Archaeologists discovered Merit's dark‑brown human hair wig in 1906 in a tomb at Luxor; it dates to about 1425–1353 B.C. The wig was stored in an acacia box inscribed with her name and was found among 500+ grave goods now largely in Turin's Egyptian Museum. A 2016 GC–MS analysis detected plant oil, plant gum, balsam and beeswax on the wig and comb, suggesting Merit smoothed and styled her hair with an ancient hair‑gel mixture. Preserved wigs like Merit's continue to reveal details of grooming and fashion in ancient Egypt.
Merit's Wig — A 3,400‑Year‑Old Egyptian Hairpiece Smoothed with Ancient "Hair Gel"
Archaeologists discovered Merit's dark‑brown human hair wig in 1906 in a tomb at Luxor; it dates to about 1425–1353 B.C. The wig was stored in an acacia box inscribed with her name and was found among 500+ grave goods now largely in Turin's Egyptian Museum. A 2016 GC–MS analysis detected plant oil, plant gum, balsam and beeswax on the wig and comb, suggesting Merit smoothed and styled her hair with an ancient hair‑gel mixture. Preserved wigs like Merit's continue to reveal details of grooming and fashion in ancient Egypt.
01:07 AM, 11/11/2025Culture
Merit's wig: a 3,400‑year‑old Egyptian hairpiece
Quick facts
Name: Merit
What it is: A styled wig made from human hair
Where it is from: Luxor (ancient Thebes), Egypt
When it was made: circa 1425–1353 B.C.
In 1906 archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli uncovered a dark‑brown human hair wig in the tomb of Merit and her husband Kha near Luxor. Schiaparelli reported that the wig still gleamed from the perfumed oils applied more than three millennia earlier. The wig had been stored in a tall acacia‑wood box inscribed with Merit's name and supported on two linen‑covered wooden stands.
The richly furnished tomb contained over 500 objects, including the bejeweled mummies of Merit and Kha—an architect who served the New Kingdom pharaoh Amenhotep II—a cosmetic chest, a basket of hairpins, several razors and wooden combs. Many of these artifacts are now in the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy.
How the wig was worn and made
Merit wore the wig with a center part and small crimped waves, fitted over closely cropped or shaved hair. Those waves were probably produced by braiding damp hair and releasing the braids once the hair dried. Wigs like this were fashionable among elite men and women in ancient Egypt: they allowed elaborate styles while protecting the scalp from sun and lice.
Scientific analysis: an ancient hair gel
A 2016 study used gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to analyze residue from the wig and one of the combs. Researchers detected plant oil on the hair and a mix of plant gum, balsam and beeswax in residues—materials interpreted as a smoothing, conditioning and styling treatment, essentially an ancient equivalent of hair gel. The presence of cholesterol on a comb suggests it was used during Merit's life to groom her hair.
From these chemical traces, researchers concluded Merit "combed her own hair flat, smoothing it down with an application of plant oil, plant gum, balsam and beeswax found between the comb's teeth."
Wigs and hair extensions have been preserved from across ancient Egypt; Egyptologist Joann Fletcher notes the earliest known example may date to about 3400 B.C. Interest in Egyptian hairstyles has grown in recent decades, and well‑preserved pieces like Merit's continue to shed light on personal grooming, fashion and daily life in antiquity.