The grave was packed with just about everything a young king might need in the afterlife, including chests crammed with clothing: ceremonial robes, loincloths, sashes, head coverings, underwear, gloves, socks and sandals. The tomb had been robbed in antiquity and the brigands, looking for treasure, had pulled many of the carefully folded clothes out of the chests. Priests later hammed the clothing back inside as they restored the burial and resealed the tomb.
As a result, many of the crumpled textiles were very poorly preserved when Howard Carter found them afte discovering the tomb. Only a few items have ever been on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The rest have been in storage since 1922, although Carter himself realized the importance of this unique colletion of royal clothing. "The material from this tomb will be of extreme importance to the history of textile art, and it needs very careful study," he wrote.
That study began in 1992, under the direction of Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, directory the Textile Research Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands. Many of the textile fragments were so fragile, however, that working with them was diffucult, especially trying to figure out how they may have been worn.
The answer was to make exact replicas of some of the pieces. Each piece of the original fabric was conserved, studied and measured, then duplicated with new fabric that was specially made. Linens of the correct quality and fineness were required, which meant hand-weaving some of the more elaborate fabrics. The replica garments include tunics decorated with beads, embroidery and gold discs, glovers, leopard skins and socks.
The work shows that Tutankhamun wore clothes of a similar style to his subjects, although his were distinguished by beads and gold decoration. Men and women in ancient Egypt wore similar clothing, with gender differences expressed mostly through hairstyles, makeup and sandals.
Analyzing the replica clothing shows that Tut was decidedly pear-shaped, with a 78.7-centimenter (31-inch) chest, 73.6-centimeter (29 inch) waist and 109-centimeter (43 inch) hips. Statues of the pharaoh Akhenaten show him with similarly wide hips, although images of Tutankhamun usually do not.
Some of the garments from Tutankhamun's tomb are unique and include style not seen on wall painting and reliefs. And they show what Tutankhamun -- and probably other pharaohs -- actually wore.
Many of the replica garments are being shown at the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland through July 1.
Pictures and illustrations were not scannable. Article used without permission for educational and research use only.
Egypt Revealed, May/June 2001, pg. 16
