"So the boys at Bembridge got it wrong"

Jonathan talking about hieroglyphs and books, but he could have been talking about our film makers and their ideas about costumes too …
Notes on Egyptian Costume in The Mummy
Ankhesenamun's Costume
Well, what little costume she is actually wearing … Actually, it is true that Egyptians didn’t have the problems with nudity we modern humans have, but as Seti’s concubine I think the poor girl would be dressed in at least something.. There is a lovely Egyptian tale about a pharaoh who dressed his girls in fish net dresses (the first time it was used for an erotic purpose I suppose!) but most girls in the King’s harem would wear white linen of such high quality that it would be transparent. They certainly didn’t have gold body paint, and that rules out the priest’s silver paint too.
This makes a nonsense of the dress they put her in when Imy has her on the table trying to revive her the first time (above), it’s just too blue! The type of pleats on that dress aren't too dissimilar to what the Egyptians would do though. 19th Dynasty Egyptians wore linen garments which were very impressive with lots of pleats - the gaufering showed your prestige in the Two Lands as only nobles wore this.. Of course pharaoh's concubine would have lots of jewellery too. I have given details about Ankh’s pectoral in my treasure pages.
Seti's Costume
What Aaron Impale is wearing in The Mummy is not particularly bad – they didn’t get it too wrong and probably copied it from something Ramses I (Seti’s son) had sculpted on a wall somewhere. He did a lot of this, as he was the longest living ruler in Egypt living to about 80. His dad only managed to get into his 40s though but he did die from old age.

The one thing that irks me about Seti’s costume is his crown. It’s the wrong colour! Egypt had a crown made of two parts as originally it was two countries, Upper and Lower Egypt which were united by a chap called the Scorpion King (aka Narmer) who you might have heard of in connection with the new film The Mummy Returns. Narmer is credited with uniting the two lands and from this time the two crowns were joined to become the double crown, ‘Seckhemty’ or ‘Crown of Power’.
White Crown
Red Crown
Double Crown
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