The red looped sash: an enigmatic element of royal regalia in ancient Egypt part 1 Art of Counting | August 11,

2010 Is the red looped sash worn at the king s waist simply an elaborate tie used to ho ld up the royal kilt, or does it have an inherent significance? If it did carry meaning, what made it appropriate for particular contexts but not for others? The Art of Counting Team believes that it does have meaning, and has the data to back it up. This is the first of four articles that will explore the red loope d sash. Due to the length and complexity of this discussion, this information will prese nted as multiple posts. We will begin with a brief examination of the general u se of sashes in ancient Egypt, the significance suggested by some previous resea rch on the looped sash, and the appearances of this regalia element in royal Ram esside tombs. The second post will focus on the significance of the color red i n Ancient Egypt, the third installment will explore the meaning of the looped sa sh as royal regalia, and the final article will examine the appearances of the l ooped sash at Medinet Habu and outline what those appearances reveal about its u sage. This prominent attribute of royal regalia first caught my attention several year s ago in the temple of Seti I at Abydos where it occurs at least 15 times, often as part of some especially elaborate royal costumes. Seti I wearing a falcon shirt, armbands, double shebiu collar, multiple apron, a nd looped sash:

Seti I wearing a red fabric shirt, armbands, double shebiu collar, multiple apro n, and looped sash:

Seti I wearing a looped sash while grasping a rekhyt bird:

Seti I wearing the looped sash while receiving the breath of life:

Detail of looped sash from an offering scene rendered only in paint:

This element has been briefly discussed by scholars, but there has not been an i n depth examination of its usage and significance. Largely for this reason, thi s looped sash was one of the regalia attributes I researched in my dissertation project focusing on Medinet Habu. The analysis of usage patterns for this attri bute revealed some strong tendencies for the sash to be worn in particular situa tions. The data clearly showed that there is a close connection between the sas h and scenes of violent action, those that legitimize the king s rule, and to thos e moments where the pharaoh is passing through a transitional, or liminal, zone. Background use of sashes and previous work on the looped sash Plain sashes were used from as early as the Old Kingdom by men of all social cla sses to hold their kilt in place; however, the very large, red loop and long sas

h seen in the costume of the king is clearly not intended simply to secure his k ilt. Like the red streamers that hold some crowns in place (see second image of Seti above), a sash needn t have been so prominent to serve this basic function. Binding and the tying of knots were used in acts of creation and protection (R.R itner, The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, 144). Knots were not only amuletic, but they could be viewed as a symbol of the hidden force of germi nation. Strips of cloth were clearly important in cult from early in Egypt s histo ry, as the cloth-wrapped netcher sign ( god ) attests. Netcher-sign from the White Chapel:

It has been noted that djed pillars, divine emblems, temple facades, and New Kin gdom kiosks often display streamers, and these are considered to be similar in c onception to the fluttering streamers attached to royal headgear as well as the inn umerable long pendant strips that form part of the dress of deities (and) royalt y. (E. Hornung, Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt, p.37). Relief at Luxor temple showing facade with four triple-streamer flags:

Divine emblems at Medinet Habu with red streamers:

Detail of djed pillar in Valley of the Queens (QV) tomb 44 with pendant sashes:

It has been suggested (by W. Westendorf) that these long pendant strips, which a ppear on goddesses early in the New Kingdom, may be symbolically related to the ankh. Particular forms of penis sheaths have likewise indicated a connection bet ween these cloth belts worn by workmen and the ankh (see J. Baines in SAK 3). Ho wever, the large looped sash appearing at the king s waist has not been extensivel y discussed in these studies. However, the looped sash is mentioned in the Egyptological literature on numerou s occasions (such as by W.R. Johnson), mostly in terms of its appearance in the intensely solar iconography that appears on Amenhotep III after his jubilee. The major hallmarks of this solar costume besides the looped sash are the panther h ead (or tiny skin) at the top of the apron, the shebiu, and the armbands. Amenhotep III wearing a Phase III costume on the facade of the Colonade Hall at Lu xor Temple (from W.R. Johnson in L. Berman, ed.):

Detail of panther head at top of multiple apron and looped sash on a standard-be arer statue:

Elements of this elaborate solar costume of Amenhotep III appears in the scenes of the king on the great bark of Amun depicted on the Third Pylon at Karnak, on statuary, such as the well-known purple quartzite depiction of the king found in the Luxor cachette, and also in some private tombs, such as in the tomb of Anen (TT 120) where he is enthroned in a kiosk.

Detail of the purple quartzite statue showing looped sash and a feathered back k ilt:

Amenhotep III and Tiye in TT 120. Only the trailing sash is preserved, visible just behind the king s calf:

This costume continued to be used after Amenhotep III to identify the king as su n god, and the looped sash appears in a number of the New Kingdom royal tombs, b eginning in the tomb of Seti I. It is often part of the elaborate costume worn by the king in the Litany of Re scenes that appear at the top of Ramesside royal tombs. Litany scene in Valley of the Kings (KV) tomb 8 (Merenptah):

Litany scene in KV 47 (Siptah):

Litany scenes in KV 15 (Seti II):

Litany scene in KV11 (Ramses III):

Detail of kilt in KV11 Litany scene:

The looped red sash was undoubtedly considered to be a very essential piece of r egalia in certain contexts. See, for instance, the below figure from the tomb o f Seti II (KV 15). Sketch of king in KV15:

This image of the king wearing a lappet wig, and its mirror on the opposite wall , were only basically indicated in red ink. Although the depiction of pharaoh w as never executed in any manner beyond this outline, the looped sash is clearly visible and very prominent. Several similar examples can be found in a side cha mber in the tomb of Seti I (KV 17), where preliminary sketches on the pillars cl early show the looped sash among the king s regalia. The red looped sash is seen on many royal images in the Ramesside tombs, often in the outer corridor and als o deeper within the tombs, and it seems to increase in frequency as time passes. For example, although in the tomb of Ramses III (KV 11) the sash is worn in th e Litany scene seen above, only two of the five offering scenes within the corri dor, and at just once in the pillared hall, almost all of the images of the king in the pillared hall and burial chamber of Ramses VI (KV 9) wear the looped sas h.

Offering scene in KV11:

Pillared hall in KV9 (Ramses V/VI):

Burial chamber of KV9:

In the tombs of the sons of Ramses III in the Valley of the Queens, Ramses wears the looped sash in all of his depictions, at least where it can be determined. In these tombs, pharaoh is shown preceding his sons and interceding for them be fore the gods and gatekeepers of the Netherworld. Ramses III before his son in QV44 (Khaemwaset):

Ramses III before his son in QV43 (Sethherkhepshef):

Although the looped sash is an element restricted exclusively to the king s use, i n many of the scenes his sons wear one of their floral sashes looped at the wais t in imitation of the king s red loop. Detail of king s kilt in QV44:

Detail of prince s costume in QV44:

Why was the looped sash so prevalent in Ramesside royal tombs, and why did its u sage increase in frequency over time? What meaning did this exclusively kingly attribute hold that made it so appropriate for a funerary context, especially si nce in other contexts (such as on temple walls) it was often worn in scenes of b attle, slaughter, and violent action? What about it made the looped sash desira ble for the princes to imitate in their costume? In the next installment of this examination of the looped sash, we will explore the significance of the color red in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of the meaning inherent in this enigmatic element of royal regalia.

The red looped sash: an enigmatic element of royal regalia in ancient Egypt-part 2 Art of Counting | August 16, 2010 Why was the looped sash worn at the king s waist almost always painted red? What significance does this color hold and what message does it convey as a prominent regalia element? In the first post on the red looped sash, we discussed the us e of sashes in general, outlined previous scholarship on the regalia element, an d pointed out the occurrences of the looped sash in Ramesside royal tombs. That post noted that flowing sashes were connected to divine insignia and appear to have been related to the ankh, an important symbol of revivification. In this s

econd installment of our examination of the looped sash, the focus is a general examination of the color red in ancient Egypt. Although it may seem a digressio n, it is important to this four-part discussion of the range of meanings inheren t in the physical appearance of the looped sash that an investigation of its col or be carried out. Colors had great meaning and carried magical significance (see G. Pinch in Colou r and Painting in Ancient Egypt). Red was an especially potent color it was conne cted to the wild desert, primeval powers of creation, blood and violence, and ce rtain aspects of the solar cycle. When depicted in color, the looped sash is al most invariably red, although I have found two blue examples so far. Ramses III in QV44 wearing a blue looped sash:

Red (desher) is a highly ambivalent color throughout Egyptian history. The color was associated with the deserts, and deshret (the red lands ) stood in balance aga inst kemet, the black land (i.e. the fertile Nile Valley). Through its relation ship with the uncontrolled hinterlands, red was connected to virulent and chaoti c powers, such as the raging of Seth and the monstrous snake Apophis, but red is also closely linked with the sun and represented the stalwart protection grante d by the Eyes of Re who guarded the sun god on his journey. Apophis (Apep) bound in KV9:

The goddesses who could personify the Eye, such as Sakhmet and Hathor, are descr ibed in some magical texts as being clad in brilliant red linen. These potential ly angry goddesses are depicted in red clothing as well, such as Hathor in the tom b of Thutmosis IV. Sakhmet at Medinet Habu:

Red was considered the morning and evening color of Re, representing that moment when he crosses the dangerous liminal zone of the horizon. When the looped sas h appears in the costume of the living Amenhotep III, it, along with the apron e mbellished with disc-topped uraei, shebiu collar, armbands, and feather patterne d aprons, was intended to identify the king with the sun. Many of these costume elements had been seen previously on pharaoh (from the time of Amenhotep II), bu t only in a particular context: where the king was portrayed in private tombs we aring these attributes, enshrined, and referred to as the sun god Re (W.R. Johns on, in Amenhotep III, p. 86) Red and blood were intimately connected with the daily rebirth of the sun god. There are two major reasons for this association indicated textually. One of th ese is connected with Nut s birth blood, which emerges with the disc and is called the red flood (in Coffin Text 407, for example). Ceiling in the burial chamber of KV9, showing the solar disc on it s cyclical jour ney through Nut:

It is perhaps telling that in CT 714, the word hahw, or flood, is determined not onl y with a water sign but also a sky symbol. The text from the cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos indicates that, after his birth, the rejuvenated god swims in his redne ss (J.Allen, Genesis in Ancient Egypt, p.3).

Detail in KV9 of Re, shown as a red child, emerging from the netherworld at dawn :

The other, more aggressive, connection is made apparent in Pyramid Text 273-4, t he Cannibal spell, which describes how the deceased king swallows his enemies in o rder to absorb their power (K.Goebs, Crowns in Egyptian Funerary Literature, p.2 07). The process is considered simultaneously destructive and creative, much lik e cooking destroys the original ingredients, but the whole comes together to form something new. Herishef, the ba who is in his redness, was associated with sunrise and presided over the Lake of Blood. This deity, who represented the united Re and Osiris and was associated with kingship and its transfer, commenced terrestr ial kingship as a result of Sakhmet s bloodbath (Goebs, 254) He was considered to be the actual embodiment of the aggressive dawn-form of the sun god. The flood of b lood apparent on the pre-dawn horizon appears to represent the (chaotic pre-sunris e) basis from which the new creation emerges in the morning (Goebs, 254). The sun god emerging in the burial chamber of KV9, surrounded by protective fire spewed from the uraei:

The protectively maternal and dangerously bloody aspects of red are explicitly l inked in terms of the deshret crown in the text of CT 44 (Goebs, 201). Detail of the solar bark in KV9; note the red-clothed goddess wearing the deshre t crown standing before the bark:

This dualistic nature is further suggested by the various interpretations of the red of dawn. It has been noted, for example, that the red flood could not only r efer to Nut s birth blood, but also to the ochre-colored beer that was poured out on the land to entice and appease the angry Eye (Goebs, 223). According to the Seti I cenotaph text, it is seems clear that the sun was born som e time before actual sunrise. The duat is described as being not at the visible horizon, but rather somewhat below the apparent intersection of sky and earth (Al len, 6). The eleventh hour of the Amduat was called the red-hour, and depictions o f this portion of the solar cycle show four goddesses, wearing desert determinat ives as crowns, who bear individual names like Igniter. These aggressively protect ive females functioned to destroy the enemies of the cosmic process who were att empting to halt the solar bark and stop the sun god from rejuvenating creation a t his rising. Since fire is their medium, these reddening goddesses might be seen as manifestations of the Eye, the shining uraeus who burns the bodies of Egypt s enemies with her flame. Guardians of the sun god in KV9; note the four females holding large red knives, like those inserted in the body of Apophis:

In CT 648, the sun god at dawn is described as three in one the self-created Re, S akhmet overpowering his enemies, and the distant Horus who presides over the Enn ead (Goebs, 303). If the rising sun can be simultaneously seen as Re and Sakhmet , the idea that the disc drinks up the redness of dawn to emerge anew may also be related to the myths of the Distant Eye. The Eye is at first distant and angry, but once appeased, she brings completeness to her father, Re. The devouring flame

that is the angry Eye judges and gathers the gods for the apparent slaughter of th e stars that occurs at dawn (Goebs, 335). The sky progresses from night, which i s full of millions of stars, to the deep redness that spreads before dawn. This r edness eats up the stars, which lose their brilliance and seem to vanish under the progressive tide. Then the disc begins to emerge from the horizon, apparently s ucking the red flood into itself, until it separates from the horizon as the last trace of blood disappears (Goebs 340). The newly-reborn sun god emerging from the blood-red disc (detail in KV9 burial chamber):

The redness of dawn is also connected to Horus, the archetype of kingship. PT 4 04, for instance, includes a reference to the Horus of (dawn)-redness, and the kin g himself is said to be the redness that came forth from Nut in PT 1460a (Goebs, 1 68). Horus is explicitly connected to red cloth in texts related to the ritual o f the meret-chests at Edfu. The god is said to unite with the seshed-linen to ov erthrow your foe. You hold the red linen in its moment (A. Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, 180). Seti I offering red linen to Amun-Re at his Abydos temple:

Actual royal examples of red sashes survive from the New Kingdom. There were th ree different types of sashes found in the tomb of Tutankhamun; undecorated simp le, tapestry woven, and Amarna-style (G. Vogelsang-Eastwood, Tutankhamun s Wardrobe, 59). One of the Amarna sashes is largely intact (JE 62647) and preserves a linen tapestry woven central panel with pairs of streamers extending from each side. A lthough they are woven with several colors, the decorated sashes are predominant ly red. Tutankhamun s Amarna sash as displayed in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo:

Detail of Tutankhamun s sash:

Also almost entirely red is the so-called Rameses girdle. This incredibly well exe cuted textile has been interpreted as a scarf, a jacket, or a belt, but has been recently reinterpreted (by G. Vogelsang-Eastwood) as an example of one of these long, looped sashes. It is delicately embroidered with ankh signs and originall y displayed a finely executed line of text (now completely destroyed) that inclu ded the names and titles of Ramses III. The looped red sash appears on the living king during the reign of Amenhotep III . Also during this period, a long red sash begins to be worn around the waist o f royal women. This same type of crossed tie is well known from the iconography of goddesses in the New Kingdom, particularly Isis. It appears on Amenhotep II I s mother, Mutemwia, in TT 226 where he represents a form of the sun god and she stands in the position of a goddess. The sash was likely intended in this scene to tie her with the sky mother who ensures the sun s journey. By the beginning of the Nineteenth Dynasty, the iconography of Isis is indistinguishable from that o f royal women (L. Troy, Patterns of Queenship, 127). Isis and Neith wearing the girdle tie in QV44:

As seen in the figure above, the shape of this tie worn by goddesses and queens is rendered quite distinct from the looped sash that appears on the king. This t ype of tie (which sometimes also appears on male deities) wraps twice around the body and is knotted at the waist in the front, with the ends dangling down the front. The king s looped sash is wrapped an unknown number of times around the wa ist (it is generally concealed by a belt, layered on top of the wrapped tie) and knotted at the side, with one end loose and the other end tied into a loop. Bo th kinds of ties represent ritual knots that encircle the bodies of these beings , binding and protecting them while their bright coloration loudly announces the ir apotropaic significance. They may, in fact, be two different versions of the same fundamental attribute a strip of cloth that ritually enfolds, conceals, and shields. This red attribute, which encircles the body of goddesses and queens, may be dir ectly related to the tyet amulet, the shape of which has been interpreted as a g irdle tie. See the large blue and red tyet amulet behind Nefertum in the tomb of Horemheb (KV 57). This probable connection between the tyet amulet and the gir dle tie would be consistent with the association of the protection of a mother g oddess. The tyet amulet is usually made of carnelian or other red material (alth ough they could also be blue) and is explicitly connected to the blood of Isis a nd the apotropaic role it plays for the deceased in the Afterlife. In addition, the amulet has been linked to menstrual blood and its place in reproduction. The element was specifically connected with the protective tie used by Isis to shie ld the fetal Horus when Seth tried to cause her to miscarry. There was an apparently deep connection between the tyet and the ankh. Some earl y ivory fragments from Abydos show a tyet (rather than the ankh, as became usual ) alternating with was signs, and both ankh-djed and tyet-djed combinations are preserved from the early Old Kingdom. A frieze of djed and tyet signs at Dendera:

Even into the New Kingdom, the ankh and tyet remained strongly associated althou gh clearly differentiated. They may even be viewed as two versions of the same thing, since the primary difference between them is the orientation of the arms stif fened and held horizontally for the ankh as opposed to the softly rounded, flacc id arms of the tyet. The above investigation suggested a range of possible meanings for the red loope d sash. The associations of the red tie with the aggressive Eyes of Re and the morning and evening ordeals of the solar god, when he passed through the dangero us liminal zone, indicate that this attribute was related to a powerful form of apotropaic protection. Its similarity to the girdle ties worn by goddesses and queens, combined with the connection between both types of ties and the tyet and ankh, suggests that this ritual knot was not only protective but also contained a significant creative potential. It is possible that the particular meaning i nherent in the sash may vary considerably depending upon the context and type of scene. What do these aggressively apotropaic connotations reveal about the looped red s ash? How does the connection between the guardians of the sun god and red ties fit in with the use of the looped sash as an item of royal costume? In the next post on the looped red sash, we will discuss the meaning of this element as roya l regalia based on the data from Medinet Habu.