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This pair of small (13cm-long) sandals were probably made for a child. They are so well preserved that they appear strikingly contemporary, like a pair of flip-flops (or shib-shibs, as they are called in Egypt today). They are intricately woven from the fibres of papyrus plants, palm leaves, and halfa grass, so that the wearer’s feet are cushioned. The very same crafting technique is attested for centuries before these were made, and many centuries after.
Sandals such as these were the most popular form of footwear in pharaonic Egypt – with leather versions also known. Elaborate enclosed shoes made from leather, of the type known from the Tomb of Tutankhamun, were the privilege of the very wealthy. Despite the many depictions of people in Egyptian art, it is interesting to note that footwear of any type is almost never shown before the Amarna Period (c.1350 BC), when members of the royal family are commonly depicted wearing sandals. After that time, footwear is occasionally shown being worn by kings and the elite, rather than gods. This has the important implication that images do not reflect reality in any simple way: many wealthy people shown in carved or painted scenes would have worn footwear, but it seems that it was not appropriate to depict these everyday items.
The find-context of this small pair is intriguing. They come from the area of the Tomb Chapel of Senenmut (TT71), a high official in the reign of Hatshepsut, at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna in Western Thebes. Although the pristine condition of the sandals might indicate an intended funerary purpose, the excavators reported that they were not clearly associated with any particular grave. Including footwear in a tomb implies (spiritual) movement in the afterlife – although it remains possible that this pair had been worn by a well-to-do child, as most other children would probably have gone barefoot. Perhaps they were accidentally buried in the debris created from the excavation of Senenmut’s impressive monument. They are now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Image: MMA
