Ancient African Twisted Locs and Short Twists

In Ancient Kemet  hair was an embodiment of their identity and many of their crowns drew inspiration from ancient African hairstyles. Hairstyles carried religious and social significance and portrayed information about gender, age, and social status. The Kemetyu  (km.tw, ancient Egyptians) wore elaborate braids, locs and short twists. Some even wore wigs as evidence of the 3300 year old Wig of Merit, whom was the wife of Kha (Tomb TT8). This however was rare due to the exorbitant coast to produce. Only Elites sometimes wore wigs but was even rare for them. While some have made the claim that the likes of Queen Nefertiti and Queen Ankhesenamun wore the Nubian Lappet Wig, there is no evidence such a wig existed and none have been recovered suggesting that this Nubian Lappet was not a wig and was simply a natural hairstyle.In these images Amenemhat III were the twisted loc style with the short twist in the front which is still to this day a common hairstyle throughout the African diaspora. Some have claimed this to be a wig rather than his natural hair. There is no way to prove if it was or not, however only a handful of wigs have actually been recovered which suggests most of the statues with these elaborate boisterous hairstyles was there natural hair. What was thought to be metal crowns are actually African hairstyles wrapped in felt clothe sometimes decorated with beads and precious stones.

In a 2009 study British archeologist Geoffrey Tassie acknowledges the importance of Kemetic hair in the portrayal of social and class status stating, “hairstyles were a means of displaying status. An institutionalized cannon for hairstyles was established coinciding with the creations of administrative institutions. These codified hairstyles continued to serve as the norms for identifying members of the administration or signs of authority.” The study of ritualistic and hierarchal hairstyles in ancient Africa is called ethno-trichology.The Kemetyu (ancient Egyptians) and Nehesi  (Nubians) had a variety of hair textures from curly to coarse that could keep its shape when certain oils and animal fats were added. They would slather butter onto their hair and scalp, protecting it from the sun which then could be twisted into locs, combed out into long flowing waves, or used to enhance curl definition. The most elaborate style was the Lappet hairstyle that consisted of layers of locs over lapping each other.Prominent during the New Kingdom this hairstyle can be seen being worn by Nubian 𓅘𓎛𓋴 𓇋 Dignitaries on the temple walls of King Tutankhamun’s tomb (TT80). Although the layered Lappet style would fade from history, similar hairstyles are still practiced by Ethiopians and and people of African decent. Beeswax and cow fat are still used today 5,000 years later to achieve these elaborate designs specifically in Ethiopia.The majority of the wigs that have been recovered were made with human hair, normally dark in color, although some also used vegetable fiber. They were made by expert hairdressers who used tongs, beeswax or resins to fix them to a mesh that had interwoven with human hair. When they were finished they were flavored with perfumes and oils. In the Old Kingdom, the most demanded wigs were short-haired, square and with the middle part.Men used to wear their very short natural hair or shaved head, although they could use some short wig for specific acts. In the Middle Kingdom the most used wigs were shaped like a roll imitating the iconography of the Neteru (goddess) Het-Heru (Hathor). During the New Kingdom when wigs become more ornate, thus, those with small braids, ringlets or waves at mid back, adorned with jewels or water lilies, are common.Wigs were sometime worn however it was rare due to their high cost. The idea of wigs has been used by racist Egyptologist to explain away the obvious African textured hair and hairstyles seen widely throughout ancient Kemetic artwork.

In 2023, Professor Christopher Ehret reported that the physical anthropological findings from the “major burial sites of those founding locales of ancient Egypt in the fourth millennium BCE, notably El-Badari as well as Naqada, show no demographic indebtedness to the Levant”. Ehret specified that these studies revealed cranial and dental affinities with “closest parallels” to other longtime populations in the surrounding areas of Northeastern Africa “such as Nubia and the northern Horn of Africa”.Ehret, Christopher (20 June 2023). Ancient Africa: A Global History, to 300 CE. Princeton: Princeton University Press