What did ancient Egyptians communicate through their personal grooming?
Statuette of the Barber of the Temple of Amun Meryma’at, Thebes, Dra Abu el-Naga, Lower Cemetery, tomb 45, Late Dynasty 18 or early Dynasty 19 (1332-1279 b.c.), Limestone, h. 46 cm., Coxe Expedition, 1909-10
Theme: Daily Life
Goal: To evaluate the messages communicated through personal grooming
Grade Levels: 6-8
Curriculum Areas: Writing, Communication, Arts
Materials:
Transparency, overhead projector, writing paper and utensils, scissors, glue, copy or
construction grade paper, an assortment of magazines
Statuette of the Barber of the Temple of Amun Meryma’at
This statue is of the barber Meryma’at. Missing is the accompanying sculpture of his wife, whose hand partially remains on his left shoulder. As the temple barber, Meryma’at would have been responsible for attending to the temple priests, shaving their entire bodies as often as every three days. This helped to ensure the purity of the temple rituals. In addition to the role of barbers, we know something of the importance of hairstyles, dress, and makeup to the ancient Egyptians.
Hairstyles in ancient Egypt generally expressed an individual’s age or status more than fashion trends over time. As a young boy, your hair would be shaved off with the exception of one long lock, which hung like a ponytail from the top of your head. All Egyptians shaved their bodies using bronze razors. Most adults also shaved their heads or cut their hair very short, and wore elaborately woven wigs. Meryma’at is seen here with such a wig. In general this was cooler than long, natural hair. Different wigs could be worn on different occasions. The pharaoh would sometimes wear a false beard—even if he were a she!
Meryma’at is also wearing a kilt with a lot of pleats. While Egyptians wore a great variety of cloaks, robes, and dresses, kilts were extremely common for many daily activities. Other adornments of the ancient Egyptians include makeup, perfumes of various types, and, of course, jewelry.
Objective
1Students will conduct a critical visual analysis of an art object.
Procedure |
|
What Teacher Does |
What Students Do |
| Facilitate an all class
exploration of the art object. Questions should lead students to observe stylistic
approaches to hair, facial features, body proportions and pose, clothing, and overall
symmetry. Which way do you think this sculpture would fall if it fell over? Would it fall over? Does this statue look hard or soft? If this person were real, how would they be posed 30 seconds after this? One minute? Where is he looking? What do you think he is thinking? Do you think this figure is idealized? Why or why not? What is he holding? What is he wearing? What can you tell about the clothes? What do you notice about the hair? Is this person important? What do you think is the most important feature in this sculpture? Why? |
Students will complete a critical visual analysis of the art object. Students should begin to draw conclusions from their observations, about general Egyptian canon and the qualities of the persona which has been represented. |
Assessment Strategies
Objective
2Students will analyze their observations about the sculpture, and hypothesize about the character of the man represented from external traits.
Procedure |
|
What Teacher Does |
What Students Do |
| Divide students into small groups (4-6 students) and share the following information. External form and imagery in Egyptian art is meant to inform us of the internal qualities of the individual. As a group, ask students to create a description of this barber’s personality in the form of a list of traits. Encourage students to discuss different interpretations of the same physical feature. | Small groups brainstorm aspects of personality and compile a list of those traits that apply to the figure. With each trait, students should include which of their observations revealed that trait. If time permits, the group may attempt a second, contradictory analysis using different interpretations of the same observations. |
Assessment Strategies
Objective
3Students will find contemporary, popular media images to illustrate a list of personality traits.
Procedure |
|
What Teacher Does |
What Students Do |
| Divide students into pairs or
singles and share the following: Daily dress and styles in ancient Egypt served to convey
the same internal qualities as the artwork. Hair, dress, and makeup were as much an art
form as any other. They served much the same function for the ancient Egyptians as they do
for us today. We communicate our personality through our outward appearance. Here is a
list of personality traits. Together, you and your partner will create a dictionary of
these traits using images cut from magazines and newspapers as your definitions. Students
should be provided with magazines, glue, and scissors. This may take the form of homework
for individuals. Encourage students to find multiple "definitions," or examples,
for each trait. Traits: Wild, Smart, Cool, Funny, Wise, Old, Tough, Artistic, In Control, Rebellious |
Working in pairs, students cut out images of hairstyles, clothing, bodies (not faces), and other personal decorations and group them according to which trait from the list they match. Student should write or be prepared to explain why they matched each selection. Images (and text) could be glued to a large sheet of paper to create a presentation or on smaller multiple sheets in a book format. |
Assessment Strategies
Extension Activities
Use magazine images in place of the transparency and conduct critical visual analysis of the figure. Look for personality traits that are expressed visually.
Try a discussion of contemporary morals and how they are represented in our dress and styles.
Make drawings that show what students would wear if they lived in ancient Egypt, or make wigs that express their personalities.
Have students dress as they would want to be remembered for all time. Takes photos of each student and have them write a caption explaining their dress, or have students try to figure out what other students are expressing.