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Egypt Feature Story The Ancient Egyptian Concept of Beauty
by Maggie Rutherford
A beautiful and richly dressed woman from the tomb of Menna on the West Bank of modern LuxorBeauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this is never more true than seen over time and between different cultures. Over time, our concept of beauty seems to fluctuate, particularly concerning people, sometimes favoring rather heavy individuals and at other times very skinny ones. In different cultures, parts of the body may be purposefully exaggerated in the name of beauty, the effects of which might even seem grotesque to those of another culture. For example, various tribes throughout the world use different methods to lengthen necks, exaggerate mouths, ears and even the shape of the head.
Nevertheless, there does appear to be certain classical concepts of beauty that are not inconsistent with many of our modern views, and it would seem that the ancient Egyptian concepts of beauty are not very different, at least in regards to the human form. At the same time, Egyptians seem to have been just as influenced by beauty, if not more so, than we are in our modern world. Indeed, it seems at time that beauty may have even been a part concept related to ma'at, the order that Egyptian's saw in This depiction of the Queen of Punt does not remotely correspond to the model of Egyptian beauty, or for that matter, our modern concept.their world. For example, foreign lands were considered by the ancient Egyptians to be a part of chaos, the opposite of ma'at, and foreigners are very often depicted in a form very different than the ancient Egyptians themselves, and in a very different artistic style. Frequently, they may even be represented in a more realistic, and much less idealistic style. A classical example is that of the Queen of Punt recorded during the reign of Hatshepsut, but prisoners were very often represented in very less than ideal forms.
Our evidence on how the ancient Egyptians viewed beauty comes from many different sources, including pictorial, sculptures in the round and various textual. Much of it affirms a specific model of beauty, particularly in individuals and perhaps even more specifically in females.
Foreigners from Ramesses III Temple at Medinet Habu, depicted almost in the style of Egyptian women Foreigners from Ramesses III Temple at Medinet Habu, depicted almost in the style of Egyptian women
Sometimes, ancient Egyptians did not have specific words that relate to modern conceptual ideas. For example, there seems to have been no real term that referred to art in general. At other times, they developed a number of conceptual terms for certain ideas. An example of this is Werel, the wife of the king's superintendent of horses, May, depicted in the tomb of Ramose on the West Bank of Luxorthe concept of beauty. In studying the ancient Egyptian's idea of beauty, it is useful to examine the many words they used for this concept.
There were two adjectives that were used to describe beautiful things, or beautiful people, consisting of "n" and "nfr". The term nfr, which is usually written as nefer in modern Egyptological works, was one of the most common, used in names and even sometimes used up until the present day. There are also substantives and even verbs related to this term. The verbs derived from nfr include snfr, which means beautifully or embellished. nfrw or nfr, and later bw nfr, may also be used as an abstract concept of beauty. And while the term nfr or nfrt may be used to describe a man or a woman, the term appears to have more significance than simply meaning a beautiful person. In fact, these terms often refer to a specific category of individual, and they can reveal something of what the Egyptians regarded as beautiful. For example, a young women referred to as nfrwt is sometimes described as "never having been opened in childbirth" as in the Westcar Papyrus. We find at Ramesses III's palace at Medinet Habu on the West Bank of Luxor (ancient Thebes) a list of captured foreigners including a reference to nfrwt as a category of female between child and mature woman. Nfrw, the Ramesses II as a "beautiful" youthmasculine version of the same word, is found in several instances when it clearly refers to young men or young people. In one instance, it can even be translated as "recruits". Certain cows are even referenced as nfrwt.
We might also examine a number of phrases or terms that include the adjective nfr. Imntt nfrt, for example, meaning "the Beautiful West", is found often in tombs and funerary texts to describe the city of the dead. Hdt refers to the White Crown of Upper Egypt, but sometimes we see the phrase hdt nfrt and sometimes even nfrt. The king is very often described as the ntr nfr, an epithet which is generally translated as "the Good God," but the "Beautiful God" is also an accurate meaning. However, in a coregency, the term ntr nfr is used to designate the more youthful ruler. In this situation, the older ruler, usually the father, is referred to as ntr'3, meaning A depiction of Nefertari, the wife of Ramesses II as a somewhat older woman shows only subtle agingthe "Great God." In this regard, even though the younger ruler may not be so young, the younger of the two is referred to as nfr.
Indeed. the connection that seems to exist between youth and the descriptive term nfr may be an important clue to understanding the ancient Egyptian concept of beauty. In Egyptian art, the ideal form is a youthful and slim figure with narrow hips, which anthropometric studies of pharaonic mummies have revealed is a fair representation of reality, at least in the case of Egyptian women. Furthermore, their hip to shoulder proportions are not greatly different from those found in male Egyptian mummies. While both sexes may be depicted in this way, representations of males are more likely to vary from the ideal.
In fact, age, when women are depicted, is most often represented subtly, in the form of a slightly drooping derriere, subtly sagging breasts or pouching cheeks, occasionally with horizontal lines across the torso, indicating an increased weight. Usually, the artistic elements are detectable only by close examination and comparison of with other representations. One of the most famous and explicit representations of youth and age in a woman's body is that of the funerals of Nebamun and Ipuky, who both married the same woman. The two funerals are depicted as taking place simultaneously. The representations of the widow show her with bared breasts both firm, and then drooping with a change in profile to suggest a sagging chin in the older version of the woman.
A very youthful looking King Horenheb at a time when he was doubtless not very young at all, having taken the kingship rather late in lifeHowever, representations of the king are often particularly subtle. One must look for almost imperceptible clues that may suggest advancing age of a ruler. For example, in studying numerous depictions of Amenhotep III and his family, it was discovered that the king's torso was depicted as being somewhat thicker than that of other men.
Yet, during various periods of Egyptian history, wealthy tomb owners sometimes wished to emphasize their sagacity, and therefore actually had themselves represented as older men. Tomb scenes could show aged courtiers, who were depicted with toothless faces and heavy sagging bellies. In fact, during the Amarna Period, bowing elderly court functionaries appear in many of the scenes behind the figure of the king and queen. Note however that wrinkles are rarely shown on either sex, and gray hair is very rare. In fact, the Ebers Papyrus contains remedies not only for wrinkles, but also for baldness and graying hair, indicating that the ancient Egyptians, like their modern counterparts, at least attempted to retain the appearance of youth during their lifetimes.
Clearly, the attributes of youth were considered beautiful in ancient Egypt, but we may also examine more precise elements that were considered beautiful in an individual. In love poetry, as well as hymns to Hathor, the goddess of beauty, some sense of what was considered physically beautiful in people may be found. For example, in many poems, Hathor is defined as "golden," which might be a reference to her complexion. Indeed, the skin of gods was often represented in gold.
In the Papyrus of Chester Beatty I, the writer is explicit, mentioning his beloved scent, her hair, her eyes and her buttocks. From the same papyrus, another romantic poem describes the object of his affection as being ""bright" of skin, her arm "more brilliant than gold," long-necked and "white-breasted," hair of "genuine lapis lazuli," (blue?) and fingers like lotus blooms. It also mentions her beautiful thighs and heavy buttocks. He also admired her swift walk, sweet voice and, an age old compliment from men, her ability to know when to stop talking.
Scent and color both seem important elements in many erotic texts, where the lover might desire to see the color of his beloved's limbs. In a Third Intermediate Period (25th Dynasty) hymn, recorded on the Louvre stela C100, there is a description of the priestess Mutirdis, who has locks of hair black as night and dark as "wine-grapes," "brilliant" arms, firm breasts and a complexion "like jasper."
In this tomb scene from that of Nakht on the West Bank at Luxor, note the clear difference in skin color between Nakht and his wife, TawyFemales are referred to much more in terms of beauty than are men. However, in the "Blinding of Truth by falsehood," a woman desires Truth, a man more handsome than anyone else in the country. She bears his child, who looks like a young god. Hatshepsut also tells us, at Deir el-Bahri, that when the god Amun appears in the bedroom of her mother, Queen Ahmes, her mother is awakened by his divine fragrance, which permeates the whole palace as they make love. Hatshepsut herself is described as appearing before her subjects with skin like electrum (a silver-gold alloy) and smelling like all the perfumes of Punt. Clearly, an alluring scent is connected in the ancient Egyptian mind with divine beauty.
At other times, beauty is described indirectly by analogy or simile. For example, in Papyrus Harris 500, a poem written fairly late in Egypt's pharaonic history (about 500 BC) with a female narrator describes herself as being like a field planted with sweet-smelling herbs. She also More often than not, common women are depicted wearing perfume cones on their heads, which slowly released perfumed fats into their hair, as in this relief from the tomb of Khaemhat on the West Bank at Luxorcompares her love's voice to pomegranate wine. This is reminiscent of an amazing talking pomegranate tree mentioned in Papyrus Turin 1966, which compares a beloved's teeth to pomegranate seeds and her breasts to the whole fruit. We are not so sure why the teeth would be compared to pomegranate seeds, however.
Similarly, a male of Cairo Vase 25218 says that he feels immersed in perfume when he embraces his beloved, as if he were in the land of incense. He also claims to be drunk "without beer" when he kisses her.
Color is also important in nonliterary depictions of the ideal form. Men are almost universally shown with red or reddish-brown skin. Women are frequently shown with paler skins, although the color used by artists varies over time. In Old Kingdom representations, we see women with pinkish white skin. During the Middle and early New Kingdom, their skin is often yellowish. Later in the New Kingdom, the shades returned to pink or were pale orange. Goddesses, on the other hand, had yellow or "golden" skin throughout the New Kingdom.
Only during the Amarna Period do we sometimes find male and female with the same, darker reddish skin color. Some Egyptologists have attempted to explain this color variation as the work of the sun. Hence, upper class women remained indoors while men were out in the sun, so that a lighter-skinned woman appeared more aristocratic. Indeed, men depicted with newly shaved In this Stela of a General discovered at Naga el-Deir, we can see the symmetry of man and woman in ancient Egptian artheads are often represented with a paler scalp than the rest of their skin, and elderly men are sometimes also shown with paler skin. However, there was also doubtless symbolic meaning. Certainly this is true for the skin of goddesses.
Beauty in humans as well as in other animals or objects may also have included symmetry as a necessary component. In both art and architecture the ancient Egyptians favored the rectilinear geometric outline over the curved. Therefore the ideal male body may be summarized as being bounded by two triangles. One is that of the torso, consisting of broad shoulders exaggerated in two-dimensional images by frontal positioning and a narrow waist, shown in three quarter view. The other is the striding legs. The bodies of women were tailored to fit within a long rectangle. Their shoulders were of course narrower than the male's and the feet were together or with one slightly advanced. Only during the Amarna Period does this ideal symmetry vary, but that period's art is so profoundly different than the remainder of Egyptian history as to be a subject unto itself. It is also likely that, though royal depictions and even those of common people varied considerably during this period reflecting a new form of official royal beauty, the idea of real beauty probably did not change among the general population. In fact, the royal bust of Nefertiti, the wife of Akhenaten (founder of the Amarna Period) was, and is considered to be a classical example of female beauty (or at least of facial features).
The Bust of Nefertiti, now in Berlin The Bust of Nefertiti, now in Berlin
The elite who commissioned tombs are depicted in much the same way as those of royalty, for the most part. Drastic departures from the slim, youthful and healthy norm are seen primarily in those of lower status. For example, pattern baldness is depicted in representations of herdsmen and other lower class males. Even for the lower classes, age and obesity are rarely shown in women.
Though few indications of real aging, this sculpture of the Dwarf Seneb and his family make little pretense about beautySculptures in the round also seem to portray what the Egyptians believed to be beautiful. Kings are frequently depicted as very powerful humans, with well formed and well toned muscles. Women, on the other hand, or represented in the round as slender, graceful forms. On the other hand those, particularly non-royal statuary, may at times be more realistic. We find many touching statues of more common people who do not exactly fit the ideal form, and so therefore it may seem that statuary was less of an indication of perfect beauty than that of paintings and reliefs.
It is not only people who may be described as beautiful. In Papyrus Turin 1966, a sycamore fig is described as being beautiful. It has leaves greener than turquoise, branches like faience, wood the color of feldspar and fruits as red as jasper. The beautiful jewel-like colors of the tree are an integral part of its beauty. There are many other instances of descriptions related to beautiful inanimate objects, including that of the Nile, the Western mountains and even Egypt itself. It is also clear that Egyptians saw beauty in many other objects that are even to this day beautiful to us. This obviously includes many items of jewelry, ornate boxes and items made of pottery and various stone, and these items that we see today in museums speak to us of the ancient Egyptian's love of beauty.
Only during the Amarna Period do we sometimes find male and female with the same, darker reddish skin color. Some Egyptologists have attempted to explain this color variation as the work of the sun. Hence, upper class women remained indoors while men were out in the sun, so that a lighter-skinned woman appeared more aristocratic. Indeed, men depicted with newly shaved In this Stela of a General discovered at Naga el-Deir, we can see the symmetry of man and woman in ancient Egptian artheads are often represented with a paler scalp than the rest of their skin, and elderly men are sometimes also shown with paler skin. However, there was also doubtless symbolic meaning. Certainly this is true for the skin of goddesses.
Posts: 315 | From: Deep Earth | Registered: Feb 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Evergreen: Determination of optimal rehydration, fixation and staining methods for histological and immunohistochemical analysis of mummified soft tissues
A-M Mekota1, M Vermehren2
Biotechnic & Histochemistry 2005, 80(1): 7_/13
"Materials and methods In 1997, the German Institute for Archaeology headed an excavation of the tombs of the nobles in Thebes-West, Upper Egypt. At this time, three types of tissues were sampled from different mummies: meniscus (fibrocartilage), skin, and placenta.
The basal epithelial cells were packed with melanin as expected for specimens of Negroid origin."
Only during the Amarna Period do we sometimes find male and female with the same, darker reddish skin color. Some Egyptologists have attempted to explain this color variation as the work of the sun. Hence, upper class women remained indoors while men were out in the sun, so that a lighter-skinned woman appeared more aristocratic. Indeed, men depicted with newly shaved In this Stela of a General discovered at Naga el-Deir, we can see the symmetry of man and woman in ancient Egptian artheads are often represented with a paler scalp than the rest of their skin, and elderly men are sometimes also shown with paler skin. However, there was also doubtless symbolic meaning. Certainly this is true for the skin of goddesses.
I'm sorry but isn't the armana period described as the period of realism? So if the women are portrayed as dark as the males during the armana, along with wrinkles and sagging skin and whatnot, would it not mean those colors are more realistic?
I think it is widely accepted that dark skin signifies strength while light skin signifies weakness in older Egyptian art, perhaps this is why the "victims" of circumcision were painted light while the persons who did the deed were dark. Even in today's black communities, darker skin males seem to be preferred in adulthood and light skin males are attributed to being sissies or pretty boys.
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posted
Hum women tend to be lighter than men, and men tend to prefer lighter women, but since when lighter=white? Obviously AE women were depicted as lighter sometimes, but that hardly makes them white.
Posts: 218 | Registered: Aug 2007
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posted
Women in AE art were painted different colors from the men in EVERY period their history. Women were painted yellow, yellowish tan, golden and even bright white from the Old Kingdom right up until the New Kingdom. Obviously these women were not literally yellow or yellowish white. During the New Kingdom women started being painted in more naturalistic colors, but still often different colors than the men. So instead of yellow or yellowish white, you get light golden brown, tan or even pinkish. Does this mean the women were ACTUALLY this complexion? Obviously not, as the fact that the AE HISTORICALLY depicted women in colors different than men, in a consistent manner, implies both symbolic and artistic purposes for such colors, which have nothing to do with any actual PHYSICAL attributes of the persons in question. Those who want to claim that women were lighter complexioned than men due to not being indoors are ignoring the facts of Egyptian art in order to make baseless suggestions. In fact, in many tombs the SAME WOMAN can be depicted both dark and light in the same tomb. Notable examples of this are found in the valley of the Queens where many queens can be seen both in brown, pink, tan, yellow or white. Similar things can be said about Amarna females. So obviously there is more artistic and symbolic meaning behind such colors than a reflection of actual appearance.
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quote: Originally posted by Miguel Antunes: Hum women tend to be lighter than men
Yes, it is a side affect of testosterone levels on melanin levels in men.
quote:, and men tend to prefer lighter women,
Relevance? Substantiation?
Given, is the fact that men tend to be darker do to higher testosterone levels. There should still be a way to quantify any sex-based melanin differences in any populations, if any, and discern whether this constitutes sexual dimorphism, and whether that be attributable to hue-based sexual selection.
Even so, archaic preferences might not be all that relevant.
I question, because all evidence in support of that preference claim I've seen ends up being either European mis-understanding, or their habit of placing their values on other cultures.
As a relevant example, Nfr, which means beauty, was translated by Europeans as 'fair', which most of us know generally means agreeable in whatever context, but also, as a physical descriptor means 'light'.
Another reason I question has to do with more modern issues, as one of those 'rarer' (according to Miguel Antunes) men who not only like, but prefer darker, deeper complected women, in stark contrast to the serial, ancient genetic male preference of lighter skin (as per Miguel Antunes statement, which was asserted as if it would have been relevant in ancient times, I tend to be more skeptical of of rationalizations, like the fact that many women date African men being indicative - and only indicative - of the men's preferences..
Though, don't take this to mean I assume everyone else has my preferences, nor to mean that skin color is a crucial criterion in any of my decistion making.
People seem to assume that our openness in dating signifies something, where as no attempts are made to reason why so many other ethnicities of women would date African men.
Perhaps, it is women, today, that like darker, or black men. Though, not to sure how open some folks would be to that idea.
Also, perhaps modern preconceptions based on the social climate shouldn't be assumed to have been, for the ancient cultures.
quote: but since when lighter=white? Obviously AE women were depicted as lighter sometimes, but that hardly makes them white.
I agree.
Though, it's interesting to observe how more regular, and detailed depictions tend to pheature women in the same brown coloring as men ("regular", is used here as the context of the said works is an everyday-life type context).
Anyways, I think Doug M made an interesting comment, as to why Nefertiti may have been depicted as dark as she usually was, and what that, in contrast to the infamous 'Nefertiti bust' may entail about the ancients perception of beauty.
posted
Actually my point is that Nefertiti was no different than any other woman depicted in Egyptian art. Nefer means beautiful in ancient Egyptian, not light. The reason why women were depicted as light is partly a result of the contrast between men = earth, women = sky as defined in the cosmology. The deities of ancient Egypt followed the same color code, with female deities, representing nurturing or "mother nature" and the womb, painted yellow, symbolic of being like Nut, the sky goddess. Male deities were painted brown representing the seed of the earth or semen, symbolized by Geb, the earth god, who was the husband of Nut. The contrast between the two is symbolic of the contrast between the seed and the womb and the earth and the sky and the male and female contrast found within nature and biology.
Nefertiti's bust that is yellowish tan or pink is therefore not a unique case that should be interpreted literally, given that most other females in Egyptian art were also depicted in the same way. The only reason this whole stylistic convention and symbolism gets lost is because those who want the ancient Egyptians to be white will take images out of context on purpose. Therefore, yellow and pink images of Nefertiti and also Nefertari are singled out as beautiful or "realistic", as if they don't fall into the same conventions for coloring used in other periods of Egyptian art.
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posted
With so many colors which are realistic in Egyptian art (pink, tan, light brown, etc), it is really hard to say for sure how any specific female personage actually looked.
Coffin of Neshkons, wife of Pinodjem II (Twenty First Dynasty):
quote: The mummy of Nestanebtishru was unwrapped by Gaston Maspero on June 30'th, 1886. (Go here and here for more photos of Nestanebtishru taken by Emile Brugsch in 1886, reproduced in MA [1958,] 125-126) G. E. Smith describes this mummy as "one of the finest specimens of the embalmer's art in the XXI'st Dynasty," and noted that the earlier mistake of "over packing and distending the face" has not occurred here. He further describes her (subjectively) as a "haughty, Bourbon-like lady" and states that the sawdust (or "powdered wood") used to stuff her body cavity still emits a "strong, pungent aromatic odour." Like other aristocratic ladies of her period, Nestanebtishru's body had been colored with yellow ochre in imitation of the yellow coloration given to ladies in wall paintings.
quote:Originally posted by Doug M: Again, we see yellow used as a symbolic color within the embalming process. Obviously women were not painted yellow to match any real life complexion.
posted
that pic of the modern egyptian lady is the light version in the world of peoples of various dark shades. This is a issue not understood by pale skinned pinkish peoples obviously of course. They tend to determine color by their base which is a pale-pinkish color. The darkest they become is orange, so therefore when they do achieve the so-called golden brown they vall it a tan which in the world of darker hues is incorrect. Their color view is based in their particular ethnic group which has a 99% pale rate. The modern egypian is a perfect example of the yellowish tones shown on the reliefs and not a pale-deshret color. In the pre-islamic culture of the arabs they had the same color connotation because majority of the people in the peninsula were dark skinned. They would call this women white meaning light or in the language bright colored while they would call people from turkey and iran pale. The prophet muhammad(saw) is reported to have been the complexion of this woman. They generally called persians and romans reds
-------------------- لا اله الا الله و محمد الرسول الله Posts: 495 | From: anchorage, alaska | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
She looks Egyptian to me, light skinned or not. Regardless of the complexion many of the features are the same. Modern Egyptians still descends from ancient Egyptians even if it has been 2,500 years since a native pharaoh ruled the land. Some people like to skip over that period as if it hasn't had an impact on the people or the culture.
The point being that one cannot always tell easily from ancient artwork the actual complexion of the ancient people thus depicted. I doubt many of the women in the tombs painted yellowish brown or light pink were actually that complexion, even if many modern Egyptians have the same complexion. The colors were largely symbolic and cannot always be relied on. Obviously, all the available evidence has to be scrutinized without relying on simplistic generalizations, such as has been done in the past.
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quote:Originally posted by Glider: Egyptian Woman with Pale/Yellowish Color
Of course the yellowish color was only symbolic. As there's no such thing as a natural color disparity between men and women of a population where the women are that light but the men are that dark (dark brown).
And in any case, there are countless exceptions where not only are women also painted dark but in some cases darker than the males in attempt to show reality.
Irregardless from yellowish brown to reddish brown are all not unusual for native Africans.
Try not to project your modern Egyptian views into it where women bleach their skin etc. LOLPosts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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Yes, it is a side affect of testosterone levels on melanin levels in men.
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