Were the ancient Egyptians barefoot?!

 

The making of shoes and their wearing developed throughout different eras, and the main feature of primitive times was the absence of wearing shoes

Wearing shoes of the Pharaohs

Royals and some commoners, wearing, decorated and unadorned sandals, even some of their sandals were made of gold, and the sandals of King Shoshenq II and the luxurious king Tutankhamun are not far from us.

The ancient Egyptians often appear through inscriptions and carvings while they were barefoot, which prompted some to consider them as a barefoot people, however, the reality confirms the opposite.

Here we see kings, princesand nobles.

 Akhenaten and Nefertiti

There is a small limestone statue of Akhenaten and his girlfriend Nefertiti (about 1345 BC), who are wearing a pair of magnificent sandals, it dates back to Tell El Amarna period during the eighteenth dynasty in the modern state, and is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

pharaohic couple wearing sandals

 

 

 

 Sandals of Amenhotep IV and his wife Nefertiti

There is also the family tablet of Akhenaten (1353 - 1336 BC), where sandals seen on the feet of King Amenhotep IV and his wife Nefertiti carrying their children under the rays of the sun God Aten, they were found at Tell el-Amarna in Minya, and they are now in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.

Statue of King Akhenaten

- There is also a small statue of King Akhenaten in which he appears wearing sandals with a blue crown on his head, and he is now in Germany.

the family tablet of akhenaton

One of the most Tut Ankh Amoon's sandals found in his tomb  and are now in the great museum.

Images of the king's enemies on his sandals

These sandals are made of leather, tied with two zippers, their sides pointing upwards, and there are  on the inside of the sole  images of the king's, southern and eastern enemies, who are bound as prisoners of war, in a clear symbolism of their affliction.

 

Tut Ankh Amoon's sandals

 

Statue of Tutankhamun

A small gilded wooden statue of Tutankhamun was found inside his tomb  wearing sandals while standing on a painted wooden boat, wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt, carrying a spear preparing to strike an invisible enemy.

Tut Ankh Amoun wearing sandals

 Ivory tablet

This ivory tablet shows Tutankhamun and his wife Ankhsen in a garden, which was found in his tomb, and it is currently in the Great Museum among its other holdings

the ivory tablet

 Gold sandals

 Gold sandals were also found dating back to the era of Thutmose III (1479-1425 BC) in the middle of the Eighteenth Dynasty, in the tomb of his three foreign wives, these sandals are now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

this is golden sandals

Merneptah's tomb

 In an inscription on the walls of Merneptah's tomb in Luxor dating back to the era of the Nineteenth Dynasty (1292 - 1189 BC), where King Merneptah was shown receiving the sun God Ra, wearing beautiful sandals.

an image of Merneptah's tomb

  King Shoshenq II

As for the golden sandals of King Shoshenq II (887-885 BC), who ruled during the twenty-second dynasty, which were found in Tanis, and are now in the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, oh la la !

pharaonic sandals made of gold

 Leather sandals

Two leather sandals were found in the village of Deir el-Madina in Luxor, belonging to village workers during the Old Kingdom period (2435-2305 BC), and they are now in the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy. 

sandals made of leather

 Sandals made of reeds

We see - in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA - from the era of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties (1550 - 1189 BC) a pair of sandals belonging to the Gourna region in Luxor, with a sole made of reeds, and a finely woven edge, and it has twisted belts

sandals kept in a museum at Boston city

Sandals made of vegetable fibers 

Sandals with side edges, made of vegetable fibers, were found, perhaps, to prevent sand from entering the shoe, in the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy.

sandals in a museum at Italy

In addition of that the Egyptian artist had to precisely show the beauty of his art, he unlikely let his persons without shoes to show the beauty of his art, and he created in showing precision of his fingers, good-looking and soft touch