Image Details

Fringed garments worn by prisoners captured by Ramesses III. The paint is still bright on this mortuary temple wall relief at Medinet Habu in Thebes, built by Ramesses III in the first half of the 12th century B.C. The captives are of different nationalities, distinguishable by the ways they are bound and by their dress. From the left, the first prisoner, with his hands bound behind him, is a bearded Libyan with long robe; the next, with a pointed beard and striped tunic, is a Semite. Both this Semite and the Philistine with characteristic feathered headdress, far right, have tassels hanging from the corners of their kilts. Here we see that the commandment to the Israelites in Numbers 15:37 to wear tassels on the corners of their garments reflected a style of dress already in use among other ancient peoples.