mous code of laws, have the same features and almost the same frizzled
beard, and, according to Meyer, the king in claiming supremacy over
Sumer and Akkad wears the costume of the lands.[11] Ordinary folk could
not claim these honours, and in Egypt, where shaving was practically
universal, artificial beards were worn upon solemn occasions as a
peculiar duty. But the appendage of the official was shorter than that
of the king, and the gods had a distinctive shape for themselves; if it
appears upon the dead it is because they in their death had become
identified with the god Osiris (Erman, 59, 225 sq.). Young Egyptian
princes and youthful kings had a long plaited lock (or later a lappet)
on the side of their head in imitation of the youthful Horus, and the
peculiar tonsure adopted by the later Arabs of Sinai was inspired by the
desire to copy their god Orotal-Dionysus.[12] Thus we perceive that
ancient costume and toilet involves the relations between the gods and
men, and also, what is extremely important, the political conditions
among the latter. When the king symbolizes both the god and the extent
of his kingdom, ceremonies which could appear commonplace often acquire
a new significance, any discussion of which belongs to the intricacies
of the history of religion and pre-monarchical society. It must suffice,
therefore, to record the Pharaoh's simple girdle (with or without a
tunic) from which hangs the lion's tail, or the tail-like band suspended
from the extremity of his head-dress (above), or the panther or leopard
skin worn over the shoulders by the high priest at Memphis, subsequently
a ceremonial dress of men of rank. That the Pharaoh's skirt, sometimes
decorated with a pleated golden material, should become an honorific
garment, the right of wearing which was proudly recorded among the
bearer's titles, is quite intelligible, but many difficulties arise when
one attempts to identify the individuals represented, or to trace the
evolution of ideas.[13]

Ceremonial costume.

The well-known conservatism of religious practice manifests itself in
ceremonial festivals (where there is a tendency for the original
religious meaning to be obscured) and among the priests, and it is
interesting to observe that despite the great changes in Egyptian
costume in the New Kingdom the priests still kept to the simple linen
skirt of earlier days (Erman, 206). Religious dress (whether of priests
or worshippers) was regulated by