Cleopatra

[Music] [Music] Cleopatra queen of Egypt was audacious charming charismatic and intelligent born in 69 BC and Queen from 51 to 30 BC she was the last of Egypt's Greek Ptolemaic rulers and a ruthless power player in the game of ancient Mediterranean politics Cleopatra used her feminine wiles and Egypt's vast wealth to consolidate her power and independence from Roman domination in order to achieve her ends she seduced each in their turn the Roman leaders Julius Caesar and Mark Antony when war with Rome finally came and her Navy was defeated at the Battle of Actium she chose suicide by poison rather than captivity and humiliation this marble head dated to about 50 BC is believed by many scholars to have been an informal depiction of queen Cleopatra the tight corkscrews of hair at the hairline suggest that this woman's hair was naturally curly and curl is helpful when recreating this style the style is made by draping two braids across the back of the head for period accuracy the ends of the braids are knotted and secured high on the crown either with stitching if the ends of the braids are very short or with decorative hair sticks if length permits for period reenactors the following period appropriate tools are required a comb made from wood or bone hair Bodkins for parting and holding some of the hair out of the way waxy pomade to make the tips of the hair easier to manage and a bone needle with wool thread to stitch the hair into place period design scissors are necessary to snip threads when the hairstyle is finished divide the hair in two with a center part from hairline to nape secure half of the hair out of the way with a hair bodkin using a hair bodkin lift a horizontal subsection of hair and to begin a three strand outside augmenting braid also known as a Dutch braid or cornrow position the braid so that it travels from the crown of the head to just behind the ear in order to position the braid properly you must divide the first subsection unevenly as you augment the braid the three strands will equalize [Music] continue braiding and augmenting until you run out of hair once you run out of hair continue braiding the hair all the way to the tips [Music] the first finished braid repeat this braid on the opposite side of the head [Music] swag the braids across the back of the head tie the ends of the hair into a chain of square knots [Music] roll the tips of the hair under and Stitch the hair in place using a blunt bone needle and woolen thread ditch until the hair feels firm and secure [Music] when finished clip the excess thread with the scissors the style is now complete [Music] tying sewing and hair Bodkins are the tools of choice for re-enacting ancient Mediterranean hairstyles because they are the only tools known to have existed during those times modern wearers should feel free to use bobby pins yet be aware that bobby pins were invented in the 20th century [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Janet Stephens

Views: 66,390

Keywords: Ancient hairstyle, Cleopatra, Cleopatra hairstyle, +updo, ancient Egypt, Ancient fashion, Ancient costume, Janet Stephens, hair sewing, +hair, ancient style, archaeology, fashion history, ancient, fashion, hair, Cleopatra VII, beauty, real ancient hairstyle, philopator, first century BC, 1st century BC

Id: QigGoRY_Nic

Length: 6min 18sec (378 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 05 2011