Re: Red/Blonde haired mummies and such.

From: Kendall K. Down (webmaster_at_diggingsonline.com)
Date: 10/05/04 

Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2004 07:18:06 +0100

In message <d3924eb0.0410041614.5c1cc2bb@posting.google.com>
          rewindme@lunarmagazine.com (Aquatic DubMonkey) wrote:

> Hello all. I'm currently doing a little research into the red and
> blonde haired mummies that have been found in some very unexpected
> places.

I've no idea about the majority of your statements, however I can add two
more bits of information.

In the Petrie Museum in London there is a complete head of hair (bit of
scalp still attached) from a mummy near Lahun. The hair is blonde and curly.
It is clearly not Egyptian and is presumed to be a slave girl imported from
Europe and valued enough by her owner to be buried with him.

Herodotus tells us that red-haired men were regarded as a bad omen by the
Egyptians and were burned alive. If this statement is true it leaves many
questions unanswered, for example: What happened to red-haired women? How
did red-haired boys grow to be men or at what age were they eligible for the
burning? However, whatever doubts one may have about the details, it at
least shows that red hair was not unknown in Egypt.

Beware of mummy evidence, however. Rameses II, for example, has a yellowish
tinge to his hair, but that is the result of the mummification process on
his white hair.

Ken Down 

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