Wool and Hair: A Repeated Metaphor Across the Ancient World
There is frequent discussion about the phrase “hair like wool,” often centered on its racial implications. Yet what receives far less attention is the metaphor itself—the persistence of its linguistic form and imagery across cultures and centuries. Its recurrence suggests a pattern worth examining not for its polemics, but for its remarkable continuity of metaphorical imagination.
To begin, consider the two foundational biblical texts:
Daniel 7:9 (KJV)
“I watched till thrones were put in place,
And the Ancient of Days was seated;
His garment was white as snow,
And the hair of His head was like pure wool.
His throne was a fiery flame,
Its wheels a burning fire.”
Revelation 1:14 (KJV)
“His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire.”
The Book of Daniel was composed around the mid-second century BCE, while Revelation was written circa 95–96 CE during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, traditionally attributed to John during his exile on the island of Patmos.
Both passages employ the same central metaphor, comparing divine hair to wool. In Daniel, the comparison appears to emphasize texture: “hair like wool.” In Revelation, the focus shifts to color: “white like wool.”
Yet this imagery predates both texts.
Herodotus and the Origin of the Wool–Hair Analogy
Roughly two to three centuries before Daniel, the Greek historian Herodotus traveled to Egypt. In Histories (Book 2, “Euterpe”), he described Egyptians as follows:
“For the Egyptians, by the peculiar nature of the climate in which they live, and of the Nile, are a people beyond measure attached to their own customs and laws. … They are black-skinned with woolly hair.”
(Histories 2.104; Greek: μελάγχροες καὶ οὐλότριχες) (Herodotus, Histories, Book II)
Here, “woolly” (οὐλότριχες, ulotriches) explicitly denotes tightly curled hair. It is a physical description, not a color comparison, yet the analogy between hair and wool is clear and evocative.
Later Greek Parallels: Physiognomy and Ethnography
The same metaphor reappears in Physiognomonica, a text traditionally attributed to Aristotle but likely composed by a later Peripatetic author around the 3rd century BCE. The writer states:
“Those who have woolly hair (oulothrix), like the Egyptians and Ethiopians, are cowardly in character; those with straight hair, like the Scythians and Thracians, are bold.”
(Physiognomonica II 812a)
Here, the texture metaphor becomes tied to early racial physiognomy, reflecting how ancient Greek authors used physical traits to assign character and identity.
In the 1st century BCE, Diodorus Siculus repeated this ethnographic link in Bibliotheca Historica (Book 3, section 8):
“The Ethiopians say that the Egyptians are colonists sent out by them to the Nile … They say also that the Egyptians are most easily distinguished from other men by their black skin and their woolly hair.”
(Bibliotheca Historica 3.8.1) (Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, Book III)
By this point, the metaphor had become standard—an established literary shorthand connecting the peoples of Egypt and Ethiopia to the distinctive imagery of “woolly hair.”
Chronologically, the sequence reads:
- Histories (Herodotus, ~440 BCE)
- Physiognomonica (Pseudo-Aristotle, ~3rd century BCE)
- Daniel (~165 BCE)
- Bibliotheca Historica (Diodorus, ~60–30 BCE)
- Revelation (~95 CE)
The Evolution of the Metaphor
Across these centuries, the metaphor “hair like wool” maintained remarkable consistency. It always refers to the same physical feature—coiled, dense, textured hair—and always within roughly the same geographic and cultural sphere: Egypt, Ethiopia, and surrounding regions.
When applied to humans, it is consistently directed toward specific populations. The repetition invites the question: was Herodotus’s phrasing influential enough to circulate across the Mediterranean literary world? Histories was widely read by Hellenistic writers. It is plausible that the image of “woolly hair” as a descriptor became canonical, entering the metaphorical vocabulary of the region and later resurfacing in Jewish apocalyptic texts such as Daniel and Revelation.
Did Daniel’s author intentionally adapt the metaphor? Or did this phrasing simply percolate through centuries of shared cultural reference? Either possibility points to a linguistic continuity that bridges ethnography and theology.
The Textural Shift to Color in Revelation
A key development occurs in the leap from Diodorus to Revelation. The author of Revelation transforms “hair like wool” into “white like wool.” This small lexical addition changes everything.
“Like wool” implies texture. “White like wool” implies color. No prior ancient text associates hair color with wool’s whiteness; the comparison was always about form and texture. Here, Revelation introduces a novel hybrid metaphor—fusing tactile and visual elements to signify purity, wisdom, and divinity.
The fact that this image appears uniquely in Revelation suggests theological intent. The author could have said “white like clouds” or “white as snow,” yet “white like wool” retains the weight of an established metaphor and sanctifies it.
Interestingly, many modern Bible translations have since altered Daniel 7:9 to read “white like wool,” retroactively harmonizing it with Revelation 1:14—an interpretive shift that flattens the original textual distinction.
Concluding Observation
When we align the biblical and classical references chronologically, we see a clear literary and cultural thread. From Herodotus through the apocalyptic visions of John, the metaphor of wool and hair traverses genres—from ethnography to theology—while retaining its original sensory vividness.
Its persistence suggests not coincidence but transmission: a metaphor born in description of real peoples, transformed into the language of divine imagery. The line between ethnographic realism and religious symbolism blurred, and “hair like wool” endured as one of the most distinctive metaphors in the ancient world.
Sources
Herodotus. Histories, Book II (Euterpe), 2.104.
Pseudo-Aristotle. Physiognomonica II 812a.
Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca Historica III 8.1.
The Holy Bible, King James Version, Daniel 7:9; Revelation 1:14.
