page_title: Biblical clothing
section_title: Israelite priests
hierarchical_section_title: Biblical clothing / Israelite priests
caption_attribution_description: Jewish high priest wearing a hoshen, and Levites in ancient Judah.
context_page_description: The clothing of the people in Biblical times was made from wool, linen, animal skins, and perhaps silk. Most events in the Old and New Testament take place in ancient Israel, and thus most Biblical clothing is ancient Hebrew clothing. They wore underwear and cloth skirts.
  Complete descriptions of the styles of dress among the people of the Bible is impossible because the material at hand is insufficient. Assyrian and Egyptian artists portrayed what is believed to be the clothing of the time, but there are few depictions of Israelite garb. One of the few available sources on Israelite clothing is the Bible.
context_section_description: The Torah provided for specific vestments to be worn by the priests when ministering. These unique vestments prescribed for Israelite priests when approaching altars or entering sanctuaries underwrote their status as privileged intermediaries between God and humanity.
  These garments are described in detail in Exodus 28, Exodus 39, and Leviticus 8. All priests would minister barefoot in the temple.
  The Priest
  Those vestments which were common to all priests were:
  Priestly undergarments (Hebrew michnasayim), breeches: linen pants reaching from the waist to the knees (Exodus 28:42).
  Priestly tunic (Hebrew ketonet), tunic: made of pure linen, covering the entire body from the neck to the feet, with sleeves reaching to the wrists. Those of the priests were plain (Exodus 28:40), while that of the High Priest was embroidered (Exodus 28:39).
  Priestly sash (Hebrew avnet) (sash): Those worn by the priests were of white twined linen, while that of the High Priest was of fine linen with embroidered work in blue and purple and scarlet (Exodus 28:39 39:29).
  Priestly turban (Hebrew mitznefet): Those for priests were wound so that it formed a cone-shaped turban, called a migbahat. That of the High Priest was much larger than that of the priests and wound so that it formed a broad, flat-topped turban.
  The High Priest
  The high priest wore eight holy garments (bigdei kodesh). Of these, four were of the same type worn by all priests, and four were unique to him. The unique vestments were:
  Priestly robe (me'il) ("Robe of the ephod"): a sleeveless, blue robe, the lower hem of which was fringed with small golden bells alternating with pomegranate-shaped tassels in blue, purple, and scarlet—tekhelet, argaman, tolaat shani.
  Ephod: a richly embroidered vest or apron with two onyx gemstones on the shoulders, on which were engraved the names of the tribes of Israel.
  Priestly breastplate (Hebrew hoshen): with twelve gems, each engraved with the name of one of the tribes; a pouch in which he probably carried the Urim and Thummim. It was fastened to the ephod.
  On the front of the turban was a golden plate inscribed with the words: "Holiness unto YHWH".
  The High Priest had two sets of holy garments: the "golden garments" detailed above, and a set of white "linen garments" (bigdei ha-bad) which he wore only on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) (Leviticus 16:4).
caption: The Jewish high priest and Levite. The depictions of the menorah, table of showbread and trumpets are inspired by the Arch of Titus.
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