Bear Arms, there are learned scientific people who would disagree with you.The highlighted paragraph in blue sums up the position.
Roughly:
"If one relates to the chestnut brown hair observation dyed to henna and
belonging to the contemporary as well that to mummies of the time of
Ramsès II, one notes that these hairs have a color dark mahogany and
that, under the microscope, the chestnut brown pigments are as such
visible.
The hypothesis that Ramsès II was a clear redhead (and maybe same of a
blond-redhead) seems therefore most likely.
Would not it be nevertheless possible that one of the most caustic
substances used to the time could have modified the color of pigments?
One thinks then about the «natron» that was to the basis of the
mummification process. We could not have procured ourselves of sample of
«natron» similar to the one that was used by the ancient Egyptians, we
have also used nitrate of salt in saturated solution.
One let this bath act on hairs during fifteen days, then one compared
their hue and their pigmentation to those of hairs without treatment.
One was able thus to note that the nitrate of salt has an effect of
lightening, action that limits itself to the _peripheral zone of the
cortex_; it doesn't seem that the pigment elements (granulations)
(within the hair) are tampered by this treatment."
(Clément, Le Pareux and Ceccaldi in Balout, 1980: 222).
So, when you are told that the embalming process of the ancient
Egyptians "changed" the colour of hair, you are being misinformed. The
actual colour of human hair is resilient _within_ the cortex of the
hair. In the case of Ramses II, the inner hair colour (and shape of the
hair itself) showed his hair to be a blonde-red and fine, with waves
(Clément, Le Pareux and Ceccaldi in Balout 1980: 256).
HTH.
Regards --
--
Katherine Griffis-Greenberg, MA (Lon)
Member, International Association of Egyptologists
American Research Center in Egypt, ASOR, EES, SSEA
Oriental Institute
Oriental Studies Doctoral Program [Egyptology]
University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom
