- Jan 25, 2009
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Shalom 
Concerning why I was writing this, there was something that came up sometime ago involving someone claiming that the Jewish/Hebrew people were originally ones that had Afro-Textured hairstyles. Although I disagreed with the conclusions made by the individual who brought Afro-Textured hairstyles, there were some good points shared on how there's good basis for considering some ways early Hebrews may have appeared. One of the pictures used to make this connection was an image of Israelites as Captives of the Assyrians that can easily be found via Google Image Search. From the palace of Sennacherib, approx. 680 b.c.e.(ref. II Kings 18:13-14):
Hair styles (as previously brought up) seemed somewhat similar to individuals like this:
Another pic is a close-up of a large wall relief depicting Assyrian King Sennacherib’s Attack/conquest of the Judean City of Lachish - 701 B.C. British museum, London found here.
The captive's hairstyles seemed to stand out to me. For another, this one (found here at Bible Archeology Info) is demonstrating absue of the captives of the conquered city of Lachish in 701 BC:
Doing my own research, there was another specific picture I was able to discover...found here. It is Rameses II, the Pharoah who is speculated to have been the one who was around during the Exodus account. The Egyptian wall art depicts Ramses holding what is suspected to be three slaves. One is black, one appears to be East Asian, and the third, in the foreground, appears to be Semitic. The blacks and Semite came from close by, although the East Asian leaves us wondering.
To me, again, I found it interesting to see how the captives interestingly enough had what appeared to be "locks" (as best as one could make out, IMHO)...as that was a common hair style throughout differing parts of Africa...and in regards to the various African tribes that wear locks, the styles changed from one group to another. The warriors of The Maasai tribesmen of Kenya are famous for their long, thin, red dreadlocks (as those men dye heir hair red with root extracts), whereas in West Africa what are known as Fetish priests often wear locks...and in Benin the Yoruba priests of Olokun, the Orisha of the deep ocean, wear locks...and the Hemba people in the southeast of Congo-Kinshasa also dye their locks red, but their style is thicker than that of the Maasai. Other groups/tribes include the Fang people of Gabon, the Mende of Sierra Leone, and the Turkana people of Kenya..
Even Egyptian Pharoahs had dreadlocks, such as King Amenehmet III ''The dreadlocked Pharaoh''..and mummified remains of ancient Egyptians with locks, as well as locked wigs, have also been recovered from archaeological sites. One example being Maiherperi, who was an Ancient Egyptian noble of Nubian origin buried in the Valley of the Kings, in tomb KV36..hair still in tact. Considering Egypt's extensive power/influence, it would not be suprising to see others from differing cultures coming to Egypt and bringing their styles with them while also patterning themselves after those in power.
As it stands, the Hebrew people lived amongst the Egyptians for a long time even before the Exodus and there was alot of cultural exchange that occurred (more shared here and here )...and just as Joseph shaved his beard/married an Egyptian wife when it came to assimilation into aspects of Egyptian culture, it's more than possible other Hebrews may've done the same. Although I am not of the mindset that all Hebrews HAD to somehow have the style----as do many in crazy places like the Black Israelites who claim all Jews had to have black features---part of me is open to the fact that it would not be surprising to see others having it just as other hair textures/styles were present.
The Israelites primarily focused on in the Bible were of Hamitic and Semetic ancestry. A lot of things in regards to hair styles amongst the early Hebrew people stand out in light of some events shared back in 2008 when Tel-Aviv University anthropologist in Israel said he believed early Hebrews looked more like black Africans than the people who now live in the Middle East. Specifically, Yair Ben David, working with scientists from the Russian Foundation of Fundamental Investigation, conducted a facial reconstruction using the skull of a male from the Hellenistic Period and a female from the Roman Period, the Haartz newspaper reported. While the man looked very similar to today's Middle Eastern man, the woman's face had "equatorial (African)" characteristics...all research published in the German journal Anthropoligischer Anzeiger. For more, one can go here:
Cohens (the priest caste of Judaism) were forbidden to cut their hair or to comb it. They found ways around it - but they were not supposed to “pass iron through their hair”...and the Nazarites took a vow to never cut their hair, and in their vow they dedicated their head to God, popular Nazarites being Samuel, John the Baptist, and Samson. Particularly noteworthy are descriptions of James the Just, first Bishop of Jerusalem, who is supposed by many to have had dreadlocks like many with Afro-Texture hair.
As Hegesippus (via Eusebius) describes James:
If one interprets Hegesippus’ account as describing James the Just as a Nazirite, then it's possible for one to infer (based on Judges 16:13, 19) that James had “locks” (מחלפות of hair, as did Samson - who is often held as the Nazirite par excellence. Personally, I do think the Messiah had a hairstyle that was similar to dreadlocks. For many saying that many of the hairstyles seen in differing aspects of black culture have no root in Africa, part of me is always reminded of how things like the African Diaspora made a signficant impact on taking differing hair styles abroad...with many who were African Jews being scattered as well/bringing things with them. Others have often said that all Jewish individuals must have straight hair because their image of Jewish culture is based on what they see with Middle-Eastern Jews in Israel.
And for others, it's simply a matter of preference when considering the ways that hair styles are not always specified within the scriptures and thus one cannot know for certain what style of hair all Jewish men had....nor could one (in the eyes of others) be fully aware of what hair styles may have been spread via word of mouth and thus landed in Israel, making a lot of things possible. It's already the case that Afro-Textured hair styles were never limited to people in African nations.......for similar hair styles have been found all over the world historically, many times spreading due to others simply making contact. It's already the case, for example, that many Asians have Afro-Textured hair styles due to cultural exchanges that've often happen amongst groups and many blacks living in places like Japan have their hair done by Japanese individuals all the time.... And if that's possible, why would the same also not be present in Jewish culture since they always had many cultures coming together in the times of Roman Occupation?
Either way, if anyone would like to share, What kind of hair style did you grow up with? What hairstyles do you feel would not have been acceptable? Do you know of any resources available that discuss the historical styles of hair that were present in Israel? And what do you feel Yeshua/Jesus would have looked like alongside other Jewish individuals or Hebrews in His own time?
Whatever your thoughts may be, would love to hear sometime. Hair is a really big deal within the Black community...and being Black Hispanic/West Indian myself, it has always been something that fascinates me. IMHO, it always makes for interesting insights For reference:
Blessings...
Concerning why I was writing this, there was something that came up sometime ago involving someone claiming that the Jewish/Hebrew people were originally ones that had Afro-Textured hairstyles. Although I disagreed with the conclusions made by the individual who brought Afro-Textured hairstyles, there were some good points shared on how there's good basis for considering some ways early Hebrews may have appeared. One of the pictures used to make this connection was an image of Israelites as Captives of the Assyrians that can easily be found via Google Image Search. From the palace of Sennacherib, approx. 680 b.c.e.(ref. II Kings 18:13-14):
Hair styles (as previously brought up) seemed somewhat similar to individuals like this:
Another pic is a close-up of a large wall relief depicting Assyrian King Sennacherib’s Attack/conquest of the Judean City of Lachish - 701 B.C. British museum, London found here.
The captive's hairstyles seemed to stand out to me. For another, this one (found here at Bible Archeology Info) is demonstrating absue of the captives of the conquered city of Lachish in 701 BC:
There's also this one, a relief from Ninevah approx. 678 b.c.e (as Israelites were known for their strong musical abilities):
For another, in which the hair style seem similar to mini dread locks:
Doing my own research, there was another specific picture I was able to discover...found here. It is Rameses II, the Pharoah who is speculated to have been the one who was around during the Exodus account. The Egyptian wall art depicts Ramses holding what is suspected to be three slaves. One is black, one appears to be East Asian, and the third, in the foreground, appears to be Semitic. The blacks and Semite came from close by, although the East Asian leaves us wondering.
To me, again, I found it interesting to see how the captives interestingly enough had what appeared to be "locks" (as best as one could make out, IMHO)...as that was a common hair style throughout differing parts of Africa...and in regards to the various African tribes that wear locks, the styles changed from one group to another. The warriors of The Maasai tribesmen of Kenya are famous for their long, thin, red dreadlocks (as those men dye heir hair red with root extracts), whereas in West Africa what are known as Fetish priests often wear locks...and in Benin the Yoruba priests of Olokun, the Orisha of the deep ocean, wear locks...and the Hemba people in the southeast of Congo-Kinshasa also dye their locks red, but their style is thicker than that of the Maasai. Other groups/tribes include the Fang people of Gabon, the Mende of Sierra Leone, and the Turkana people of Kenya..
Even Egyptian Pharoahs had dreadlocks, such as King Amenehmet III ''The dreadlocked Pharaoh''..and mummified remains of ancient Egyptians with locks, as well as locked wigs, have also been recovered from archaeological sites. One example being Maiherperi, who was an Ancient Egyptian noble of Nubian origin buried in the Valley of the Kings, in tomb KV36..hair still in tact. Considering Egypt's extensive power/influence, it would not be suprising to see others from differing cultures coming to Egypt and bringing their styles with them while also patterning themselves after those in power.
As it stands, the Hebrew people lived amongst the Egyptians for a long time even before the Exodus and there was alot of cultural exchange that occurred (more shared here and here )...and just as Joseph shaved his beard/married an Egyptian wife when it came to assimilation into aspects of Egyptian culture, it's more than possible other Hebrews may've done the same. Although I am not of the mindset that all Hebrews HAD to somehow have the style----as do many in crazy places like the Black Israelites who claim all Jews had to have black features---part of me is open to the fact that it would not be surprising to see others having it just as other hair textures/styles were present.
The Israelites primarily focused on in the Bible were of Hamitic and Semetic ancestry. A lot of things in regards to hair styles amongst the early Hebrew people stand out in light of some events shared back in 2008 when Tel-Aviv University anthropologist in Israel said he believed early Hebrews looked more like black Africans than the people who now live in the Middle East. Specifically, Yair Ben David, working with scientists from the Russian Foundation of Fundamental Investigation, conducted a facial reconstruction using the skull of a male from the Hellenistic Period and a female from the Roman Period, the Haartz newspaper reported. While the man looked very similar to today's Middle Eastern man, the woman's face had "equatorial (African)" characteristics...all research published in the German journal Anthropoligischer Anzeiger. For more, one can go here:
- Israel News: What color were ancient Jews?
- How white were the Israelites? Facial reconstruction may be - Haaretz
Cohens (the priest caste of Judaism) were forbidden to cut their hair or to comb it. They found ways around it - but they were not supposed to “pass iron through their hair”...and the Nazarites took a vow to never cut their hair, and in their vow they dedicated their head to God, popular Nazarites being Samuel, John the Baptist, and Samson. Particularly noteworthy are descriptions of James the Just, first Bishop of Jerusalem, who is supposed by many to have had dreadlocks like many with Afro-Texture hair.
As Hegesippus (via Eusebius) describes James:
He was holy from his mother’s womb; and he drank no wine nor strong drink, nor did he eat flesh. No razor came upon his head; he did not anoint himself with oil, and he did not use the bath. (Ecclesiastical History 2.23.5)
of hair, as did Samson - who is often held as the Nazirite par excellence. Personally, I do think the Messiah had a hairstyle that was similar to dreadlocks. For many saying that many of the hairstyles seen in differing aspects of black culture have no root in Africa, part of me is always reminded of how things like the African Diaspora made a signficant impact on taking differing hair styles abroad...with many who were African Jews being scattered as well/bringing things with them. Others have often said that all Jewish individuals must have straight hair because their image of Jewish culture is based on what they see with Middle-Eastern Jews in Israel.And for others, it's simply a matter of preference when considering the ways that hair styles are not always specified within the scriptures and thus one cannot know for certain what style of hair all Jewish men had....nor could one (in the eyes of others) be fully aware of what hair styles may have been spread via word of mouth and thus landed in Israel, making a lot of things possible. It's already the case that Afro-Textured hair styles were never limited to people in African nations.......for similar hair styles have been found all over the world historically, many times spreading due to others simply making contact. It's already the case, for example, that many Asians have Afro-Textured hair styles due to cultural exchanges that've often happen amongst groups and many blacks living in places like Japan have their hair done by Japanese individuals all the time.... And if that's possible, why would the same also not be present in Jewish culture since they always had many cultures coming together in the times of Roman Occupation?
Either way, if anyone would like to share, What kind of hair style did you grow up with? What hairstyles do you feel would not have been acceptable? Do you know of any resources available that discuss the historical styles of hair that were present in Israel? And what do you feel Yeshua/Jesus would have looked like alongside other Jewish individuals or Hebrews in His own time?
Whatever your thoughts may be, would love to hear sometime. Hair is a really big deal within the Black community...and being Black Hispanic/West Indian myself, it has always been something that fascinates me. IMHO, it always makes for interesting insights
For reference:- Hebrew In An Okie Accent: The Kosher Mohawk
- Kosher Kurls - Kosher Kurls For Women - Real Beauty
- The Kosher Haircut Guide for Lag Ba'omer » Matzav.com - The ...
Blessings...
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