Is there historical evidence on what might have been a maximum hair length for males in 1st century Judea?
score:8
There is no clear source about the maximum length of hair known to me, but it's possible to glean information from some related topics.
The Mishnah (redacted c. 200 in Roman Palestine), based on Leviticus 19:27, requires a minimum permissible length for the sideburns of the hair, but not a maximum (Makkot 3:5, BT 20b). The fact that a minimum was defined and not a maximum might be due to the fact that closer haircuts were more fashionable, but it could just be exegesis of the Biblical prohibition.
The bangs (and a yearly ceremonious cutting of them) are mentioned as an idolatrous practice in the Mishnah (Avoda Zara 1:3), or an "Amorite" custom in the Talmud (BT Sota 46b, attributed to a Galilean sage, not a Babylonian). This seems to reflect a fashion for bangs among non-Jewish residents of Roman Palestine, to which Jewish residents were contrasted.
Curling hair (which might indicate a long length of hair) was described as childish (Tanhuma, Vayyeshev 7 about Joseph), and the servant of Rabbi Judah the Prince said to someone, "Until when will you curl your hair?" (BT Rosh Hashshana 26b). Perhaps children had longer hair than adults.
Some of these sources are quoted in this article about hair in Jewish sources by Miriam Samuel (Hebrew).
While these sources mostly point to short hair for adults, it should also be noted that while women's dress was forbidden to Jewish men (based on Deuteronomy 22:5), there is no discussion of long hair in this context in rabbinic sources, which might also show that it wasn't entirely unusual for men to have long hair. However, an explicit statement on the subject can be found in the writings of Paul the Apostle (I Corinthians 11:14-15), who views short hair as natural for a man and long hair as natural for a woman (however, while Paul was in Jerusalem for some time, he was from Tarsus and didn't stay in Judea).
One possible contemporary picture of a Judean is one bust identified, probably incorrectly, as that of Josephus, who was born in Judah and later moved to Rome. Even if Josephus is depicted, it's unclear whether the hairstyle reflects a Judean fashion, or if it was changed to match his later Roman neighbors, but the hairstyle does in fact have a close haircut with no bangs. (I left this paragraph here because it appeared it a previous version of the answer, but the source linked to above claims the identification with Josephus is baseless.)
More post
- 📝 How were the West Berlin air corridors negotiated?
- 📝 How can you see what rank a British redcoat is?
- 📝 Has any U.S. Vice President cast a tie-breaking vote against their own administration?
- 📝 Is this movie tactic realistic?
- 📝 Why does the US have many top-level web domains?
- 📝 Why were women excluded from the succession line in the Meiji constitution?
- 📝 Who was the first Renaissance cartographer to include rich content in their maps that went beyond spatial points, borders, and location names?
- 📝 Who first wrote about deafness?
- 📝 Were there socioeconomic reasons for the decline of Athenian democracy?
- 📝 Why the difference of opinion about the disappearance of Subhas Chandra Bose
- 📝 Is the son of a Freedman a Freeborn?
- 📝 What was the response of the general Iranian public to the modernization policies of Reza Shah?
- 📝 What are these objects around François Ravaillac's portrait?
- 📝 How did muzzle-loaded rifled artillery solve the problems of the hand-held rifle?
- 📝 What is this artillery shell?
- 📝 Until 1600, was it legal to counterfeit money?
- 📝 How densely populated were the Americas prior to European colonization?
- 📝 Fat jokes in ancient Greek comedies
- 📝 Did Germans refuse to take Cossacks prisoners in WWI? If so, why?
- 📝 Why didn't Asian countries expand and trade with Europe?
- 📝 What was the population of late Pre-Islamic Arabia and the population of Arabic speakers before Islam?
- 📝 Where was the Battle of Antioch (613 CE) fought?
- 📝 Name of the ancient law that forbade naming/publicising the name of a criminal?
- 📝 When were the lictors abolished?
- 📝 Wales and Ireland in medieval times
- 📝 What if a slave entered a state without slavery?
- 📝 What is the pre-schism Christian church called today?
- 📝 What was the oil production of each US State around the time of WW2?
- 📝 Why did the Social Gospel movement of the early 1900's fail to reach the working class?
- 📝 Why did Argentina seize South Georgia immediately prior to the Falklands invasion?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Is there historical evidence on what might have been a maximum hair length for males in 1st century Judea?
- 📝 What historical evidence is there for the existence of Jesus Christ? What do we know about him?
- 📝 What historical evidence do we have for the existence of Mohammed?
- 📝 Have there ever been maximum age limits for public office in the United States?
- 📝 What historical evidence do we have for the Prophet Muhammed?
- 📝 What would have been the typical drinks for a US farmer in the late 18th/early 19th century?
- 📝 What evidence is there for chain stores or restaurant chains in Ancient Rome?
- 📝 What is the historical basis for the claim that "Taiwan has always been part of China"?
- 📝 Are there ancient historical sources which have been permanently lost?
- 📝 Is there a historical source that might explain why so many countries use 35 as a minimum age for the president / the highest office person?
- 📝 What historical evidence do we have regarding the Lost Colony of Roanoke?
- 📝 What evidence is there for inventions by slaves or former slaves in Ancient Rome?
- 📝 What would have been the carrying capacity for 11th-13th century backpacks?
- 📝 What is the historical evidence for asserting Huns were one and the same as Xiongnu?
- 📝 What murals and decor might have been present in the earliest Sumerian temples?
- 📝 Is there any historical evidence for a co-regency of Tiberius and Augustus?
- 📝 What evidence is there for the severity of Roman scourging before crucifixion?
- 📝 Has there been any culture where men typically have longer hair than women?
- 📝 Have there been any major disagreements between historians over what sources should be used to interpret an event?
- 📝 Have there been government conspiracies that were successful for over 25 years?
- 📝 What evidence do we have that historical accounts we've found of ancient civilizations weren't fictional?
- 📝 Is there any information on what numbers of American families have what numbers of children, for any time period?
- 📝 What Evidence Do We Have For Samaritans Living In Babylon in the 6th or 5th Century BC?
- 📝 What knowledge may have been lost at the Library of Alexandria?
- 📝 Have there been any countries that voted themselves out of existence?
- 📝 Has there ever been a case when a traitorous military commander took command again for the side he betrayed?
- 📝 Are there any examples of technologies have been lost over time?
- 📝 What is the historical basis for the Exodus?
- 📝 Is there evidence to suggest the "war on drugs" was a cover for class warfare?
- 📝 Are there any documented examples of wooden ships which were in active service for 100 years or more? If not, what is the longest?