving behind a distinctive fat rich in essential fatty acids, as well as, some fat-soluble vitamins, which are needed for multiple physiological functions in the body
The butter can be eaten for its nutritional purposes and is applied to the hair to protect it from the sun and keep it perfectly supple. The butter is best liquified by placing the container in warm water, and then generously applied to hair.
Chebe powder, Chad
The Basara women of Chad have been known to grow unusually long hair in times past. The secret, it turns out, is Chebe powder, a mixture of Chebe (Lavender croton), Mahlaba (Cherry kernels), Samour (Mastic Gum), Clove & Sudanese Khumra Perfume oils – all products that are locally sourced.
The powder is applied to the hair with some hair grease (mostly shea butter mixed with perfume oils) after the hair is wet with water. The grease and powder are applied to the hair alternatively until the hair is fully saturated. Afterwards, the hair is braided and wet with water again.
quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: ^Odoriferous cones Egyptians began to use in the times of the New Kingdom. In particular, perfume cones became common during the time of 18. dynasty
That's interesting. Considering the timing of the events.
quote: QUEEN HATASU has been happily described as the Queen Elizabeth of Egyptian history; and she was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary women in the annals of the ancient East. A daughter of Thothmes I., third Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and of his wife, Queen Ahmes Nefertari, she inherited sovereign rights in virtue of her maternal descent from the old Twelfth Dynasty line.
quote: "There is still some debate regarding the precise location of Punt, which was once identified with the region of modern Somalia. A strong argument has now been made for its location in either southern Sudan or the Eritrean region of Ethiopia, where the indigenous plants and animals equate most closely with those depicted in the Egyptian reliefs and paintings.
~Ian Shaw, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, p. 317, 2003:
Men of Punt
King and Queen of Punt
quote:
More than a score of wooden cargo boxes coated with gypsum were found in the sand-filled cave, one of a series which lies at Wadi Gawasis, just south of Safaga on the western Red Sea coastline and about 300 miles southeast of Cairo. The ancient harbour, now inland from the present beach, lay at the point where an overland trade route from Qena on the Nile, and thus from the southern capital at Thebes and Luxor, reached the sea.
One of the boxes had a painted hieroglyphic inscription with a royal cartouche, probably of the Pharaoh Nimaatra Amenemhat III (1831-1786BC). It dates to Year 8 of his reign, and describes the contents of the box as "The wonderful things of Punt". Exactly what these "wonderful things" are will have to await the opening of the boxes.
Narrowing the search
At a recent meeting in Oakland of the American Research Center in Egypt three scientists announced with confidence they had ruled out all of those five locations, and there was no disagreement from the 300 archaeologists there.
The Land of Punt, the scientist said, must have existed in eastern North Africa - either in the region where Ethiopia and Eritrea confront each other, or east of the Upper Nile in a lowland area of eastern Sudan.
Men from Punt Carrying Gifts, Tomb of Rekhmire Artist: Nina de Garis Davies (1881–1965) Period: New Kingdom Dynasty: Dynasty 18 Reign: reign of Thutmose III–early Amenhotep II Date: ca. 1479–1420 B.C. Geography: Original from Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Tomb of Rekhmire (TT 100) Medium: Tempera on paper Dimensions: Facsimile: H. 46 cm (18 1/8 in.); W. 61.5 cm (24 3/16 in.) scale 1:1 Frame: H. 49 cm (19 5/16 in.); W. 65.5 cm (25 13/16 in.) Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1930 Accession Number: 30.4.152
Posts: 22234 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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Sadly, even the skulls refuse to appease the afrocentric lies! Forensic Science 101.
Sadly the sun is in difference with you. We have witnessed many EU travel restrictions, due to Egypt sun heat.
Posts: 22234 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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