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Ancient History

This is What Life Was Like for an Egyptian Worker Building the Pyramids

egyptian worker building the pyramids

Pyramid Builder Fashion

Ancient Egyptian laborers on projects like the Pyramids
Carpenters in Old Kingdom work wear depicted on Tomb of Rekhmire (c. 1504-1425 BCE). Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egypt is hot. The climate could be very uncomfortable for people laboring in unshaded sun to build the pyramids. The fabrics and styles of Egyptian clothes kept people reasonably cool. Old Kingdom men wore flax-based linen loincloths that went from waist to knee, held up with a belt. The fashion-forward of the workers would sport thin mustaches and keep them well groomed. Women wore linen sheaths secured with a shoulder strap.

The wealthy Egyptians would wear jewelry; decorated collars, earrings, rings, headdresses, and necklaces, as much as they could afford. Children wore nothing at all until they reached adolescence. Additionally, most Egyptians did not wear shoes unless there was a reason to, like working in hazardous areas or for special occasions. Wealthy people would wear leather sandals, and the poor would fashion sandals from papyrus or palm.

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