Hair loss, it’s problems and
the search for a cure is not anything new. For thousands of years, men and
women of all countries and races have shared the tragedy of premature hair
loss and the hope of discovering a cure.
There is indeed a vast fortune
just waiting to be collected for anyone finding the elusive cure.
Hair Loss and the Bible
One of the earliest mentions of
hair loss is in the bible, below are a few instances.
Kings 2: 23
From there Elisha went to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came
out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!"
they said "go on up, you baldhead!"
He turned round, looked at
them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord.
Then two
bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.
And he
went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.
Leviticus 13: 40-41
When a man
has lost his hair and he is bald, he is clean. If he has lost his hair
from the front of scalp and has a bald forehead, he is clean.
Numbers 6: 1-21
The Nazarites had
special rules regarding treatment of hair.
Grey hair is also mentioned in
the bible.
Proverbs 16: 31 Grey hair is a
crown of splendour; it is attained by a righteous life.
Proverbs 20: 29 The glory of
young men is their strength, grey hair the splendour of the old.
Egyptians to Persians
In the ancient Middle East
hair loss was regarded as shameful. It symbolised the public announcement
of the loss of a mans virility.
Samson who lost all his hair, also, well
documented in the bible, showed that his head full of hair was not only a
symbol, it was also considered the actual source of his power and
strength, which he lost when it was cut off by the Philistines, and not by
Delilah as most people claim.
In Ancient Egypt, wigs were
serious business. The head was shaved for cleanliness, and presumably for
coolness, and wigs were worn as protection from the sun and as a sign of
regal status.
All Pharaohs were buried with lavish head gear for wearing in
the afterlife.
The Egyptians, Romans and
Greeks spent fortunes on salves and ointments which they hoped would grow
hair or at least help stop hair loss.
The following dates back to the Egyptian times:
Remedy for Hair Growth prepared for
Ses, Mother of his Majesty the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Teta,
deceased
Toes-of-a-Dog
Refuse-of-Dates
Hoof-of-an-Ass
Another ancient remedy used to prevent grey hairs
Blood-from-the-neck-of-the-Gabgu-Bird
Put in real balsam and rub therewith.
"The Papyrus Embers"
1500BC
Hair fashions change rapidly and usually without
any rational pattern. Hair styles that out of favour with current fashion
often evoke unexpectedly strong emotions and attempts to outlaw them are
common.
Ancient Persian men considered a shaved face as
absurd, but their contemporaries, the Hittites, shaved their beards,
moustache, eyebrows and patches of hair near the temples.
The Celts often
shaved their beards but not their moustaches.
Ancient Greeks wore beards
and wore long hair but in the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great ordered
his soldiers to shave beards and keep head hair short.
The Roman's
Roman law once required prostitutes to wear
blonde wigs, but the Emperor Claudius's wife, Messalina, wore a
yellow wig on her nightly outings.
The regulation was repealed and blonde
wigs became the fashion of the day.
The Romans generally shaved for about
500 years, but around the year 200 beards reappeared. This lasted until Charlemargne in the year 800 ordered his subjects, most of Western Europe,
to shave.
Beards started to return but the Bishop of Rouen warned in 1096
that men with beards were in danger of damnation.
Legend has it that Caesar became
so worried and embarrassed about his baldness that he used to wear his
ceremonial laurel wreaths constantly to try and hide it.
Caesar also had
his defeated enemy's hair cut off as a sign of submission when they were
conquered.
One form of hair loss Alopectia
Areata ( small bald patches that can sometimes appear and disappear for no
reason) is actually derived from the Greek word for "Mangy Fox".
In 400 B.C. Hippocrates the
Father of Medicine prescribed a mixture of cumin, pigeon droppings,
horseradish and beetroots or nettles, to help prevent hair loss.
Needless
to say he as well as his patients remained absolutely bald.
