"Abstract: Comb and concept of “hair” in ancient Egyptian - The Pharaonic Egyptians word “shenu” means at the same time “hair” and “grass” because hair was like grass on the head, that is kinky, frizzy, and tightly curled. The Greek corresponding term is “oulotrichein”, “to have curly hair”, as used by Herodotus describing Egyptian people."
This is a paper by Obenga, he says the word for "hair" and "grass" is identical in the ancient Egyptian language, to me, this would imply straight/wavy hair, not kinky as he puts it.
All sorts of hair types have been found in Egypt, straight to kinky, but could this mean that the modal hair texture was on the wavy/straight side seeing as they identified their hair texture with grass?
Posts: 161 | From: England | Registered: May 2020
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Though I thought the Egyptian word for hair was 's3mt' and a possible other word is 'nsh'. Shenu means "encircled" but I see Obenga is referring to another set of glyphs. I know the Egyptians associated hair in general with growing material like grass, leaves, or other plants in general but I've never seen any evidence specifying the texture as straight only.
-------------------- Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan. Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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"Abstract: Comb and concept of “hair” in ancient Egyptian - The Pharaonic Egyptians word “shenu” means at the same time “hair” and “grass” because hair was like grass on the head, that is kinky, frizzy, and tightly curled. The Greek corresponding term is “oulotrichein”, “to have curly hair”, as used by Herodotus describing Egyptian people."
This is a paper by Obenga, he says the word for "hair" and "grass" is identical in the ancient Egyptian language, to me, this would imply straight/wavy hair, not kinky as he puts it.
All sorts of hair types have been found in Egypt, straight to kinky, but could this mean that the modal hair texture was on the wavy/straight side seeing as they identified their hair texture with grass?
It's kind of peculiar what he says here.^^^ He says at the end on the bottom comb "Such a comb, with such big teeth, can it be suitable for long straight and straight hair?"
Yet the teeth on that comb are not big like in the top photo combs.
Also it is not clear if the top combs are picks or ornamental combs. An ornamental comb is stuck in the hair as a decoration not used for picking
Though I thought the Egyptian word for hair was 's3mt' and a possible other word is 'nsh'. Shenu means "encircled" but I see Obenga is referring to another set of glyphs. I know the Egyptians associated hair in general with growing material like grass, leaves, or other plants in general but I've never seen any evidence specifying the texture as straight only.
Thanks for the link, looks like an interesting thread.
I made the connection with grass and straight hair purely because grass is straight, so i assumed they called hair and grass the same thing due to their hair being mostly wavy/straight, i guess this may have been way to simplistic lol, thanks for the reply, it was helpful.
Posts: 161 | From: England | Registered: May 2020
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posted
^ There's an excellent site on the cultural significance of hair in ancient Egypt called Hair and Death in Ancient Egypt by Dr. Maria Martín. By the way, many body parts have some cultural or symbolic significance in Egypt but as it pertains to hair many Egyptologists agree that scalp hair as a bodily part that grows long has connotations to health and fertility among other things.
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There is a humanoid creature from Central African mythology called the Eloko (plural Biloko) which has grass for hair. Not that I think there has to be a direct connection between this and the AE vocabulary, but it nonetheless indicates to me that even kinky-haired people can perceive a likeness between hair and grass. Whatever its curvature, hair does grow out of skin the way grass grows out of soil.
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^ Hair and herb like grass are very similar in that both grow but can be cut or trimmed without being injured, the latter is only accomplished when the roots are damaged or killed.
From Dr. Maria Martín's page: At that point it is meaningful the fact that in Egyptian the expression for “vegetation” was « the hair of the earth ».
^ Try to compare assorted determinatives with those used in Obenga's work
More from Martín: For the expression “the earth is devastated” the scribe wrote: The verb fk means « be bald »[9]. The wasteland is an earth without hair. The absence of hair is a parallel of the absence of herb[10]. So, the hair shenu of Isis and Nepthys could easily be assimilated to the vegetation.
Getting back to Obenga, note what he really said about hair texture.: Hnskt, "locks of braided hair". Which is perfect for frizzy hair, hair-like-herbs, hair-in-brush. There is no real braid among people with straight hair, straight, not frizzy.
Combs made all over Africa, from Pharaonic Egypt, are suitable for hairdressing (ir Snw, "making hair", "braiding hair strands"), long, frizzy hair (herbs), and wigs, in such a context, make sense aesthetic. There is a metathesis within the semantic field:
Obenga makes it clear that while Egyptian hair was typically not "kinky" like stereotypical black hair it wasn't exactly straight either, but was frizzy or had a frizz to it as noted by many anthropologists who viewed mummy hair from predynastic Badarians to dynastic and even modern Egyptians. Egyptian hair is typically loose and wavy and often curly but still thick and somewhat frizzy or can frizz easily in humidity. This is why many modern Egyptian women use hair relaxers and hot irons similar to Black American women or Middle Eastern women for that matter.
blackincairo.blogspot.com/2010/06/i-got-my-herr-did-at-egyptian-salon.html Yes, you read that correctly! I let a non-black woman do my hair! For those of you who haven't heard, hair is a big deal to black woman. Because our hair texture is so unique, it's difficult to find non-black people that can properly maintain it. Even shampooing black hair can turn terribly wrong and end up in tangles if you don't know what you're doing! I've been observing the texture of Egyptian women's hair and the technique they use to straighten it. Like black women, the textures range from tightly coiled, coarse curls to loose waves. Most of the women go to the salon weekly to get their hair flat-ironed straight. A few black female expats have recommended that I try the Egyptian salons instead of my futile battle with the creamy-crack (permanent relaxers). Because all the women I've known who regular visit Egyptian salons have natural, non-chemically processed hair, I was hesitant to take their advice. Relaxed hair is more fragile than hair in its natural state.
-------------------- Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan. Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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I highly doubt it had something to do with straight hair. Looking at ancient Egyptian artworks, they usually depicted themselves wearing afros.
Posts: 603 | From: Mobile, Alabama | Registered: Jan 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Ebony Allen: I highly doubt it had something to do with straight hair. Looking at ancient Egyptian artworks, they usually depicted themselves wearing afros.
Yes I think the connection between straight hair and grass was pretty stupid after reading BrandonP's post about Central Africans, nevertheless straight/wavy hair did exist in ncient Egypt, alongisde curly/afro textured hair.
Posts: 161 | From: England | Registered: May 2020
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quote:Originally posted by Ebony Allen: I highly doubt it had something to do with straight hair. Looking at ancient Egyptian artworks, they usually depicted themselves wearing afros.
One shouldn't judge Egyptians' natural hair based on artwork alone. Most Egyptians either styled their hair in certain ways OR shaved their heads completely and wore wigs. The so-called "round hair" style described by Egyptologists was just one of many styles. Studies show the Egyptians' natural hair texture was curly to loose wavy hair. Not all Egyptians had afros, but they could style their hair that way if their hair was not curly enough. It is interesting that so-called Classical authors from Greece and Rome did stereotype Egyptian hair as being like sheep's wool, but again this was a stereotype not true of every Egyptian.
-------------------- Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan. Posts: 26238 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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