''This is the reason why the people of the north are so large in stature, so light in complexion, and have straight red hair, blue eyes, and are full of blood, for they are thus formed by the abundance of the moisture, and the coldness of their country''
Pliny, Naturalis Historia, 2. 78 (77 AD):
‘‘…in the frozen and icie regions, the people have white skins, haire growing long downeward, and yellow…’’
Ptolemy, Tetrabiblios, 2. 2 (150 AD):
''The natives of those countries which lie under the more remote northern parallels...hence they are fair in complexion, with straight hair, of large bodies and full stature''
Native Britons
Lucan, Pharsalia (Civil War) 3. 89 (61 AD):
“And Ocean borne his chains! How noble Gaul, And Britain's blonde-haired chiefs his lofty car.’’
Cassius Dio, Roman History, 62. 2. 2 – 4 (200 AD):
[Describing Boudicca]
‘‘… Buduica (Boudicca), a Briton woman of the royal family and possessed of greater intelligence than often belongs to women. This woman assembled her army, to the number of some 120,000, and then ascended a tribunal which had been constructed of earth in the Roman fashion. In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the reddish hair fell to her hips;''
Tacitus, Agricola, XI (98 AD): ‘‘…rutilae Caledoniam habitantium comae, magni artus Germanicam originem adseverant’’
“The reddish hair and large limbs of the Caledonians pro-claim a German origin”
Jordanes, Getica, 2. 13 (551 AD):
‘‘The inhabitants of Caledonia (Scotland) have reddish hair and large loose-jointed bodies.''
‘‘The Gauls are tall of body, with rippling muscles, and white of skin, and their hair is blond, and not only naturally so, but they also make it their practice by artificial means to increase the distinguishing colour which nature has given it.’’
Virgil, Aeneid, 8. 658 – 660 (29 – 19 BC):
‘‘Golden is their hair and golden their garb. They are resplendent in their striped cloaks, and their milk-white necks are circled with gold.’’
Livy, Ab urbe condita (History of Rome) 38. 21. 9 (25 BC)
‘‘The fact that they fight naked makes their wounds conspicuous and their bodies are fleshy and white, as is natural, since they are never uncovered except in battle; so that both more blood flowed from their abundant flesh and the wounds stood out to view more fearfully and the whiteness of their skins was more stained by the black blood.’’
Lucan, Pharsalia (Civil War) 1. 450 (61 AD):
“The fair haired people of Cevennes…”
Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman History, 15. 12. 1 (378 AD):
“Nearly all the Gauls are of a lofty stature, white, and of ruddy complexion; terrible from the sternness of their eyes, very quarrelsome, and of great pride and insolence. A whole troop of foreigners would not be able to withstand a single Gaul if he called his wife to his assistance, who is usually very strong, and with blue eyes”
Germanics
Strabo, Geographica, 7. 1. 2 (7 BC):
“The Germans, who, though vary slightly from the Celtic stock in that they are wilder, taller and have yellower hair, are in all other respects similar”
Seneca the Younger, De Ira (On Anger) 3. 26. 3 (50 AD):
‘‘Non est Aethiopis inter suos insignitus color, nec rufus crinis et coactus in nodum apud Germanos uirum dedecet...’’
‘‘The colour of the Ethiopian is not exceptional among his own [people], nor is hair, red and gathered into a knot, unfitting for a man among the Germans.’’
Plutarch, Life of Marius, XI. 3 (75 – 100 AD):
‘‘The most prevalent conjecture was that they were some of the German peoples which extended as far as the northern ocean, a conjecture based on their great stature, their light-blue eyes, and the fact that the Germans call robbers Cimbri.’’
Tacitus, Germania, IV (98 AD):
“For myself I accept the view that the peoples of Germany have never been tainted by intermarriage with other peoples, and stand out as a nation peculiar, pure and unique of its kind. Hence the physical type, if one may generalize at all about so vast a population, is everywhere the same – wild, blue eyes, reddish hair and huge frames that excel only in violent effort”
Eugippius, Thesaurus, 73 (550 AD):
''...white skinned Germans''
Suebi (Germanic tribe)
Lucan, Pharsalia (Civil War) 2. 60 (61 AD):
‘‘Let loose from furthest North her yellow-haired tribes: Elbe, pour thy Suevians forth!’’
Ausonius, Bissula, III (350 AD): [Describing a Romanised Suebian slave-girl]:
‘‘She was Latin, but remained a German in her pretty face, blue eyes and blonde hair’’
Thracians
Xenophanes, B16 (500 BC):
‘‘Men make gods in their own image; those of the Ethiopians are black and snub-nosed, those of the Thracians have blue eyes and red hair’’
Jerome, Letter CVII to Laeta. II (400 AD)
‘‘The chilly Scythians are warmed with the glow of the faith. The Getae ruddy and yellow-haired, carry tent-churches about with their armies: and perhaps their success in fighting against us may be due to the fact that they believe in the same religion.’’
Procopius, History of the Wars (Vandalic War) III. 2. 13 (550 AD):
‘‘There were many Gothic nations in earlier times, just as also at the present, but the greatest and most important of all are the Goths, Vandals, Visigoths, and Gepaedes. In ancient times, however, they were named Sauromatae and Melanchlaeni; and there were some too who called these nations Getic. All these, while they are distinguished from one another by their names, as has been said, do not differ in anything else at all. For they all have white bodies and fair hair, and are tall and handsome to look upon, and they use the same laws and practise a common religion. For they are all of the Arian faith, and have one language called Gothic.”
Scythians
Herodotus, Histories, 4. 108 (440BC):
‘‘The Budini for their part, being a large and numerous nation, is all mightily blue-eyed (glaukoi) and red haired (purron)’’
Hippocrates, On Airs, Waters and Places, 20 (400BC):
‘‘The Scythian race are tawny from the cold, and not from the intense heat of the sun, for the whiteness of the skin is parched by the cold, and becomes tawny.’’
Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius, 2. 12 (370 – 390 AD) : ‘‘… but the Scythian white-skinned and with hair of a golden tinge''
‘‘Nearly all the Alani are men of great stature and beauty; their hair is somewhat yellow, their eyes are terribly fierce...''
Persians
Xenophon, Hellenica, 3. 4. 19 (350 BC):
‘‘Agesilaus gave orders to his heralds that the barbarians who were captured by the Greek raiding parties should be exposed for sale naked. Thus the soldiers, seeing that these men were white-skinned because they never were without their clothing, and soft and unused to toil because they always rode in carriages, came to the conclusion that the war would be in no way different from having to fight with women.’’
Sextus Empiricus, Against the Mathematicians, XI (200 AD):
‘‘The Ethiopian preferring the blackest and most snub-nosed, and the Persian approving the whitest and most hook-nosed.’’
Syrians
Strabo, Geographica, 12. 3. 9 (7 BC):
‘‘As for the Paphlagonians, they are bounded on the east by the Halys River, which, according to Herodotus, flows from the south between the Syrians and the Paphlagonians and empties into the Euxine Sea, as it is called; by Syrians, however, he means the "Cappadocians," and in fact they are still today called "White Syrians," while those outside the Taurus are called "Syrians." As compared with those this side the Taurus, those outside have a tanned complexion, while those this side do not, and for this reason received the appellation - white.’’
Libyans
The Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax (4th century BC):
''And there live around it all the Gyzantes Libyes, a community, and a city beyond (the lake) towards the sun’s setting; for all these Gyzantes Libyes are said to be all blonde-haired and very beautiful.’’
Callimachus, Hymn II to Apollo, 85 (3rd century BC):
''‘‘Greatly, indeed, did Phoibos rejoice as the belted warriors of Enyo danced with the yellow-haired Libyan women, when the appointed season of the Karneian feast came round’’
Lucan. Pharsalia, 10. 155 (61 AD):
''‘‘This band with Libyan, that with auburn hair''
Pausanias (1. 14. 6) -
‘‘But when I saw that the statue of Athena had blue eyes I found out that the legend about them is Libyan. For the Libyans have a saying that the Goddess is the daughter of Poseidon and Lake Tritonis, and for this reason has blue eyes like Poseidon.’’
Seres
The Seres were a mysterious tribe of Central Asia, placed by most ancient authorities just east of the Scythians or Bactrians. Their described physiognomy has baffled many ethnologists.
Pliny physically described the Seres as blondish haired, tall, with blue eyes (N. H, 6. 24):
‘‘These people, they said, exceeded the ordinary human height, had flaxen hair, and blue eyes.’’
For more info see - Who were Pliny’s Blue-eyed Chinese?, Classical Philology, Vol. 52. No. 3, pp. 174-177, 1957.
Posts: 2408 | From: My mother's basement | Registered: Dec 2010
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^Who the hell is claiming Europeans were "black"? Certainly not the majority of people in this forum. One issue I took up with this post, was your lack of understanding to the following quote:
quote:Pausanias (1. 14. 6) -
‘‘But when I saw that the statue of Athena had blue eyes I found out that the legend about them is Libyan. For the Libyans have a saying that the Goddess is the daughter of Poseidon and Lake Tritonis, and for this reason has blue eyes like Poseidon.’’
That is not comparing Libyans to blue eyed people. It is saying that the legend of Athena or blue eyes (not sure which one as I don't know the full context) is Libyan because the Libyans said she was the daughter of Poseidon which is why SHE had blue eyes, not Libyans. In any event, check out the age of Eurasian Maternal lineages in the Tuareg who have significant population in Libya:
"The network of H1 haplotypes (Fig. 3) shows that the CRS-3010 haplotype, which is the central node of the network, is widely distributed in northern African populations, including the Berbers and the Tuaregs, while the Eurasian samples show much more diversity. In order to include in our comparative analysis other north African populations that have not been typed for the H1 marker (i.e., the transition at np 3010), a comparison of the HVS-I H-CRS haplotype frequencies among the African populations was carried out (Table 3). Again, results show that this haplotype is well spread in northwestern Africa, especially among some Berber groups, where it may account for more than 15% of their mtDNA pool. The coalescence age of H1 variation in the Tuareg sample was estimated to be 1800 years (SE 1550). More remarkably, after focusing exclusively on the H1-CRS, we calculated that with a 95% probability the age of a clade that shows 72 times no mutations is not older than 850 years."
Source: First Genetic Insight into Libyan Tuaregs: A Maternal, Perspective Claudio Ottoni et al., (2009)
BTW, most of these sources are relatively late in history, ya know?
Posts: 1502 | From: Dies Irae | Registered: Oct 2010
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No one here except a few Eccentrics claim Northern Europeans as Black.
More on the Persians..
beauty is relative, the Ethiopians preferring the blackest and the most flat-nosed and the Persians approving the whitest and the most hook-nosed. Sextus Empiricus (Adv. Ethicos, 43.) 1st Century A.D
"I was sent to all mankind - the black and the red".
بعثت إلى الناس كافة الأحمر والأسود
Ibn Al-Athir said:
"The hadith says: 'I was sent to the black and the red (white/light-skinned)' - meaning the non-Arabs (Persians, etc) and the Arabs; because most non-Arabs (Persians etc) are red and white (light-skinned) and most Arabs are very dark-skinned and dark-skinned."
قال ابن الأثير: فيه "بعثت إلى الأحمر والأسود" أي العجم والعرب ؛ لأن الغالب على ألوان العجم الحُمْرة والبياض ، وعلى ألوان العرب الأُدْمَة والسُمرة
Posts: 8806 | From: The fear of his majesty had entered their hearts, they were powerless | Registered: Nov 2007
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Ibn Fadlan's description of more "Bidan" the Rus linked to the Vikings or maybe the Vandals, Whites not mentioned by Al-Jahiz...
I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys and encamped by the Volga. I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blonde and ruddy; they wear neither tunics nor caftans, but the men wear a garment which covers one side of the body and leaves a hand free.
The Rus are a great host, all of them red haired; they are big men with white bodies. The women of this land have boxes made, according to their circumstances and means, out of gold, silver, and wood. From childhood they bind these to their breasts so that their breasts will not grow larger. Each man puts a chain around his wife's neck for each thousand dinars of his wealth.Posts: 8806 | From: The fear of his majesty had entered their hearts, they were powerless | Registered: Nov 2007
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^ Other than Berbers of European ancestry aside, where are the descriptions of "white" Egyptians?? LOLPosts: 26311 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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Some of us are drawn to the color Red like a bull in Spain, relentless, fixed, and pure. Less than four percent of the world population has naturally red hair. That is less than two percent in America. The gene for Ginger hair was discovered in 1995 and this discovery got little attention. This is not consistent as red heads have gotten lots of it. Some negative such as the association with witches and a crazy temper. Some are positive, such as our love for Lucy, The Little Mermaid, and the Feminist icon of Lilith, the first wife of Adam who insisted on sexual equality. So many deceptive MYTHS are of common knowledge concerning the crimson strand. Read up on the TRUE history of this striking genetic endowment.
Sixty percent of women who dye their hair do so at home. Of them twenty six percent choose to go blonde, twenty seven percent go basic brunette, and thirty percent choose to become redheads. The sale of at home red dye kits has gone up seventeen percent since the year two thousand hit.
Professor Jonathan Rees conducted a study of redheads at Edinburgh University.He identified the"gene for red hair" the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), found on the 16th chromosome. He found that this single gene was responsible for red hair.
Red hair is a recessive genetic mutation.
Red hair is seen on the heads of only four percent of people. Most of these exist in the U.K., the Republic of Ireland, and Australia.
The highest percentage of natural redheads in the world is in Scotland (13%), followed closely by Ireland with 10%. In the US, about 2% of the population are natural redheads.
There is a belief that redheads are prone to industrial deafness. This actually could be true as the melanocytes are found in the middle ear.
The color Green tempers red. Look at a color chart. This is why redheads are taught as children to wear lots of green. As if red hair is a shameful state of being.
In the early 1600’s, at the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the belief of Pixies (aka fairies) emerged in southwest England. They were then and have since been strongly associated with red hair for their mischievousness and otherworldly talents.
A 2002 study found that redhead are harder to sedate than any other people requiring twenty percent more anesthesia. Inadequate doses cause people to wake up during surgery and have increased recall of procedures. (I can vouch that study is accurate)
Adults have about 120,000 hairs on their head; redheads have fewer, blondes have more, brunettes have the most.
Harvard Dermatologist Madhu Pathak calls redheads "three-time losers" because their red pigment is an inadequate filter of sunlight and their skin is more susceptible to sunburn, skin cancer and wrinkling with age. Wear your sun block !!! We are not losers though.
Red headedness is, genetically speaking, a recessive trait. It may appear after several generations of darker hair.
Redheads don't turn grey. Red hair turned sandy, then white. They are also found to loose their color later in life than people carrying other hair colors.
The perception of the color red, scientifically speaking, enhances the viewers metabolism and increases heart rate and respiration.
The first human redheads walked this earth about 50,000 years ago in Africa and then spread throughout Northern Europe.
The country name of Russia means "land of reds" in honor of a redheaded Viking by the name of Rurik.
Red-haired Clowns have their origins in Russia.
From the 1930’s to 1950;s in Cassville, Missouri, there existed a women’s basketball team called “The Redheads.” For a while they became the talk of the country and a much sought after exhibition team compared to the Harlem Globe trotters. It is important to note that they were not natural red heads, at least not all of them.
In the late 16th century, the fat of a redheaded man was an essential ingredient for poison.
Adams first wife Lilith, always depicted as a redhead, is known to have refused to lie beneath Adam during sexual intercourse, and stated” why should I lie beneath you when I am your equal since both of us were created from dust” –Patai
At St. Paul’s cathedral in London, figurines tell the story of the fall in the Garden of Eden. Adam points one hand to the forbidden fruit and the other to a golden haired Eve. Then the arch angel drives them from the garden. Adam with his fig leaf loops his arm around Eve who is now cowering and sporting a main of long red hair.
Similarly in the paintings of the Sistine Chapel in 1874, Michelangelo’s Temptation depicts a brown haired Eve being handed a red apple by a red headed bare breasted serpent woman (Satan manifested as woman of course carries red hair). In the adjacent fresco Eve is thrown out of the garden with a shameful face and a twist of red hair.
Eves’ red hair is seen as the stain of sin like the original scarlet letter. Later her son, Cain, will bare the red hair and also a fall from grace.
The first redheaded British monarch was a woman. Boudicca was a Celtic warrior was led her people, the Icenti, against the Romans in the C.E. 60’s.
Belief that redheads are witches is a folk belief in Germanic culture. From 1483-1784 thousands of suspected witches were nearly always stripped and searched for “marks of the devil”. These included any “abnormality” such as freckles, moles, warts, and birthmarks. Red hair was certainly considered an abnormality. Considering the freckle factor for redheads this was a deadly and shocking horror. Somewhere around 45,000 women were tortured and murdered usually by burning at the stake or by drowning.
The Egyptians regarded the color as so unlucky that they had a ceremony in which they burned red-headed maidens alive to wipe out the tint- Claudie De Lys.
British Press recently reported that that the MC1R (redhead gene) will be used in DNA testing to rule out, or in, if suspected killers in crime scenes are redheads. This will narrow a search if the gene is found to a small percentage of perpetrators. The hope is that next skin color and physical features will be detectable.-Marion Roach
In central Africa’s Cameroon redheaded albinos, called Nguenguerous, are believed also to come by this color by menstrual intercourse. The UN and other world organizations have studied and advocated for their rights as there have been allegations of the ritual murders in some regions of Africa.
Archaeological digs in the Chinese desert of Takla Makan found mummified redheads dating back 3,000 years.
An Irish judge in 2001 fined a man for disorderly conduct stating “I am a firm believer that hair coloring has an effect on temper and your coloring suggests you have a temper.”
Redheads have always been thought untrustworthy. Judas is most always depicted as a redhead displaying the prejudice against red hair.
The Romans kept red haired slaves, and at a higher price.
Adolph Hitler reportedly banned the marriages of two redheads as he feared their children would be “deviant offspring”.
“Ill beat you like a redheaded stepchild”. This phrase was born out of the American south and implies the status of illegitimate offspring with a white master.
At some point in history Brahmins were forbidden to marry redheads.
In France, to be redheaded is thought to be a fate so dire that some women have formed a “Proud to be Red” association.
Red haired children have been historically branded as offspring of “unclean” sex. This has earned them taunts such as “red-knob” or “tampon tops.”
The Bible states in I Corinthians 11:15 that a woman’s long hair is a glory to her because it can be used as a covering. Yet in Song of Solomon 4:1 it states that it is an object that invites desire. I guess there is no loosing.
Bees are thought to sting redheads more than others.
In Denmark it is an honor to have a redheaded child.
In Corsica, if you pass a redhead in the street you are to spit and turn around.
In Poland, if you pass three red-heads you'll win the state lottery-Sylvia Stevez
In Greek Mythology, redheads turn into Vampires when they die.
During the Spanish Inquisition flame colored hair was evidence that its owner had stolen the fire of hell and had to be burned as a witch.
Russian tradition declares that red hair is both a sign that a person holds a fiery temper and craziness. A Russian Proverb warns “There was never a saint with red hair.”
Folklore in Liverpool states that meeting a redhead at the beginning of a journey is a terrible luck and bad omen. If you came upon one while still on dock or aboard the ship, you are smart to return home.
In English and Scottish tradition when the New Year arrives, your “first caller” will bring you luck. Brunettes bring the best luck. Blondes bring no luck at all. A widower brings bad luck. A redhead brings the worst luck. This “first footing” custom was so strongly practiced at one time that some homes would hire first callers.
Aristotle was known to believe that redheads were emotionally unhousebroken.
A French Proverb states that “redheaded women are either violent or false, and usually are both.”
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