what was the purpose of the mysterious ornaments?

Ancient Egyptians are often depicted wearing coffee cup-sized hats. What were the head cones of the ancient Egyptians used for?

According to a study published in JOURNAL Antiquitythe oldest known burials containing these “coffee cup” sized caps date back to around 3,300 years ago.

Between 1550 and 30 BC, many ancient Egyptian paintings and sculptures depicted men and women wearing small conical head ornaments. The activities in which the people who wore these hoods were involved varied greatly, with some paintings showing them at funeral feasts, while hunting, playing music or even giving birth, according to the study in Antiquity. quoted by Live Science.

Until recently, archaeologists had only seen these hats in paintings and found no physical evidence of them in tombs. What did the head cones of the ancient Egyptians represent?

The head cones of the ancient Egyptians, finally elucidated

But in 2019, the study in Antiquity described two burials from cemeteries at Amarna, an archaeological site in Egypt that was once its capital. These graves contained skeletons with hooded heads, demonstrating that the accessories were not just stylistic motifs created by painters.

Analysis of the remains revealed that the ornaments were made of beeswax and that none of the individuals appeared to have been wealthy. Rather, their skeletons indicated that they had been laborers who had suffered from food shortages.

What was the purpose of the hats?

Archaeologists are still unsure of the purpose of these hats. A previously proposed idea was that these caps were made of a scented ointment, or balm, that released a pleasant smell as it melted. Another possibility is that they were considered fertility helpers, as they appear in paintings alongside Hathor, the goddess of fertility.

“Researchers often associate these hoods with sensuality, sexuality, and related notions, as they are frequently associated with images of women, sometimes naked,” the authors wrote in the study in Antiquity.

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