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Posted by rahotep101 (Member # 18764) on :
 
This topic came up elsewhere and I thought it derserved an thread of its own...

Was head binding practiced in ancient Egypt to produce elongasted skulls? I think not and would attribute the strange heads seen in Amarna-era art to stylization. My main reason for doubting it is that the fact that though all the daughters of Akhenaten were shown with long heads, Ankhesenamun was later represented with a normal round head, for example in the images from Tutankhamun's tomb.

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Compared to:

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Posted by Calabooz' (Member # 18238) on :
 
I posted this in the last thread and I'll post it again:


The sociopolitical history and physiological underpinnings of skull deformation.

Ayer A et al. 2010

quote:
In this report, the evidence, mechanisms, and rationale for the practice of artificial cranial deformation (ACD) in ancient Peru and during Akhenaten's reign in the 18th dynasty in Egypt (1375-1358 BCE) are reviewed. The authors argue that insufficient attention has been given to the sociopolitical implications of the practice in both regions. While evidence from ancient Peru is widespread and complex, there are comparatively fewer examples of deformed crania from the period of Akhenaten's rule. Nevertheless, Akhenaten's own deformity, the skull of the so-called "Younger Lady" mummy, and Tutankhamen's skull all evince some degree of plagiocephaly, suggesting the need for further research using evidence from depictions of the royal family in reliefs and busts. Following the anthropological review, a neurosurgical focus is directed to instances of plagiocephaly in modern medicine, with special attention to the conditions' etiology, consequences, and treatment. Novel clinical studies on varying modes of treatment will also be studied, together forming a comprehensive review of ACD, both in the past and present.
So cranial deformation was practiced in Egypt during the 18th dynasty. Making the artwork you call stylized actually reliable which will ultimately aid in providing evidence for further research

quote:
Was head binding practiced in ancient Egypt to produce elongasted skulls? I think not and would attribute the strange heads seen in Amarna-era art to stylization.
You are completely wrong as usual
 
Posted by rahotep101 (Member # 18764) on :
 
I'm undecided but on the skeptical side, as regards head binding. I've seen Egyptian images of circumcisions being performed, but none of parents binding the heads of their infants. Are there any texts describing the practice? Not to my knowledge.

Having mentioned circumsision I may as well broaded this topic out to include other 'body modifications'. Some of the 18th dynasty mummies have quite large-gauge ear piercings, Nefertiti often being identified by two holes in the same ear. There is also a bust, I think from the tomb of aper-el, which appears to show streched ears. This is again 18th dynasty.

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If these are indeed plates worn within streched earlobes it's very unusual for an Egyptian.
Maiherpri also appears to have somewhat large streched lobes, that said, if I'm seeing right.

http://i.livescience.com/images/i/16693/i02/maiherpri-mummy-110517.jpg
 
Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
 
^ I too have been looking for evidence of head-binding in ancient Egypt. I've read many references to the practice in sources such as this but never any actual evidence or proof.


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I've always acknowledged the possibility since there are other African cultures which do the same such as the Mangbetu.

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However, one should make a distinction between skulls that are deformed and those that are naturally hyperdolichocephalic. The trait of hyperdolichocephaly among Egyptians is a common one in Africa which is why many scientists like Dr. Susan Anton labeled their skulls as African in the first place.


As far as circumcision, like in other African societies it was practiced as a rite of passage into adulthood.

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Notice how the boys who are being circumcised are given a light color like females showing they have not yet achieved manhood yet. The practice of female circumcision has not been shown or proven though its practice in rural areas of Egypt as well as other parts of Africa make it probable if not likely.

As for 18th dynasty royals sporting large gauge ear-piercings called by Egyptologists "shield earrings", this may have been part and parcel of an ongoing trend for that dynasty to adopt Nubian styles such as the so-called "Nubian wig".

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Tiye's bust above shows her wearing a shield earring. I don't think all such type of earrings were worn in the lobe and stretched them. Many shield earrings just had hooks that pinned them on the ears and merely covered the lobes.
 
Posted by rahotep101 (Member # 18764) on :
 
Interestingly the mummy identified as Tiye doesn't appear to have pierced ears at all...

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However the younger lady mummy from the same tomb had double pierced ears with large holes, something also seen on images of Nefertiti.

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Tutankhamun evidently had substantial holes in his ears, but his skull doesn't reveal strong evidence of head binding...

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There is only a slight dip at the top of his head, which was exaggerated in some scupltures.

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Nefertari of a few generations later evidently had similar holes in her ears in order to wear these snake earrings:

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The fashion for large ear piercings seems to have been short lived in Egypt. Only the Aper-el bust gives any clue that the practice was ever taken to the extremes witnessed elsewhere in Africa.
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The practices of ear stretching and head binding were also known in South America (as was tattooing- which was also common in North Africa and Arabia). This is something else that poses question of ancient contact across the Atlantic. It seems traces of tobacco and cannabis have also been found in Egyptian mummies, although these substances were supposedly only known in the New World.


Ancient Egyptian images of Libyan men often showed them with the type of tattoos that are now most commony seen on Berber and Bedouin women. It seems that only females were tattooed in ancient Egypt, however...
More on tattooing in ancient Egypt:

http://egyptology.blogspot.com/2008/12/tattooing-in-ancient-egypt.html

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^ Berber with tattooed face. The practice persisted despite being discouraged by Islam.
 
Posted by rahotep101 (Member # 18764) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Djehuti:
As far as circumcision, like in other African societies it was practiced as a rite of passage into adulthood...

Notice how the boys who are being circumcised are given a light color like females showing they have not yet achieved manhood yet. The practice of female circumcision has not been shown or proven though its practice in rural areas of Egypt as well as other parts of Africa make it probable if not likely.

[/QB]

Female circumcision is still rife in Egypt despite being officially banned. It appears to have ancient origins. Both Coptic Christians and Muslims go in for it. Coptic Christians and Ethiopian Orthodox always insisted on male circumcision, unlike the Christian churches in Europe. Female circumcision (or FGM) seems to be a practice Egyptians have in common with other Africans especially Sudanese and Somalis, and across to central west Africa, where, for example, the Dogon practice it. However the practice is also (regretably) common in parts of the Middle East, so it is not an exclusively African thing.

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Herodotus seemed to suggest that other nations (including the Jews, implicitly) copied circumsision from the Egyptians:

quote:
...Colchians, Egyptians, and Ethiopians alone of all the races of men have practised circumcision from the first.
The Phoenicians and the Syrians who dwell in Palestine confess themselves that they have learnt it from the Egyptians, and the Syrians about the river Thermodon and the river Parthenios, and the Macronians, who are their neighbours, say that they have learnt it lately from the Colchians. These are the only races of men who practise circumcision, and these evidently practise it in the same manner as the Egyptians. Of the Egyptians themselves however and the Ethiopians, I am not able to say which learnt from the other, for undoubtedly it is a most ancient custom; but that the other nations learnt it by intercourse with the Egyptians, this among others is to me a strong proof, namely that those of the Phoenicians who have intercourse with Hellas cease to follow the example of the Egyptians in this matter, and do not circumcise their children.

Noteworthy that he said 'children', not 'sons'.
 
Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by rahotep101:

Interestingly the mummy identified as Tiye doesn't appear to have pierced ears at all...

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Yes, this is rather peculiar.

quote:
However the younger lady mummy from the same tomb had double pierced ears with large holes, something also seen on images of Nefertiti.

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The double pierced ears was another trait associated with royalty and was perhaps another Nubian style.

quote:
Tutankhamun evidently had substantial holes in his ears, but his skull doesn't reveal strong evidence of head binding...

There is only a slight dip at the top of his head, which was exaggerated in some scupltures.

Yes, as experts have noted Tut's skull is not deformed at all but naturally hyper-dolichocephalic.

quote:
Nefertari of a few generations later evidently had similar holes in her ears in order to wear these snake earrings:

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The fashion for large ear piercings seems to have been short lived in Egypt. Only the Aper-el bust gives any clue that the practice was ever taken to the extremes witnessed elsewhere in Africa.

Yes, as I said the trend seems to be associated with the 18th dynasty which promoted other Nubian fashion trends. This was one of the reasons that has led some Egyptologists to speculate a Nubian origin for the 17th and succeeding 18th dynasty.

quote:
The practices of ear stretching and head binding were also known in South America (as was tattooing- which was also common in North Africa and Arabia). This is something else that poses question of ancient contact across the Atlantic. It seems traces of tobacco and cannabis have also been found in Egyptian mummies, although these substances were supposedly only known in the New World.

Ancient Egyptian images of Libyan men often showed them with the type of tattoos that are now most commony seen on Berber and Bedouin women. It seems that only females were tattooed in ancient Egypt, however...
More on tattooing in ancient Egypt:

http://egyptology.blogspot.com/2008/12/tattooing-in-ancient-egypt.html

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^ Berber with tattooed face. The practice persisted despite being discouraged by Islam.

Tattoos are also worn by Beja women of eastern Egypt and Sudan as well as many Ethiopian women.

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In the case of the Beja, tattoos have become increasingly rare due to strict trends of Islamization, though it is still prevalent among Christian Ethiopians albeit modified for more Christian symbolism.

I am well aware of the use of tattoos among ancient Egyptian women. It's interesting that the tattoos were placed on the thighs and belly the same way scarification was among Nilotic women with a net-like pattern on the belly. Scarification was apparently also practiced by Egyptians found in mummies of certain dynasties and even in preydynastic mummies. Ausar tells me both tattooing and scarification are still practiced in rural areas of Egypt today especially in the south. This was also documented by Winifried S. Blackman in her book The Fellahin of Upper Egypt and also by by Henery Aryout Habib in his book The Egyptian Peasant.

I believe the tattooing tradition comes from a very ancient Afrasiatic tradition while the scarification tradition comes from the Nilotic tradition.
 
Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by rahotep101:

Female circumcision is still rife in Egypt despite being officially banned. It appears to have ancient origins. Both Coptic Christians and Muslims go in for it. Coptic Christians and Ethiopian Orthodox always insisted on male circumcision, unlike the Christian churches in Europe. Female circumcision (or FGM) seems to be a practice Egyptians have in common with other Africans especially Sudanese and Somalis, and across to central west Africa, where, for example, the Dogon practice it. However the practice is also (regretably) common in parts of the Middle East, so it is not an exclusively African thing.

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Herodotus seemed to suggest that other nations (including the Jews, implicitly) copied circumsision from the Egyptians:

...Colchians, Egyptians, and Ethiopians alone of all the races of men have practised circumcision from the first.
The Phoenicians and the Syrians who dwell in Palestine confess themselves that they have learnt it from the Egyptians, and the Syrians about the river Thermodon and the river Parthenios, and the Macronians, who are their neighbours, say that they have learnt it lately from the Colchians. These are the only races of men who practise circumcision, and these evidently practise it in the same manner as the Egyptians. Of the Egyptians themselves however and the Ethiopians, I am not able to say which learnt from the other, for undoubtedly it is a most ancient custom; but that the other nations learnt it by intercourse with the Egyptians, this among others is to me a strong proof, namely that those of the Phoenicians who have intercourse with Hellas cease to follow the example of the Egyptians in this matter, and do not circumcise their children.
Noteworthy that he said 'children', not 'sons'.

Female circumcision should not be mistaken for a synonym for FGM in general since female circumcision is merely one type or form of FGM with other forms being practiced. Like male circumcision, in traditional African cultures it was also used as a coming of age ritual to make one more feminine and thus transition a girl to womanhood. Usually female circumcision involves the excision or cutting away of the outer portion of the clitoris. The clitoris by the way is a long organ about the length of a girl's finger with only the tip exposed on the outside. In fact, many cultures believe doing so may increase a woman's sexual pleasure. The more extreme forms of FGM such as infibulation where the entire outer vulva is cut away and the vaginal opening is sewn into a smaller opening is usually associated with Islamic cultures that try to "curb" a girl's sex drive to protect the family's "honor". I personally am against FGM and especially infibulation which is just savage. A girl or woman still possesses a sex drive due to hormones from her ovaries, it just so happens she will not be able to enjoy sex let alone have complications with menstruation and especially childbirth.

Because circumcision is so widespread in Africa and cuts across many linguistic and cultural practices, the custom must be very ancient even prehistoric with many experts believing the practice to have arisen at least during the Upper Paleolithic. It's interesting that the first traditions of circumcision outside of Africa occur among Semitic speakers in Southwest Asia further evidence of proto-Semites being derived from Africa.
 
Posted by TruthAndRights (Member # 17346) on :
 
quote:
Was head binding practiced in ancient Egypt to produce elongasted skulls? I think not ..
You can THINK not, but it does not change the FACT that it WAS practiced...and you KNOW I posted the EVIDENCE of such in that thread...which I now cannot find it seems to have disappeared, as I would love to copy and paste that info I posted right into this thread, so you can stop spouting off foolishness.

Worse, you KNEW when you made this thread that evidence had already been provided in the aforementioned other thread that head binding was practiced in ancient Kmt (Egypt).

[Roll Eyes] so typical....
 
Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
 
^ Truth, may you please post such evidence. If you've done so before, I missed it. Again, I never denied that head-binding was practiced, I just could never find any actual evidence before. Strange that such an unusual custom would have evidence easy to find in the internet.
 
Posted by TruthAndRights (Member # 17346) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Djehuti:
^ Truth, may you please post such evidence. If you've done so before, I missed it. Again, I never denied that head-binding was practiced, I just could never find any actual evidence before. Strange that such an unusual custom would have evidence easy to find in the internet.

Greetings Djehuti-

My comment and tone was in no way directed at you/your post. [Smile]

I posted the info, yes; but I can't find the thread which contained the info... [Frown] [Mad] It was over on 'the other side' where I normally post. Quite a few people posted in that thread.

I am attempting to find it, but it's become too time-consuming; I am starting to think that either 1) I am mistaken as to which thread(s) it could be(and I don't have the time to go into each thread and look for the postings) or 2) the thread itself has been deleted for some odd reason [Confused]
 
Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
 
^ Yes, I completely understand and I knew your post was directed at Rahotep. I just want to see evidence of skull deformation in Egypt.
 
Posted by rahotep101 (Member # 18764) on :
 
As I mentioned, fact that Ankhesenamun magically reverts to having a round head in post-Amarna art, which counts against the notion. Plus there is no direct evidence of the practice. Obviously the Amarna elongated-head sculptures somewhat resenble African-type head binding, which doesn't appear to overly flatten the borehead, unlike South American type.

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Tattooing similar to that of the Beja is also known among the Bedouine of Sinai and Arabia (almost exclusively among females). I've wondered about connections between these northern nomads and those of the south, especially as the Beja language is called Bedawi.
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Egyptian Copts are often tattooed with crosses, meanwhile, which has been interpreted as a defense against forced conversion. Similar cross tattoos were to be seen among Christians (especially females) in Turkish-occupied Balkan Europe, for similar reasons... Egyptian Christians usually have small crosses tattooed on their wrists, their Ethiopian co-religionists (again, especially females) tattoo their foreheads with rather big ones. I would guess that the custom also derives from times of Islamic invasion threat, and was originally a deterrant from forced conversion.
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Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by rahotep101:

As I mentioned, fact that Ankhesenamun magically reverts to having a round head in post-Amarna art, which counts against the notion. Plus there is no direct evidence of the practice. Obviously the Amarna elongated-head sculptures somewhat resenble African-type head binding, which doesn't appear to overly flatten the borehead, unlike South American type.

I agree. I have yet to see actual evidence of the practice. The elongated shape of the skulls is due to hyperdolichephalic which is totally natural with no evidence of deformity.

quote:
Tattooing similar to that of the Beja is also known among the Bedouine of Sinai and Arabia (almost exclusively among females). I've wondered about connections between these northern nomads and those of the south, especially as the Beja language is called Bedawi.
I imagine the connection is very ancient, as I believe the custom of tattooing women is proto-Afrasian in origin since Arasian speakers throughout the African continent as well as in Southwest Asia practice it. By the way, many Bedouin in the southern Hejaz and Yemen are black people who look no different from Africans across the Red Sea.

The Arabic word Badawi which means semi-arid desert is different from from the Beja word Bedawi which means pure or great. The Beja language itself is closest in relation to the ancient Egyptian language after Coptic and Sa'idic slang.

quote:
Egyptian Copts are often tattooed with crosses, meanwhile, which has been interpreted as a defense against forced conversion. Similar cross tattoos were to be seen among Christians (especially females) in Turkish-occupied Balkan Europe, for similar reasons... Egyptian Christians usually have small crosses tattooed on their wrists, their Ethiopian co-religionists (again, especially females) tattoo their foreheads with rather big ones. I would guess that the custom also derives from times of Islamic invasion threat, and was originally a deterrant from forced conversion.
I agree, but I need to do more research on the history of such tattooing to find out if other parts of the body were tattooed as well.
 
Posted by rahotep101 (Member # 18764) on :
 
As a aside, to my knowledge the oldest preserved tattoos are probably those on 'Otzi' the ice-man mummy from the Italian/Austrian Alps, which dates to about 3,600 BC. These tattoos seem to have related to some kind of medical treatment rather than being decorative.

Tattooing seems never to have died out in other parts of the world, but was unknown in western Europe between late antiquity and the 18th century, when sailors started copying the practice from pacific islanders.

Egyptian images of Libyan men show tattoos elsewhere on the body, but not on the face. As far as I know the situation has reversed, and now it is now primarily a tradition for Berber females. The geometric designs are somewhat similar, though.

Ancient Libyan:
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Moroccan:
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Posted by Calabooz' (Member # 18238) on :
 
The article I posted offers evidence which I will post later, or you can check it out yourself. True than the elongated skulls of some Royals need not have been the result of artificial cranial deformation, and it was rare, it was still practiced.
 
Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
 
^ Please do post it.

In the meantime here is more on ancient Egyptian tattoos and cicatrization.

http://www.angelfire.com/bc/Sez/Egypt.html

Written records, physical remains, and works of art relevant to Egyptian tattoo have virtually been ignored by earlier Egyptologists influenced by prevailing social attitudes toward the medium. Today however, we know that there have been bodies recovered dating to as early XI Dynasty exhibiting the art form of tattoo. One of the more famous and written about mummies is that of Amunet, a priestess of the-goddess Hathor, at Thebes. This female mummy displayed several lines and dots tattooed about her body.

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A second mummy also found depicted this same type of line pattern (the dancer). This
mummy also had a cicatrix pattern over her lower pubic region. In the figure above you can see the various patterns as they are displayed on the body. The various design patterns also appeared on several figurines that date to the Middle Kingdom, these figurines have been labeled the "Brides of Death." The figurines are also associates with the goddess Hathor.

Another mummy found datable to about 2000 B.C. also displayed tattoos on her body resembling that of Amunet and the dancer. Robert Biachi states in his Tattoo in Ancient Egypt that: "Such tattoos created by grouping dots and/or dashes into abstract geometric patterns demonstrate the long duration of tattoo in ancient Nubia, as recent excavations at the Nubian site of Aksha demonstrate. Excavators at Aksha uncovered a number of mummies of both adolescent and adult women with blue (or black-blue) tattoos in precisely the same configurations as those found on the three Egyptian mummies from the Middle Kingdom.

These dot-and-dash patterns have been seen for many years throughout Egypt. Believed that this pattern and skill of tattoo was borrowed from the Nubians, the art of tattoo developed during the Middle Kingdom and flourished beyond. The evidence to date suggests that this art form was restricted to women only, and usually these women were associated with ritualistic practice. These mummies give us site into how long this art form has been practiced and how their art was displayed. From continent to continent this art form has developed and transformed. Through the Egyptian eyes to other cultures tattoo is something that satisfies various needs and interest.[/i]

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The cicatrization pattern in the lower belly is quite interesting. I know that usually such a pattern was tattooed instead of cicatrized (scarred). I saw program on Discovery that showed a circular net pattern that opened up as a pregnant woman's belly grew larger forming a circular net pattern that Rahotep cited.

I noticed that in Nilotic tribes the scarification pattern on a woman's belly is usually shaped in a way as to form a square net.

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Sometimes the pattern loops around the belly.

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Posted by rahotep101 (Member # 18764) on :
 
Interesting. I was going to ask about scarification, since it is seldom associated with Egyptian culture. Any other examples known?
 
Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
 
^ Scarification was indeed rare at least from evidence of mummies, tattoos were more common but not that pervasive. In fact, Egyptologists was once thought such body decoration was used by commoners and people of lower status only. There is actually more evidence of body markings through figurines than actual persons. Many Egyptologists link scarification as a Nubian style whereas tattooing was both an Egyptian and Nubian custom practiced since time immemorial. Although women had more elaborate scarification, evidence suggests certain men were scarred on their faces as they are today in rural areas of Egypt.

Here is an interesting article:

Identifying the Practice of Tattooing in Ancient Egypt and Nubia
 
Posted by rahotep101 (Member # 18764) on :
 
Interesting, especially the evidence of continuity. Here is a female musician figurine which seems to show tattoos. I'm not sure if the eye of Horus is meant to be an amulet or a tattoo, but there are definitely dots around the breasts and on the belly that appear to be tattooed.

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Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
 
^ I think the Eye of Heru is just part of her collar. As for the dots, maybe. The I can't see too well because of the angle.
 
Posted by TruthAndRights (Member # 17346) on :
 
Headbinding in Congo:

[img] http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DtsajQefh2s/R5ENlctPp3I/AAAAAAAAKtE/1Bk-I6_CG74/s400/Ce+clich%C3%A9+pr%C3%A9sente+en+gros+plan+le+profil+d%27une+femme+Mangbetu+by+lammeretz+vers+1940.jpg [/img]


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Posted by rahotep101 (Member # 18764) on :
 
jeam Leon Gerome's paiting 'Egyptain Water carrier'. The woman is tattooed on the chin:

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Posted by sero (Member # 19290) on :
 
Some interesting old pics from Congo showing body scarification.

More
http://www.ezakwantu.com/Gallery%20Scarification.htm

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Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
 
^ It's interesting that some ancient Egyptian women made tattoos of dots around their belly in a circular design which when pregnant spread out in a circular net-like image. In Nilotic-Sudanese cultures, women made scarification designs of a more quadrilateral shape on their bellies which spread and stretched like a net during pregnancy also.
 
Posted by Men Kheper Ra (Member # 4547) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by rahotep101:
This topic came up elsewhere and I thought it derserved an thread of its own...

Was head binding practiced in ancient Egypt to produce elongasted skulls? I think not and would attribute the strange heads seen in Amarna-era art to stylization. My main reason for doubting it is that the fact that though all the daughters of Akhenaten were shown with long heads, Ankhesenamun was later represented with a normal round head, for example in the images from Tutankhamun's tomb.

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The women with the white band around her head appears to be a foreigner. The head band signifies a connection to the ancient Syrians or even Punt.

As we know ancient Egypt was a melting pot but with Africans and Afro-Asiatics.
 
Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :
 
^ That's actually WRONG! Foreigners are not usually portrayed on the tombs of kings unless they are being subdued and/or being herded into the afterlife with Egyptians. The woman in the mural of Tut's tomb is not a foreigner but a native Egyptian woman who happens to be depicted in the conventional symbolic yellowish complexion. She may in fact be a goddess.

The head band or 'fillet' as Egyptologists call it appears to be of proto-Afroasiatic in origin as in the African ancestral culture of Egyptians and other Afrasian speakers, for it is not only worn by Asiatic Syrians but also Egyptians themselves as well as Beja, Ethiopians, Somalis, etc. etc. It is still worn today by many Africans.

Other Egyptians wearing fillets as seen on Tut's tomb wall
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