For the constellation Ursa Major, or "the Great Bear," see Astronomy.
Beard (",pT, zdkan'; Gr. iruiyutv). The customs of nations in respect to this part of the human coun- tenance have differed and still continue to differ so widely that it is not easy with those who treat the beard as an incumbrance to conceive properly the im- portance attached to it in other ages and countries.
I. The ancient nations in general agreed with the modern inhabitants of the East in attaching a great value to the possession of a beard. The total absence of it, or a sparse and stinted sprinkling of hair upon the chin, is thought by the Orientals to be as great a deformity to the features as the want of a nose would appear to us; while, on the contrary, along and bushy beard, flowing down in luxuriant profusion to the breast, is considered not only a most graceful orna- ment to the person, but as contributing in no small degree to respectability and dignity of character. So much, indeed, is the possession of this venerable badge associated with notions of honor and importance, that it is almost constantly introduced, in the way either of allusion or appeal, into the language of familiar and daily life. In short, this hairy appendage of the chin i- um-t highly prized as the attribute of manly digni- ty ; and hence the energy of Ezekiel's language when, describing the severity of the Divine judgments upon the Jews, he intimates that, although that people had
BEARD
Beard ot ancient Assyrian King.
been as dear to God and as fondly cherished by him as the beard was by them, the razor, i. e. the agents of his angry providence, in righteous retribution for their long-continued sins, would destroy their existence as a nation (Ezek. v, 1-5). With this knowledge of the extraordinary respect and value which have in all ages been attached to the beard in the East, we are prepared to expect that a corresponding care would be taken to preserve and improve its appearance ; and, accordingly, to dress and anoint it with oil and per- fume was, witli the better classes at least, an indis- pensable part of their daily toilet (Psa. exxxiii, 2). In many cases it was dyed with variegated colors, by a tedious and troublesome operation, described by Mo- rier (Journ. p. 247), which, in consequence of the ac- tion of the air, requires to be repeated once every fort- night, and which, as that writer informs us, has been from time immemorial a universal practice in Persia. That the ancient Assyrians took equally nice care of their beard and hair is evident from the representa- tions found everywhere upon the monuments discov- ered by Botta and Laj'ard. From the histoiy of Me- phibosheth (2 Sam. xix, 24), it seems probable that the grandees in ancient Palestine " trimmed their beards" with the same fastidious care and by the same elaborate process ; while the allowing these to remain in a foul and dishevelled state, or to cut them off, was one among the many features of sordid negligence in their personal appearance by which they gave outward indications of deep and overwhelming sorrow (Isa. xv, 2; Jer. xli, 5; comp. Herod, ii, 36; Suet. Caligula, 5; Theocr. xiv, 3). The custom was and is to shave or pluck it and the hair out in mourning (Isa. 1, G ; Jer. xlviii, 37 ; Ezra ix, 3 ; Bar. vi, 31). David resented the treatment of his ambassadors by Hanun (2 Sam. x, 4) as the last outrage which enmity could inflict (comp. Lucian, Cynic. 14). The dishonor done by Da- vid to his beard of letting his spittle fall on it (1 Sam. xxi, 13) seems at once to have convinced Achish of his being insane, as no man in health of body and mind would thus defile what was esteemed so honor- able. It was customary for men to kiss one another's beards when they saluted, for the original of 2 Sam. xx, 9, literally translated, would read, "And Joab held in his right hand the beard of Amasa, that he might give it a kiss ;" indeed, in the East, it is gener- ally considered an insult to touch the beard except to kiss it (comp. Homer, Iliad, i, 501 ; x, 4.54 sq.). Among the Arabs, kissing the beard is an act of respect ; D' Ar- vieux observes (Coutumes d?s Arabes, ch. 7) that "the women kiss their husbands' beards, and the children their fathers', when they go to salute them" (see Har- mar, Obs. ii, 77, 83; iii, 179; Bohlen, Indien, ii, 171; Deyling, Obs. ii, 14; Lakemacher, Obs. x, 145; Taver- nier, ii, 100 ; Niebuhr, Beschr. p. 317 ; Kitto, Pict. Bi- ble, notes on 1 Sam. xxxi, 13; 2 Sam. x, 4; xix, 24; xx, 9; 1 Chron. xix, 4; Volney, ii, 118; Burekhardt, Arabia, p. 01 ; Lane, Mod. Egyptians, i, 322). See Hair.
The Egyptians, on the contrary, sedulously, for the most part, shaved the hair of the face and head, and compelled their slaves to do the like. Herodotus (i, 36) mentions it as a peculiarity of the Egyptians that they let the beard grow in mourning, being at
Beards of various ancient Nations. From the Egyptian Monuments.
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