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The
first known examples of dreadlocks date back to Africa,
ancient dynastic Egypt, where African royalty and commoners
wore dreadlocked hairstyles and wigs appeared on bas-reliefs,
statuary and other artifacts. Mummified remains of ancient
Egyptians with dreadlocks, as well as dreadlocked wigs,
also have been recovered from archaeological sites.
Vedic
scriptures provide the earliest known written evidence of
dreadlocks. Their exact date of origin is still in dispute,
ranging from 2500 and 500 BCE. The dreadlocked
Vedic deity Shiva and his followers were described in
the Vedic scriptures as "jaTaa", meaning "wearing
twisted locks of hair", probably derived from the Dravidian
word "caTai", which means to twist or to wrap.
The Vedas are the primary texts of Hinduism and had a vast
influence on Buddhism, Jainism, and also influenced the
Celtic religion, society and folklore. According to Roman
accounts of the time, the Celts wore dreadlocks as well,
describing them as having "hair like snakes".
A
drawing showing dreadlocks on an Aztec person.Germanic tribes,
the Vikings, the Greeks, the Pacific Ocean peoples, the
Naga people and several ascetic groups within various major
religions have at times worn their hair in dreadlocks. In
addition to the Nazirites of Judaism and the Sadhus of Hinduism,
there are the Dervishes of Islam and the Coptic Monks of
Christianity, among others. The very earliest Christians
also may have worn this hairstyle. Particularly noteworthy
are descriptions of James the Just, "brother of Jesus"
and first Bishop of Jerusalem, who wore them to his ankles.
Dreadlocks
also have been part of Mexican culture. In a description
of an Aztec ritual, Historian William Hickling Prescott
referred to dreadlocked Priests of the Aztec civilization,
a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th century,
15th century and 16th century.
"On
the summit he was received by six priests, whose long and
matted locks flowed disorderly over their sable robes, covered
with hieroglyphic scrolls of mystic import. They led him
to the sacrificial stone, a huge block of jasper, with its
upper surface somewhat convex." (William H. Prescott,
History of the Conquest of Mexico)
Rastaman with long dreadlocks. In Senegal, the Baye Fall,
followers of the Mouride movement, a sect of Islam indigenous
to the country which was founded in 1887 by Shaykh Aamadu
Bàmba Mbàkke, are famous for growing dreadlocks
and wearing multi-coloured gowns.Cheikh Ibra Fall, founder
of the Baye Fall school of the Mouride Brotherhood, claims
that he was "the first dread in West Africa".
In
Jamaica the term dreadlocks was first recorded in the 1950s
as a derogatory term when the "Young Black Faith",
an early sect of the Rastafari which began among the marginalized
poor of Jamaica in the 1930s, ceased to copy the particular
hair style of Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia and began to
wear dreadlocks instead. It was said that they looked 'dreadful'
with their locks, which gave birth to the modern name 'dreadlocks'
for this ancient style. Different theories exist about the
origin of Rastalocks. Some sources trace Rasta locks back
to Indians who arrived in Jamaica to work as indentured
laborers in the late 19th century, some of whom were among
the first followers of Leonard Howell. This may be a plausible
explaination, given that some may have been Sadhus of the
Naga sect, who also wear dreadlocks and smoke cannabis.
Still others believe the first Rasta dreadlocks were derived
from the "dreaded locks" of the Mau Mau, the violent,
largely Kikuyu protonationalist insurgency against British
colonialism in 1950s Kenya.
Most
Rastafari, however, explain Rastalocks with one of the three
Nazarite vows, in the Book of Numbers, the fourth of the
books of the Pentateuch.
All
the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor
come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the
which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy,
and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.
Nazarites
for life who wore dreadlocks and were mentioned in the Bible
include Samuel, John the Baptist, and probably the most
famous biblical figure with locked hair, Samson, who, according
to scripture, had seven locks and lost his great strength
when they were cut.
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