Unpacking Tutankhamun’s Wardrobe

Ancient Attire is a Digital Lecture Series on Dress, Adornment and Vestimentary Codes in the Ancient Mediterranean World.

This lecture is presented by Dr. Rosalind Janssen

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About the lecture

In this the centenary year of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, discover what can be learnt about Pharaonic attire from unpacking a selection of the garments in his wardrobe. Why was it that the king’s state robes were largely unworn, and was Howard Carter correct in referring to the embroidered ‘Tutankhamun’s tunic’ as a priestly vestment? An examination of Tutankhamun’s (worn) underwear has revealed that the boy king, who possessed 145 linen loincloths, was decidedly ‘pear-shaped’. How does this tie in with other recent discoveries about his physique? And what can this extraordinary wardrobe – at 500 items the largest artefact assemblage discovered in Tutankhamun’s tomb – further reveal about the minutiae of daily life in Ancient Egypt?

About Dr. Janssen

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Dr. Rosalind Janssen

Rosalind Janssen is Honorary Lecturer in Education at UCL’s Institute of Education. She was previously a Curator in UCL’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, and then a Lecturer in Egyptology at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology. She currently teaches Egyptology at Oxford University and the City Lit in London. She is the author of Egyptian Textiles (1985) in the Shire Egyptology series, and together with her husband Jac. Janssen, Growing up and Getting Old in Ancient Egypt (2007). She has also worked on excavations in Egypt as a textile expert, including in the Valley of the Kings.

Digital event - how to participate

The seminar will be held digitally. If you wish to attend a lecture, you need to register in advance.

Register here!

A zoom link will be sent to you before the event. You can download Zoom or use your browser: https://zoom.us/download

Suggestions for further Reading

  • Hall, Rosalind, Egyptian Textiles, Shire Egyptology 4, Princes Risborough: Shire Publications, 2001.
  • Reeves, Nicholas, The Complete Tutankhamun: The King, the Tomb, the Royal Treasure, London: Thames & Hudson, 2011.
  • Vogelsang-Eastwood, Gillian M., Tutankhamun’s Wardrobe: Garments from the Tomb of Tutankhamun, Rotterdam: Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn, 1999.

About Ancient Attire

A Digital Lecture Series on Dress, Adornment and Vestimentary Codes in the Ancient Mediterranean World

The aim of this series is to investigate vestimentary codes in ancient cultures, and to explore how these concepts relate to gender, hierarchy and power.

Seven excellent international researchers, experts on the material cultures and texts of the ancient Mediterranean, will present a 30-minute lecture, followed by amble time for questions and discussion.

We are interested in mapping dress and adornment as broadly as possible and therefore we encourage our speakers to consider vestimentary codes from a multi-sensorial perspective and to give thought to both touch, smell, taste, hearing and vision.

Ancient Attire Programme - Fall 2022

Organizer

The lecture series is organized by Professor Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme and hosted by The Faculty of Theology at the University of Oslo and the Faculty’s research group Biblical Texts, Cultures and Receptions.

Published June 24, 2022 2:48 PM - Last modified Nov. 17, 2022 1:06 PM