Of the terms used for dressing the hair, and the fashions of wearing it among the Hebrews, we may note the following: — niEsSna, LXX aeipal (Jg lgi3. i»)_ pf Samson's ' seven locks,' which probably resembled the long ' plaits ' alt'ected now by the young Arab warriors. Jezebel ' tired her hejid,' ::::'ni. (2 K 9'°), which means simply that she set her hair in order. .t;s 'locks' (Ca 4'' ' 6', Is 47' AV, following Kimchi ; RV, following LXX [in Ca fftu)T7;(7is, in Is KaraKAXv^^a], tr. 'veil'), p^v (Ca 4"), literally ' collar' or ' necklace,' matj have oeen a lock falling round the neck — Vulg. «n uno crine colli till. D'^^i'i? (Ca 5"), LXX iUmi, Vulg. elat/im palmarum, tresses hanging gracefully like the pendulous palm branches, n^ (Ca 7' ; compare Is 38'-), is a figure supplied by the thnim, or slender threads binding the web to the weaver's beam. C'E.T-) (Ca 7° ; compare Gn 30^- ■"), probably ' gutters,' or channels conveying water to the flocks, their orderly arrangement suggesting flow- ing tresses, .nyp; nyi'? (Is 3-''), literally 'turned work,' applied to curls, or artificially twisted hair. rj'X ' a lock,' probably the forelock, from the curve resembling that of a llower or wing. Judith 'braided,' oifrofe, 'the liairs of her head' (10"). For other references to modes of wearing the liair, see 1 Ti 2», 1 V 3', Jos. Ant. XIV. is. 4, and BJ IV. ix. 10.
That the barber's trade was practised we know from Ezk 5'. The hairdresser and the instru- ments of his art figure in the Mislina (Shabbath, % 6). The Egyjitians used wooden combs, with large teeth on one side and small on the other, ornamented as if for wearing in the hair (Wilk. ii. 349). OintmeDt was commonly used by th«
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UAlli
Hebrews in dressing the hair (Ru 3', 2 S 14', Pa 9-2'» 13:)^ Ec 9», Mt 6", Jos. Ant. XIX. iv. 1). Anointing the hair was a sign of festivity (Ps 45') anil ft mark of liospitality (P» 23», Lk 7"). Solomon's young hor.«enien mo<luced striking etlects by siirinkling tlieir heads with gold dust every day (Jos. Ant. vill. vii. 3). Herod the tlrcat dyeu his hair to conceal his great age {Ant. xvi. viii. 1); but the i)rac'tice was unusual (Mt 5"). Wigs were not unknown (Jos. Vita, 11). Orientals have from of old worn ornaments in the hair. It is doubtful if c-j-jf (Is 3"), LXX ^^irXisia, were 'networks' (KVni)or sun-shaped omament.s, dis- tinguished from the cre.scent or moon - shaped, mentioned in the same verse (Schrojder, De I est. Mill. Ueh. cap. 2). To-day coins are most used by women : the long plaitsoften worn have frequently one or more gold pieces dangling at the end. A blue bead knotted into the hair of children is a potent charm against the evil eye.
The Hebrews were forbidden to cut off the comers of their hair (Lv 19-''). They may have adopted the Egyptian practice of wearing the front locks in youth, removin" them on the threshold of manliood. Hut neighbouring peoples attached a religious significance to this act. The Arabians cut tlieir hair in imitation of Orotal — the Arabian Bacchus— 'in a circular form, shaving it round the temples' (Herod, iii. 8). This usage is referred to in Jer 9™ 25'^ 49^-. Tlie young man wore his front locks untouched ; tlieir removal marked his entrance into man's estate, and his initiation into tlie worship of Orotal. Among the Bedawln to-day the front locks are fouml only on growing lads. The Greek epliebi oll'ered the long hair of their childhood at Dchilii : the cut adopted was called d-narili, as the god was said to have cut only his fnmt locks hero. The Ilobrcws were thus distinguished from the idolatrous peoples around them; A curious evidence of tliis ancient prohibition is seen among the Palestinian Jews, who closely crop the whole head, leaving only the two locks in front of the ears, which hang aowa in long ringlets by either cheek.
The first hair has often been held sncrcd. In Arabia, in Mohammed's time, when a child was born its head was shaved, and the scalp daubed with the Idood of a slaughtered sheep. Lane noted that at the first shaving of a boy's head the Egyptian peasants slew a goat, and all who cared partook of the feast provided. These were ' the more recent settlers, whose pagan Arabian ancestors . . . gave as alms to the poor the weight of the hair in silver or gold ' (Lane, Mod. Eqi/p. 573). Burckhardt observes that ' among the Maazy Arabs ... it is a festival in the family when the son's head is shaved for the first time.' Lucian says the Syrian boys and girls of his time, on growing up, cut oft and dedicated their first hair at some sanctuary. Phoenician maidens, as a preliminary to marriage, had to sacrifice either their hair or their chastity at the feast of Rj-blus. Lv 19-'' is rendered in the Syriac 'ye shall not let your hair grow long,' and it is ex- ilained that the custom of the heathen was ' to et the hair grow for a certain time, and on a fixed date to shave the head in a temple or beside a fountain.'