Quoted By:
What did the ancients mean by this?:
>“The Colchians [of the Black Sea] who are Egyptian and have black skin and woolly hair and descend from the army of Sesostris…”
– Herodotus, Histories, circa 450 BCE.
The Sesostris he is believed to be referencing is Sensuret I:
>“The Aethiopians (Ethiopians) are highly favored with the gods, they were the first of all men created by the gods and were the founders of the Egyptian Civilization.”
– Diodorus Siculus, circa 60 BCE, Bibliotheca Historica.
>“Too black a hue marks the coward, as witness Egyptians and Ethiopians, and so does also too white a complexion, as you may see from women. So the hue that makes for courage must be intermediate between these extremes. A tawny color indicates a bold spirit, as in lions; but too ruddy a hue marks a rogue, as in the case of the fox. …”
– Aristotle, circa 300 BCE, Physiognomics.
and
>“Why are the Ethiopians and Egyptians bandy-legged? Is it because the bodies of living creatures become distorted by heat, like logs of wood when they become dry? The condition of their hair supports this theory; for it is curlier than that of other nations, and curliness as it were crookedness of hair.”
– Aristotle (or Aristolian), circa Third BCE (if Aristolian possibly to 6th Century AD), Problemata.
“Lycinus (describing an Egyptian):
> ‘This boy is not merely black; he has thick lips and his legs are too thin… his hair worn in a plait shows that he is not a freeman.’
Timolaus (replying):
> ‘but that is a sign of really distinguished birth in Egypt, Lycinus. All freeborn children plait their hair until they reach manhood…’
– Lucian (Lycinus) of Samosata, (prior to his death 180 AD), dialogue from Naviguim
