Costumes of the Kings on the Temples of the Late Period

Abstract

Costumes are recognized as a crucial source for studying ancient Egyptian history. The purposes of costumes varied considerably. Costumes served as a form of non-verbal communication that was an effective way to display, establish and confirm the individual’s identity. Moreover, costumes shown in reliefs are sometimes utilized as a dating indicator. The purpose of this study is to identify the costumes of the kings on some temples of the Late Period through three main peculiarities: The types, the lengths, and the decorations and adornments of the costumes. This study offers a descriptive and analytical methodology, arranged chronologically from the 25th dynasty to the 30th dynasty. The research is divided into two parts: The first part contains evidence of the costumes of the kings depicted on the Late Period temples, the second part contains an analytical study through: The types, the lengths, and the decorations and adornments of the costumes. It is concluded that several components from the early style predominate, along with other innovative elements. The kings’ costumes typically comprised the close fitting-tunic along with various styles, lengths and decorations of kilts.