Chapter 4: Crown in Antiquity

Hair, whether natural or in the form of wigs, was central to this symbolic system. Elaborate wigs echoed the natural coiled African texture, while also shielding the wearer from the desert sun `[6]`. Pharaohs and nobles adorned their locks with beads, gold, and lapis lazuli, signifying divine favour and status. The descendants of those ancient rulers did not “pay” royalties but rather received them, as they were considered heirs of divine creativity and order. Today, the irony is that the primary “royalties” afforded to the descendants of Africa’s original rulers is those collected for music and creative works, particularly in Black music, a poignant echo of lost sovereignty.

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This reverence for coiled hair was not limited to Kemet. The Abrahamic scriptures reflect similar symbolism. The “Ancient of Days” in Daniel and the Son of Man in Revelation are both described as having hair white and like wool `[7]`—an unmistakable evocation of tightly coiled texture. This was no incidental detail: it was a deliberate assertion that wisdom, age, and divinity shared the attributes of Black hair. The story of Samson reinforces this symbolism. His seven locks were not mere hair but vessels of covenant and divine strength; once cut, he was powerless ` [8] `.

 

Even classical writers noted the distinctiveness of African hair. Herodotus, the Greek historian, described Ethiopians as a people of wisdom, longevity, and unique hair texture `[9]`. To him, hair was not only a marker of identity but also a visible sign of resilience, spiritual vitality, and otherness in the eyes of outsiders.

 

The most significant and frequently cited descriptions of ancient Egyptian hair come from Greek historians and philosophers who consistently characterized it as tightly curled. Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BCE, provides the most direct evidence in his work The Histories. While arguing that the Colchians of the Black Sea were of Egyptian descent, he offered their physical appearance as proof, stating they were "black-skinned and have woolly hair." The specific Greek term he used, Ulothrix, sometimes spelt (ulotrichous), unambiguously refers to a tightly coiled hair texture, drawing a clear distinction from the straight or wavy hair.

 

This characterization was not an isolated observation. A century later, the philosopher Aristotle echoed this description in his treatise Physiognomics. When discussing the physical traits of different peoples, he noted that "the Egyptians and Ethiopians... have very woolly hair," using the same term, Ulothrix. This reinforcement by a major intellectual figure demonstrates that the perception of Egyptians having tightly curled hair was a widely held and unremarkable fact within the Hellenic world.