Ancient Egyptian f:il*e Beards.
all other times shaved. Hence Joseph, when released from prison, "shaved his beard" to appear before Pharaoh (Gen. xli, 14). Egyptians of low caste or mean condition are represented sometimes, in the spir- it of caricature apparently, with beards of slovenly growth (Wilkinson, ii, 127). The enemies of the Eg3rptians, including probably many of the nations of Canaan, Syria, Armenia, etc., are represented near- ly always bearded. The most singular custom of the Egyptians was that of tying a false beard upon the chin, which was made of plaited hair, and of a peculiar form, according to the person by whom it was worn. Private individuals had a small beard, scarcely two inches long ; that of a king was of considerable length, square at the bottom ; and the figures of gods were distinguished by its turning up at the end (Wil- kinson, iii, 362). No man ven- tured to assume, or affix to his image, the beard of a deity ; but after their death, it was permitted to substitute this divine emblem on the statues of kings, and all other persons who were judged worthy of admittance to the Elysium of futurity, in consequence of their having assumed the character of Osiris, to whom the souls of the pure returned on quitting their earthly abode. The form of the beard, therefore, readily dis- tinguishes the figures of gods and kings in the sacred subjects of the temples ; and the allegorical connection between the sphinx and the monarch is pointed out by its having the kingly beard, as well as the crown and other symbols of royalty (Wilkinson, Anc. Eg. suppl. plate 77, pt. ii).
From the above facts, it is clear that the Israelites maintained their beard and the ideas connected with it during their abode among the Egyptians, who were a shaven people. This is not unimportant as one of the indications which evince that, whatever they learned of good or evil in that country, they preserved the appearance and habits of a separate people. As the Egyptians shaved their beards off entirely, the in- junction in Lev. xix, 27, against shaving "the cor- ners of the beard" must have been levelled against the practices of some other bearded nation. The prohibi- tion is usually understood to apply against rounding the corners of the beard where it joins the hair ; and the reason is supposed to have been to counteract a superstition of certain Arabian tribes, who, by shaving off or rounding away the beard where it joined the hair of the head, devoted themselves to a certain deity who held among them the place which Bacchus did among the Greeks (Herodot. iii, 8 ; comp. Jer. ix, 26 ; xxv, 23 ; xlix, 32). The consequence seems to have been altogether to prevent the Jews from shaving off the edges of their beards. The effect of this prohibi- tion in establishing a distinction of the Jews from other nations cannot be understood- unless we con- template the extravagant diversity in which the beard was and is treated by the nations of the East. See Corner. The removal of the beard was a part of the ceremonial treatment proper to a leper (Lev. xiv, 9). There is no evidence that the Jews compelled their slaves to wear beards otherwise than they won' their own; although the Romans, when they adopted the fash- ion of shaving, compelled their slaves to cherish their hair and beard, and let them shave when manumitted (Liv. xxxiv, 52; xlv, 44). — Kitto ; Smith; Winer.
In 2 Sam. xix, 24, the term rendered "beard" is in the original E2b, sapham' ' , and signifies the mustache (being elsewhere rendered "upper lip"), which, like the beard, was carefully preserved.
II. The 44th canon of the council of Carthage, A.D. 308, according to the most probable reading, forbids clergymen to suffer the hair of their heads to grow too long, and at the same time forbids to shave the beard.
Ckricus nee comim nutriat nee barbam radat. Accord- ing to Gregory VII, the Western clergy have not worn beards since the first introduction of Christianity ; but Bingham shows this to be incorrect. — Bingham, Orig. Eccl. bk. vi, ch. iv, § 15.
Beard, Thomas, the "protomartyr of Methodism," was one of Mr. Wesley's first assistants. In 1744, during the fierce persecutions waged against the Meth- odists, he was torn from his family and sent away as a soldier. He maintained a brave spirit under his sufferings, but his health failed. He was sent to the hospital at Newcastle in 1774, "where," says Wesley, "he still praised God continually." His fever be- came worse, and he was bled, but his arm festered, mortified, and had to be amputated. A few days later he died. Charles Wesley wrote the hymn Soldier of Christ, adieu ! as a tribute to the memory of Beard. — Wesley, Works, iii, 317 ; Stevens, Hist, of Methodism, i, 210 ; Atmore, Memorial, p. 46.
Beasley, Frederick, D.D., was born in 1777, near Edenton, N. C. After graduating at Princeton, 1797, he remained there three years as tutor, studying theolog}' at the same time. In 1801 he was ordained deacon, in 1802 priest ; in 1803 he became pastor of St. John's, Elizabethtown ; in the same year he was trans- ferred to St. Peter's, Albany, and in 1809 to St. Paul's, Baltimore. In 1813 he became provost of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, which office he filled with emi- nent fidelity and dignity until 1828. He served St. Michael's, Trenton, from 1829 to 1836, when he retired to Elizabethtown, where he died, Nov. 1, 1845. His principal writings are, American Dialogues of the Bead (1815) -.—Search of Truth in the Science of the Human Mind (vol. i, 8vo, 1822 ; vol. ii left in MS.). He also published a number of pamphlets and sermons, and was a frequent contributor to the periodicals of the time. — Sprague, Aimals, v, 479.