OCR Text |
Show Ancients Believed Man's Glory Was His Beard There was a deep-rooted belief among the ancient peoples of the East that a man's glory was his beard. Compulsory shaving and the close-cropping close-cropping of hair were signs of degradation. degra-dation. This is borne out by Assyrian sculptures, which always show kings with boards and long hair and slaves with close-cropped hair and cleanshaven clean-shaven faces. The Egyptians, however, had different differ-ent ideas. They considered that hair was a source of dirt and shaved both face and head. Their slaves and servants serv-ants were compelled to do the same. The early Greeks- and Romans shavecf off their beards because they gave the enemy a good hold in hand-to-hand fighting ! It is recorded that Alexander Al-exander the Great ordered his soldiers to shave for this reason. It was the custom among, Romans to shave off the beard at the age of twenty-one and present it as an offering offer-ing to the household gods. A beard was grown after that age only as a sign of mourning. London Tit-Bits. |