It's All Gone to Rust

Merit’s Wig

New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1425-1353 B.C. From the Tomb of Kha and Merit (TT8), Deir el-Medina. Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy. Suppl. 8499

▫ Merit was the wife of the foreman Kha, and the couple both resided in the Worker’s Village of Deir el-Medina (Set Ma’at) and were buried together in the local necropolis within Theban Tomb 8 (TT8). Made of human hair that has been curled and/or tousled into a thick headdress of dark brown to black hair with lighter hair at the parting, the wig is held together by sewing the hair into a mesh which would rest upon the wearers scalp, the mesh is still visible through the middle part of the wig’s hairstyle.

The tresses of curls come to a tightly twisted or curled end around the sides and looser curls upon the back, this could be due to the passage of time untwining the curls and/or plaits, or simply the intended style. Also, still intact are a set of larger plaits or braids falling down the back of the wig. While being worn, one could assume the hair would have been slightly past shoulder-length, caressing the bust.

The wig could have been worn in daily life, or special events and religious rituals. The wig could also have been adorned with decorations such as real floral garlands, diadems of varied materials, individual hair jewels, and a perfume cone atop of the head, which is thought to have caused a delicious scent upon the wig. It is not documented if the piece is scented or not, but tests showed that the tips of the hair are coated in plant oil/balsam.

Hannibal (2013-2015)

This is a perfect time to read the brilliant and unforgettable graphic novel(s) Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, about growing up in Iran during and after the Iranian Revolution, and the rise of the oppressive theocracy that persists to this day.

Both graphic novels are available free online (Persepolis vol. 1, Persepolis vol. 2)

Source

So from then on whenever one of us called something problematic, he would make us talk it out until we could name the “bad” thing we were hinting at. In this particular class, 7/10 it was some type of oppression, and the remainder was like, “I’m uncomfortable because this is very new/confusing/pushing boundaries that made me feel safe.”

Once we stopped calling things “problematic” and stopping at that, class got way more interesting and... we all had to say, like, “that’s racist” or “that’s misogynistic” or “ew capitalism gross” out loud, which a lot of us had never done in a classroom before. Or we had to be like, “Uhhh... I’m not sure what’s so bad?” and confront our own beliefs and that was maybe even more useful.

Evening Dress

c. 1889

by House of Worth

DERRY GIRLS (2018-2022)

Stained glass dome depicting wisteria vines blooming in an arbor at the Halim Time and Glass Museum, Evanston, IL.