This woman from ancient Egypt has her hair covered with linen cloth to protect it from the sand and dust of the Sahara. It's similar to an African-American do-rag, and there are Egyptian tomb paintings of men wearing similar headwraps while winnowing grain. And given the ancient Egyptian fondness for styling their hair (especially into braids and dreadlocks), they must have felt a similar need to protect and maintain it. We know people throughout Africa and the African Diaspora (e.g. African-Americans and Afro-Caribbeans) wear wraps of cloth around their hair for that purpose, so maybe the Egyptians did as well?