Tresses and Distresses: Literary and Social Aspects of Women’s Hair in Second Temple Jewish Literature
This article explores the literary context of three types of hair modification in Second Temple Jewish literature: disarranging, unveiling, and cutting, when they occur and the social categories they embody. All of these behaviors mark women as mourners, with the tearing/cutting and disheveling of h...
| Published in: | Journal of ancient Judaism |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2023
|
| In: |
Journal of ancient Judaism
|
| Further subjects: | B
Hair
B Biblical Exegesis B Supplication B Veiling B Gender B Mourning |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article explores the literary context of three types of hair modification in Second Temple Jewish literature: disarranging, unveiling, and cutting, when they occur and the social categories they embody. All of these behaviors mark women as mourners, with the tearing/cutting and disheveling of hair further identifying them as suppliants. While some depictions are based on biblical models, the supplication scenes clearly reflect Greek and Roman motifs ‒ women wearing their hair wild and addressing the troops and defendants wearing mourning dress and engaging in keening gestures. Outside these contexts, female figures rarely cut/dishevel their hair of their own accord, the majority of those who do so being slaves/captives/prisoners subject to the whims of authority figures ‒ masters/mistresses or priests. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2196-7954 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of ancient Judaism
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.30965/21967954-bja10038 |