KILLING THE "GINGER" MYTH...

Since this issue has come up, I'll pass on this
excellent article I ran across a couple of years ago... I use it alot to
shut up the ''WHITE-Egypt'' crowd. The next time they throw ''Ginger''
in your face, throw this piece right back!

(While this piece doesn't mention it, we already know about the
widespread use of natural dyes like Henna and Red-Ochre in Africa, past
and present... So when taken alltogether, the examples of blonde or red,
straight/wavy hair on ancient BLACK Egyptian mummies can be explained in
a scientific manner.)

IMJ
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Egyptology: Hanging in the Hair

by Anu M'bantu and Fari Supia

West Africa Magazine
8th July 2001

F0R YEARS, EGYPTOLOGY has been fighting a losing battle to hold onto an
ancient Egypt that is Caucasian or, at worst, sun-tanned Caucasian. At
the 1974 UNESCO conference Egyptology was dealt a fatal blow. Two
African scholars wiped the floor with 18 world-renowned Egyptologists.
They proved in 11 different categories of evidence that the ancient
Egyptians were Africans (Black).

Following that beating, Egyptology has been on its knees praying to be
saved by science. Their last glimmer of hope has been the hair on
Egyptian mummies. The mummies on display in the world's museums exhibit
Caucasoid-looking hair, some of it brown and blonde. These mummies
include Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao of the 17th dynasty and the 19th dynasty's
Rameses II. As one scholar put it: "The most common hair colour, then as
now, was a very dark brown, almost black colour although natural auburn
and even rather surprisingly blonde hair are also to be found."
Many Black scholars try skillfully to avoid the hair problem. This is a
mistake!

In 1914, a white doctor in Detroit initiated divorce proceeding against
his wife whom he suspected of being a "closet Negro". At the trial, the
Columbia University anthropologist, Professor Franz Boas (1858-1942),
was called upon as a race expert. Boas declared: "If this woman has any
of the characteristics of the Negro race it would be easy to find them .
. . one characteristic that is regarded as reliable is the hair. You can
tell by microscopic examination of a cross-section of hair to what race
that person belongs." With this revelation, trichology (the scientific
analysis of hair) reached the American public. But what are these
differences?

The cross-section of a hair shaft is measured with an instrument called
a trichometer. From this you can get measurements for the minimum and
maximum diameter of a hair The minimum measurement is then divided by
the maximum and then multiplied by a hundred. This produces an index. A
survey of the scientific literature produces the following breakdown:

San, Southern African 55.O0
Zulu, Southern African 55.O0
Sub-Saharan Africa 60.O0
Tasmanian (Black) 64.70
Australian (Black) 68.00
Western European 71.20
Asian Indian 73.00
Navajo American 77.00
Chinese 82.60

In the early 1970s, the Czech anthropologist Eugen Strouhal examined
pre-dynastic Egyptian skulls at Cambridge University. He sent some
samples of the hair to the Institute of Anthropology at Charles
University, Prague, to be analyzed. The hair samples were described as
varying in texture from "wavy" to "curly" and in colour from "light
brown" to "black". Strouhal summarized the results of the analysis: "The
outline of the cross-sections of the hairs was flattened, with indices
ranging from 35 to 65. These peculiarities also show the Negroid
inference among the Badarians (pre-dynastic Egyptians)." The term
"Negroid influence" suggests intermixture, but as the table suggests
this hair is more "Negroid" than the San and the Zulu samples, currently
the most Negroid hair in existence!

In another study, hair samples from ten 18th-25th dynasty individuals
produced an average index of 51! As far back as 1877, Dr. Pruner-Bey
analyzed six ancient Egyptian hair samples. Their average index of 64.4
was similar to the Tasmanians who lie at the periphery of the
African-haired populations. A team of Italian anthropologists published
their research in the Journal of Human Evolution in 1972 and 1980. They
measured two samples consisting of 26 individuals from pre-dynastic,
12th dynasty and 18th dynasty mummies. They produced a mean index of
66.50 The overall average of all four sets of ancient Egyptian hair
samples was 60.02. Sounds familiar . ., just check the table!

Since microscopic analysis shows ancient Egyptian hair to be completely
African, why does the hair look Caucasoid? Research has given us the
answers. Hair is made of keratin protein. Keratin is composed of amino
acid chains called polypeptides. In a hair, two such chains are called
cross-chain polypeptides. These are held together by disulphide bonds.
The bulk of the hair, the source of its strength and curl, is called the
cortex. The hair shafts are made of a protective outer layer called the
cuticle.

We are informed by Afro Hair - A Salon Book, that chemicals for
bleaching, penning and straightening hair must reach the cortex to be
effective. For hair to be permed or straightened the disulphide bonds in
the cortex must be broken. The anthropologist Daniel Hardy writing in
the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, tells us that keratin is
stable owing to disulphide bonds. However, when hair is exposed to harsh
conditions it can lead to oxidation of protein molecules in the cortex,
which leads to the alteration of hair texture, such as straightening.

Two British anthropologists, Brothwell and Spearman, have found evidence
of cortex keratin oxidation in ancient Egyptian hair. They held that the
mummification process was responsible, because of the strong alkaline
substance used. This resulted in the yellowing and browning of hair as
well as the straightening effect. This means that visual appearance of
the hair on mummies cannot disguise their racial affinities.

The presence of blonde and brown hair on ancient Egyptian mummies has
nothing to do with their racial identity and everything to do with
mummification and the passage of time. As the studies have shown, when
you put the evidence under a microscope the truth comes out. At last,
Egyptology's prayers have been answered. It has been put out of its
misery. Its tombstone reads Egyptology, R.I.P June 2001.

Royal Ontario Museum, Canada
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/africanclassicalhistory/message/1488

This whole website in particular is an excellent internet resource for the subject of African civilizations.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mansa Musa:
Here is a direct link to the article in question.
http://www.homestead.com/wysinger/hair2.html

This whole website in particular is an excellent internet resource for the subject of African civilizations.

Ancient Africa's Black Kingdoms

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Anyone who knows anything about the texture of African hair can tell that their hair has much natural volume to it when compared to thin straight hair.

There are also images of mummies floating arund here and there that show women with braided hair.

Most images I see of them men show them with short to medium sized Afros.

Priests shaved their heads bald.

more pics of Egyptian women.

A real life reference for such hairstyles.

Most of the artwork shows men with cross-copped hair,but I seen some examples of natural hair in art reliefs.

The tomb of Hesi-Re,a third dyansty dentist, shows a type of natural Afro. Most reserchers agree this is representation of real hair.

Also in the tomb of Nebamun the Fowling in the Marshes scene shows a little girl by her father with the s-shaped braid known as the sidelock of youth. This was customary with children was to shave off their hair and two dangling piece of hair that was then tied together with a hair clasp or ornament.

Here is a link of hair combs used by the ancient Egyptians from the Petrie museum from the pre-dyanstic untill the Islamic era:

http://www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk/search/main/textresult.php?objectname=combs&find_location=&material=&period=&submit44=Search

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Originally posted by ausar:
Both men and women usually shaved off their hair and wore wigs. Wigs were made from many materials. Women wore extensions in their hair.

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Is it possible that elites like the Royalty and their servants, scribes or priests, and middle class folks wore wigs more frequently than ordinary working class folks and the rest of the general populace?

Otherwise, would it not have been uncomfortable wearing a wig under the kind of heat prevalent in the region?

quote:

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Is possible that elites like the Royalty and their servants, scribes or priests, and middle class folks wore wigs more frequently than ordinary working class folks and the rest of the general populace?

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All classes wore wigs. Usually only the elite could afford wigs made of more natural materials like real hair. Commoners wore hair made of plant fibre and even horsehair and straw.

You have to remeber that most of the data we have on AE society and culture comes to use from the elite of the soceity. We have only few and far examples such as the housing in Tell el-Amarna and Deir el-Medina on the commoners.

Even Deir el Medina is not accurate because many of those were skilled professionals,and not farmers like the majority of the Egyptian population.

quote:

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Otherwise, would it not have been uncomfortable wearing a wig under the kind of heat prevalent in the region?

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During the day working in the fields or an outside job it would be uncomfortable,but at night the temperatures are rather cool. The desert reaches chilling temperatures at night.

Here is one of the only examples I ever saw of natural hair in ancient Egypt:

Hesi-Re shows natural hair:

This panel is important in the study of ancient African depictions of wigs and hair. The hair which partially obscures the top of the ear is a unique detail, possibly indicating the hair is not a wig at all!
Image: TIRADRITTI, F. Egyptian Treasures from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. 1999.

It's so sad that people don't want to accept the Black History of Egypt.

I posted a thread about Kola Boof who is half Egyptian.

She is a beautiful woman and I love her books.

I also love her intense pride in being BLACK.

And she is VERY, VERY DARK.

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Originally posted by Underpants Man:
While I am convinced that the pharaonic Egyptians did have "Negroid" hair, I wonder how they wore their hair? Was it short and kinky like West African hair, or long and braided?

Judging from some of the wigs that have been recovered, my guess is that they wore braided hairstyles found in some Masai today.

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What many people don't realize is that black Africans vary in hair texture. The Egyptians' natural hair texture was like that of other Northeast Africans, which was curly. Even though their hair was curly it was still thick and wooly and not thin kind that so-called "caucasian" people have.

As Ausar says, Egyptian people both men and women usually kept their heads shaven but wore wigs. I suggest you look up works by Joanne Fletcher whose expertise is Egyptian hair and fashion. Her and many Egyptologists agree that the common style was braids which vary between classes. Commoners wore simple styles, whereas wealthier people had more elaborate and intricate styles.

quote:

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Originally posted by Djehuti:
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