What clothes did the ancient aksum people where?

Answer 1

Men of all social classes wore a wrap-round skirt called a schenti which was tied at the waist using a belt. The length of the schenti varied depending on the fashion of the time and how rich you were. In the Old Kingdom they were short while in the Middle Kingdom they were calf length. Throughout the ages the schenti worn by ordinary men remained short and plain. From about 1500BC (the beginning of the New Kingdom) it was fashionable for wealthy men to have the garment pleated.

Egyptian women wore full length tubular dresses with shoulder straps known as a kalasiris. This remained the basic type of garment worn by ordinary women for thousands of years. Like the men the clothing of wealthy women became more elaborate during the New Kingdom. It became fashionable for rich women have their dresses pleated or draped. Rich Egyptian men and women decorated their clothes, wore jewellery and wore elaborate wigs often made from real human hair.

The most common used fabric for clothing was linen. It was light, fine and easily draped over the body. Linen is woven from vegetable fibres obtained from the flax plant, extensively grown in ancient Egypt.

Linen came in several grades from the unbleached schenti or kalasiris worn by a peasant to the diaphanous material draped over the bodies of the rich. It was not the only material in use: papyrus was used for aprons and sandals; wool was woven into shawls and other outer garments. Leather was used to made sandals. The Romans introduced Chinese silk bought from Byzantium.

The quality of cloth denoted your position in the pecking order. The higher a person’s social rank the better quality cloth he or she wore. Men and women of all ranks went bare-chested, but for an elite Egyptian complete nakedness was not acceptable, only children, slaves and peasants could go about without clothes. Such an Egyptian would not raise an eyebrow at the sight of thousands of naked slaves working on the construction of a monument.

Children of all classes did not wear clothes until they reached puberty. After then they usually wore the same clothes as adults.

Most Ancient Egyptians went barefoot most of the time but wore sandals for special occasions or if their feet were likely to get hurt. The sandals worn by the poor were made of woven papyrus or palm while those worn by the rich were made of leather.

Dyeing techniques with natural indigenous ingredients had been developed in Egypt but was not well evolved as dyeing linen was difficult. The colours were loaded with symbolism: green symbolized life and youth; yellow was the symbol of gold, the flesh of the immortal gods.