886. Adornments of the Head

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1 Peter 3:33Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; (1 Peter 3:3). Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel.
Especial attention is paid to the hair. Long hair is greatly prized. See Corinthians 11:15. Great care is taken in dressing the hair. Costly ointments are used. See note on Matthew 26:77There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. (Matthew 26:7) (#712). The tresses are carefully braided. Lady Montague counted a hundred and ten of these tresses on the head of a Turkish lady, and all of natural hair. The custom of plaiting the hair is very ancient. The Egyptians practiced it, and some specimens of old plaited hair are yet to be seen in museums on the heads of mummies. The women of other nations were not behind them. “In the daily use of cosmetics they bestowed the most astonishing pains in arranging their long hair; sometimes twisting it round on the crown of the head, where, and at the temples, by the aid of gum, which they knew as well as the modern belles, they wrought it into a variety of elegant and fanciful devices—figures of coronets, harps. wreaths, diadems, emblems of public temples and conquered cities, being formed by the mimic skill of the ancient friseur; or else, plaiting it into an incredible number of tresses, which hung down the back, and which, when necessary, were lengthened by ribbons so as to reach to the ground, and were kept at full stretch by the weight of various wreaths of pearls and gold fastened at intervals down to the extremity. From some Syrian coins in his possession, Hartmann (Die Hebräerin am Putztishe) has given this description of the style of the Hebrew coiffure; and many ancient busts and portraits which have been discovered exhibit so close a resemblance to those of Eastern ladies in the present day, as to show that the same elaborate and gorgeous disposition of their hair has been the pride of Oriental females in every age” (Kitto's Cyclopedia, s. v. Hair).
Among the interesting specimens of antique pottery discovered by Mr. Barker in Cilicia in 1845 are two terra cotta heads of women with the hair plaited and dressed as shown in these engravings. See Barker's Laers and Penates, pp. 158, 168. In the valuable antiquities from the island of Cyprus in the Cesnola collection (Metropolitan Museum of Ark New York) there is a stone head which bears a close resemblance to one of these terra cotta heads from Cilicia. See engraving No. 167. The Apostle Paul also makes reference to braiding the hair in 1 Timothy 2:99In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; (1 Timothy 2:9).