Pliny's Natural History and red hair (maybe)

Pliny the Elder (born Gaius Plinius Secundus, AD 23/24 – 79), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia (Natural History), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field. He died in AD 79 in Stabiae while attempting the rescue of a friend and his family from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the Natural History compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work's title, its subject area is not limited to what is today understood by natural history; Pliny himself defines his scope as "the natural world, or life". It is encyclopedic in scope, but its structure is not like that of a modern encyclopedia. It is the only work by Pliny to have survived, and the last that he published. He published the first 10 books in AD 77, but had not made a final revision of the remainder at the time of his death. The rest was published posthumously by Pliny's nephew, Pliny the Younger.

 

The work is divided into 37 books, organised into 10 volumes. These cover topics including astronomy, mathematics, geography, ethnography, anthropology, human physiology, zoology, botany, agriculture, horticulture, pharmacology, mining, mineralogy, sculpture, art, and precious stones.

Pliny's Natural History became a model for later encyclopedias and scholarly works as a result of its breadth of subject matter, its referencing of original authors, and its index.

The book VI (which is in the II volume) is about the geography of Asia (Black Sea, India and Far East). In chapter 24 (or 22 in some old translations) Pliny talks of four ambassadors coming from the island of Toprabane to Rome, to meet the Emperor Claudius. Today, this island is identified with Sri Lanka, but some argue that the geography of Sri Lanka has nothing to do with Topabrane as described by Pliny, and suggest Sumatra as a better choice. 

Map by Alain Mallet as Sri Lanka as Topabrane

Sumatra is a large island called Taprobane by ancient geographers.

 

For example, the ambassadors say their island is four days’ sailing from India, stretches about 2000 km and has a large lake in the middle with small islands used for grazing. They also say that in their land the Big Dipper and the Pleiades are not visible and (quote) “But what surprised them more than anything, was that the shadow of their bodies was thrown towards our hemisphere and not theirs, and that the sun arose on the left hand and set on the right, and not in the opposite direction.” All of this would be consistent with a land crossed by the Equator (and the ambassadors would be living south of it). They add that, beyond the Emodian Mountains, there is a population called Seræ, with whom they trade. Of them, the ambassadors say (I quote from the original Latin) “… ipsos vero excedere hominum magnitudinem, rutilis comis, caeruleis oculis…” 

Which translates in English as "These people, they said, exceeded the ordinary human height, had flaxen hair, and blue eyes..."

Now, we have seen in previous posts that Latin adjective rutilus means red and is often used to refer to hair colour. I've checked several online Latin-English dictionaries and they all give red, golden red, ruddy and reddish as first translations. They also give reddish yellow and golden as additional translations (see here, here and here). 

This is my old Latin-Italian dictionary.

It too gives rossiccio (reddish) and fulvo (fawn, fulvous) as first translations, and blond, golden and shining as additional translations. Above, you can see the conjugation of the verb rùtilo: shine, spark, redden.

So, basically, English translators didn't choose the first or second translation of rutilus, but the third, and I wonder why. Who knows, maybe they thought that, being red hair so rare, it whould have been impossibile for that ancient population to have that hair colour, and deemed blond hair more probable.

Also, I recently found out that Wikipedia is available in Latin too! Here's the entry about rutilus. I translate: "Rutilus or rutilans is the name of a colour similar to red or even gold. Varro explains that rutilus and rufum are almost the same: women with red-golden hair and very red hair are said rutilae. Not only is rutilus said of hair, as rufus, but sometimes also of dogs, of good grain, of flame and of gold. In binomials of species, rutilus is either used in the ancient sense, or it is said of the red colour with a certain metallic luster." 

But what about translations in other languages? Let’s have a look, but keep in mind that those below are the first translations in their respective languages (they are available on the internet because copyrights have expired), so there’s the chance later translations are a bit different.

Italian (this is written with an old spelling).

 

Page 158: "Et ch'essi sono maggiori degli altri huomini, co' capei rossi, con gli occhi verdi..." (And that they are taller that other men, with red hair, with green eyes...)

So, in this translation they do have red hair, but the eye colour changes from blue to green.

French

"... que les Sères dépassaient la taille ordinaire, qu'ils avaient les cheveux rouges, les yeux bleus..." (...that the Seræ were taller that the average, that they had red hair, blue eyes..."

 

Spanish (old spelling)

Page 205: "Son sus cabellos rubios, los ojos verdes..." (Their hair is blond, their eyes green...)

I'm not a professional etymologist, but my idea is that the Spanish adjective rubio, in spite of its meaning, is connected to the Latin verb rŭbĕo = to be red, to blush.

German (old spelling)

 Page 211: "... ihr Haar rothlich, sie Hugen himmelblau..." (Their hair reddish, their eyes sky blue...)

On a final note, it is worth noting that, according to etymologists, rutilus comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *reudh- (which is, apparently, the only colour for which a definite common PIE root word has been found): red, ruddy. This is the same root of the Latin rufus (red-haired), Greek e-rythros (Greek tends to avoid beginning words with -r-); Sanskrit rudhira-; Avestan raoidita-; Old Church Slavonic rudru, Polish rumiany, Russian rumjanyj "flushed, red," of complexions, etc.; Lithuanian raudas; Old Irish ruad, Welsh rhudd, Breton ruz "red", Old English rēad, Old Norse rauðr, Danish rød, Old Saxon rod, Old Frisian rad, Middle Dutch root, Dutch rood, German rot, Gothic rauþs; etc.

So, no trace of blond. 😁

Red Hair of the Red Earth

This is the last item I have to upload, and concerns red hair in Jewish populations. It's from the Medical and Surgical Reporter - Volume 22, dated 1870. It references the writings of a certain Dr John Beddoe, a familiar name to anyone that's been following this blog over the last decade or so.

"A pamphlet has lately been written on the physical characteristics of the [Jewish] race by JOHN BEDDOE, B. A., M. D., President of the Anthropological Society, etc. A good deal of this pamphlet is occupied with the question as to whether the existence of light hair and eyes among the Jews is compatible with purity of race. It seems unquestionable that xanthous Jews exist into whom there has been no recent importation of Gentile blood: and the fact that these red-haired Jews are found in countries widely separated precludes the idea that any special local cause, such as climate, has wrought the change. Dr. Beddoe suggests three possible sources of early admixture, which he thinks may explain the xanthous element observed among living Jews. The Jews may have intermixed with inhabitants of Spain long before the Babylonian captivity, or with the Phoenicians; or, lastly, the known amalgamation of the Idumeans with the Jews may be the source whence the red hair, which probably characterised that people, has been derived."

It's interesting that red hair is related to the Phoenicians in this passage. Likewise the relation to the Idumeans. The Idumeans are contiguous with the Edomites, who were said to descend from Esau, the elder son of the biblical Isaac. Esau was said to have been born "red all over". The word Edom is likewise said to mean "red" in Hebrew. It's also worth noting the similar sounding name Adam, which is often equated with red earth.

According to the Wikipedia page for the word Adamah (meaning ground or earth):

Adam (אדם) literally means "red", and there is an etymological connection between adam and adamah, adamah designating "red clay" or "red ground" in a non-theological context.

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A few further notes from the Wikipedia page that may be worth noting:

The word adam has no feminine form in Hebrew, but if it did, it would be adamah.

There is [an] additional relationship between the words adam and adamah and the word dam (דם), meaning blood.

More Red-Haired Mummies

A brief reference to Egyptian mummies with "reddish" hair now. From an 1878 work titled: Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought. The particular passage comes from a section on the origins of the Egyptians.

"From the ethnological work of Dr. Barnard Davis, as descriptive of Egyptian mummies, these extracts are taken: "Short locks of flowing, reddish brown hair. - Has long reddish brown hair, which is plaited and fastened behind. - Orthognathous face, which is almost in the form of a triangle. - Has a narrow face, with long, slender nose. - Hair in short, very curly, reddish brown locks. - A large head, with a long pointed nose, and rather broad face."

Not especially revealing, and the context is a little vague, but it's yet another example to add to our collection.

Red Hair & The Red Heifer

Back to longer posts now. This one is a passage about the "red heifer". I'll share the entire thing for the sake of context. It's also quite an interesting read in general.

It's from:

The Bible cyclopædia: or, Illustrations of the civil and natural history of the sacred writings [ed. by W. Goodhugh, completed by W.C. Taylor]. 1841.

"HEIFER parah, or rather parah adummah, "the red heifer," a young cow used in sacrifice at the Temple. Moses and Aaron were instructed to deliver the Divine command to the children of Israel, that they should procure a "red heifer without spot," that is, one that was entirely red, without one spot of any other colour, "free from blemish, and on which the yoke had never yet come," that is, which had never yet been employed in ploughing the ground, or in any other work. The animal was to be delivered to the priest, who was to lead her forth out of the camp, and there to slay her; the priest was then to take the blood with his finger, and sprinkle it seven times before the tabernacle; and afterwards to burn the carcass; then to take cedar wood and hyssop, and scarlet wood, and cast them into the flames. The ashes were to be gathered up, and preserved in a secure and clean place, for the use of the congregation, by the sprinkling of which ashes in water it became a water of separation. Spencer and some other writers think that the selection of this victim was in opposition to the superstitions of Egypt. The Egyptians never sacrificed cows, which were sacred to Isis; the Israelites generally offered males in sacrifice, but on this occasion they were directed to choose a heifer; it was also to be red, which is the only occasion on which any direction is given in this respect, a circumstance to which the priests of Egypt gave much attention*. Red hair was held in abhorrence by them, as they believed Typhon, the Satan of their religious system, to be of that colour, and to whom, according to Plutarch, they offered red bulls in sacrifice.

It is thought that a red heifer, under this law, was sacrificed every year, and the ashes distributed to all the towns and cities of Israel. But the Rabbins differ on this point, which is thus stated by Maimonides: - "Nine red heifers have been sacrificed between the delivering of this precept and the desolation of the second temple. Our master, Moses, sacrificed the first; Ezra offered up the second; and seven more were slain during the period which elapsed from the time of Ezra to the destruction of the (second) temple; the tenth, King Messiah himself shall sacrifice; by his speedy manifestation he shall cause great joy. Amen: may he come quickly."

With regard to not putting under yoke animals offered in sacrifice, it may be observed, this was a custom among the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, as they considered animals that had been made to serve other purposes were unworthy to be offered to the gods.

*Sir William Ouseley has with considerable ability discussed this subject, and shown that almost all over the East idols were painted or smeared with red."

A Spanish Proverb About Red Hair

Another super short one (I knew these finds weren't all long). This time it's simply an old Spanish saying about redheads. It comes from an English/Spanish dictionary published in 1726.

"A lame ass, and a red-hair'd man, and the devil, are all one."

For some similarly unflattering sayings about red hair, only this time from Italy, see below.

Italian Sayings and Proverbs about Red Hair

Jumbee Jamaican Red-Haired Devil

Another shorty. Here we have a piece linking the devil with red hair. It's from an 18th century letter which states that the slave population of Jamaica believed that after death men would..

"..go down below into the Earth, to live along with Jumbee, viz. the Devil, whom they insist upon, to be of neither White nor Black, but of a red Mullatto Colour, without Horns, Tail, or cloven Hoofs: However, they all agree, that he has long Red Hair growing on his Breast."

The letter can be found as part of the collection of letters that make up the following work:

A Natural History of Nevis (1745)

Some More 19th Century Mentions of Red Hair

A couple of quick quotes about red hair from 19th century ethnographers now. Yet again, the language is somewhat dated, so apologies. Of course, it's worth remembering that although these writers held views or used language that we would now find unpalatable it doesn't necessarily mean they were horrible, hate-filled people. In days gone by it wasn't uncommon for men to view women as less intelligent, but that didn't mean they didn't love their wives and daughters dearly. So we should perhaps bear this in mind and extend some tolerance to them as we seek tolerance ourselves.

The first quote comes from an 1850 work titled The Races of Man And Their Geographical Distribution.

"The fact of red hair occurring amongst the Negroes of Congo has been alluded to by Blumenbach, who saw many Mulattoes with red hair."

The second quote, or passage rather, comes from a book published in 1878 titled The Temperaments.

"In regard to red hair, observation has convinced us that it is closely related, both physiologically and as a sign of Temperament and character, to black hair. In the crosses of the Negro with the Caucasian, black hair is the most persistent sign of the dark blood, holding its place after all trace of the African taint has disappeared from the complexion, and never furnishing examples of even the darkest brown, much less of yellow, but even in mulattoes (half-bloods) red hair or wool not very infrequently appears. Of this we have observed several instances in Charleston, S. C., and elsewhere."

Language aside both quotes are interesting as they speak to this notion that red hair occurs in mixed populations.