Genesis 41:14

He shaved himself] so as to be ceremonially clean in Pharaoh's presence, a distinctively Egyptian trait. 'The Hebrews regarded their beard with peculiar pride, cultivated it with care, touched it at supplications, often swore by it, and deemed its mutilation an extreme ignominy: hence, in mourning, they shaved their beards and hair' (Kalisch). The Egyptians, on the other hand, never allowed the hair to grow unless they were in mourning, or prisoners, or belonged to the poorer classes. To be shaved was regarded as essential to ceremonial purity, as well as to cleanliness: see on Exodus 8:16. The great beards and head-dresses with which Egyptian kings are represented on the monuments are artificial. There is an ancient Egyptian wig in the British Muséum, and the strap by which the beard was held on the chin may be observed on the monuments.