How to dress for the opening of a tomb in Egypt

The opening to the public on February 9 of the tombs of the Ancient Egyptian nobles Djehuty and Hery in the necropolis of Dra Abu el-Naga, in Luxor, after their excavation, study and development by a mission led by José Manuel Galán, has been a good observatory to see how to dress in an event of these characteristics.

Come on, we all know the

of a cocktail or a party (always an Indian, like Peter Sellers), but what do you wear for the grand inauguration of a tomb from the Pharaonic period?

We have discussed the issue of the unique connections between fashion and Egyptology several times in this section (where else?) but having attended a landmark act of the discipline like the one the other day on the West Bank in Luxor meant having a privileged vantage point to observe (and comment on) the news of Egyptological clothing.

The host, Galán, chose for the occasion to wear a clean and ironed version of his usual attire in the excavations, which is the official uniform of the Djehuty Project (and which nobody wears as chic as the mission cameraman, Javier

, which always adds a scarf, used in the Bedouin style): Colonel Tapioca-type

shirt and pants with a

-style vest with many pockets, and paratrooper boots, all in khaki tones, plus a hat with folding brims.

It is a set with which you can still play a

in the Serengeti you fight the Taliban in Kandahar (or safely climb into a mummy pit).

Dressing like this also prevents you from being mistaken for a tourist and often gives you free access to the monuments in the area.

His hat —Galán's— had to compete (and lost, alas) with the most iconic in world Egyptology, Zahi Hawass's fedora, who attended the celebration and chose to combine it with a David Attenborough-style blue shirt, which It always gives you a good media image.

The sober masculine elegance of the Spanish ambassador, Álvaro Iranzo, stood out at the event, with beige chinos, a white shirt, a navy blue jacket and an unexpected baseball cap, destined to set trends (in fact, Galán wore one the next day for the traditional paella in the small hotel Marsam).

Iranzo himself surprised that second day wearing without any complex a woman's straw hat that they lent him to protect himself from the sun during the visit to the Medinet Habu temple and that made the sober restorers of the Hapshepsut chapel raise an eyebrow, the people from the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago.

The Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri, the highest Egyptian authority present at the inauguration of the tombs, made no concessions and appeared (two hours late) dressed in jeans, dark glasses and a padded black coat that would not have been out of place. at a party at the Venom Khaliji Club in Cairo.

Fortunately, Egyptian chic was beautifully represented by Galán's ubiquitous

(foreman), Ali Farouk, dressed like a high-end dervish and dapper in his

party

Ali could be seen disembarking in an arm of the sea at the site while an acolyte sprayed cologne on him.

The team workers also wore his best clothes (to remember that the

Sunday, or rather Friday, is dark, unlike the white of day to day).

The feeling before the unexpected display of traditional elegance was synthesized by a member of the mission with a spontaneous: "How handsome is Ibrahim!".

To all these, the main act of the celebration took place in a huge tent assembled with great effort by acrobatic operators worthy of Cirque du Soleil and that, with oriental decorations and high seats for the attendees, looked like the pavilion of the royal postman.

Among the costumes for the guests, we must highlight the beautiful faience blue pants of the Egyptologist Mari Carmen Pérez-Die.

I am saving the outfit of this special envoy to the tombs for last, who once again has shown originality by wearing a black

sweater by Zadig & Voltaire.

“I certainly haven't seen anyone go down a burial pit in Egypt wearing a black

sweater ,” said another mission member with what seemed to me only slightly less admiration than for Ibrahim.

Actually, my wardrobe responded to a mistake when packing: thinking that I was going to a warm place, I packed only summer clothes and when the truth came we were at a minimum of 8 degrees and the maximum did not rise above 14. They were cold even camels.

So I only had the jumper from the trip and I had to use it

.

But, as always, if you make a virtue of necessity and wear something with conviction, people respect it.

“

, Ali Farouk, the Petronius of Thebes, snapped at me, classily stroking a mustache guide.

And so I have entered the most elegant club of the excavators of Egypt.

Tremble, Lord Carnarvon!

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