From My Files 3: The Oldest Record of Henna

From My Files, week 3! This week we're going back in time to find the earliest record of henna... Where and when did it begin — India? Africa? Babylonia? Google searches only reveal a black hole of contradictions and misinformation.

Where? Where???

There are few records of henna in the ancient world, and scholars face significant challenges, including the lack of archaeological evidence and confusion over what henna was called in different areas of the world, as well as having to face centuries of henna being overlooked by historians as insignificant or unworthy of serious study. We have only begun to piece together the scattered fragments of evidence for how henna was used in the ancient world... To learn more about henna in the Bible and the ancient Levant, in the Hellenistic world, and in ancient Egypt, see here.

Caught on Film: An Egyptian Henna Party, 1937

At a recent academic conference, I heard a paper presented by Professor Deborah Starr, from Cornell University, about the films of Egyptian-Jewish filmmaker Togo Mizrahi. While the talk was interesting already, she captured my attention when she mentioned that one of Mizrahi’s films showed a henna party before one of the character’s weddings. I asked her afterwards if she could direct me to the clip, and she was more than happy to assist. I was super excited to catch a glimpse of what a henna party looked like in 1930s Egypt, even if only for less than a minute.

An 'attar shop in Cairo, selling spices, medicine,
and perfumes, from Lane (1836). The frontmost
box reads "hinna" [henna].

First (as usual), some historical background. Even though we might not immediately think of Egypt when we think about henna, Egypt was actually a centre for henna production in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (as I previously explored in this blogpost). In 1903, George Bonaparte, a teacher at the Agricultural College of Cairo, wrote that henna was grown mainly in the provinces of Sharqia and Qalyubia, and that annual exports of henna had increased from 1100 tons in 1899 to 1500 tons in 1901. 

Henna was incredibly cheap — Bonaparte records that the average price of henna powder in 1903 was 80 piastres per kantar [approximately 99 lbs]. From what I’ve been able to see online, 80 piastres in 1903 was about 4 US dollars, so clearly henna was readily available at every budget.

There are some descriptions of Egyptian henna practices in Edward William Lane’s massive work Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (1836), where he records that some women stained just the nails or fingertips, while others added simple designs of stripes or dots. He describes the wedding henna ceremony, leilat al-hinna, among Muslims as follows (pg. 208):

Period Henna: A Resource Guide for Henna in the SCA

I'll preface this by saying that I'm not a member of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), although I've been to a few events, and I've met several henna artists who are active members. The SCA is an international organization of historical re-enactment, devoted to the study, recreation, and practice of the "Middle Ages" (loosely defined as post-Roman Empire, pre-1600). SCA members develop a "persona," a character of sorts from a specific time and place, and aim to recreate that person's life "in period" — as close as possible to what clothes they would have worn, what foods they would have eaten, what crafts they would have made, etc.

I'm presenting about henna at a local SCA event and I realized as I was putting my information together that it might be helpful for other artists and enthusiasts, so here you go! This is basically a compilation of previous research that I've done with links to further resources. Feel free to comment or email me with any additional sources or questions — I'd love to hear from you.

Background

There aren't a lot of sources on the early (pre-medieval) history of henna, and I've outlined most of them on my website, here and here. 

Venus with red (hennaed) hair, 1st-2nd century CE

Essentially, it appears that the origins of henna lie primarily around the western coast of the Mediterranean (contemporary Egypt, Israel/Palestine, Syria, Turkey, etc.), where it was used as a perfume and hair dye. 

Henna continued to be known and used in the Greco-Roman world, and traveled into Roman North Africa and even into mainland Europe. We have no direct evidence of henna's use as body art in the ancient world but it seems likely that they used it to dye skin as well as hair.

By the rise of Islam, henna was known as a medium for body art and was seen as feminine adornment in particular, although men used it as well to dye hair and beards. Early Islamic sources indicate that it was used by Jews and pagans in the Arabian peninsula, and that it was associated with joy and celebrations. It was favoured by the Prophet and his family and using henna became part of the sunnah [encouraged behaviour] and a mark of piety. There's more about henna in early Islam here and here.

There are two main areas where henna would have been an important part of cultural aesthetics during the 'SCA Period' — the Iberian peninsula (al-Andalus) / North Africa, and Persia. I'll offer some sources below for each of them, and then some reflections on what kinds of henna would not be "period."

"Plus the Cost of the Henna": Traces of Jewish Henna in Egypt

I had a request from a client whose family are originally Karaite Jews from Egypt, and wanted to know if I could offer any specific information on what henna traditions might have looked like for them.

[Side-note: the Karaites are a sect of Judaism which attempts to live only according to the Bible/TaNaKh, and does not recognize the legal/halakhic authority of the Talmud and later Rabbinic thought. In modern times, there were large Karaite communities in Egypt, Iraq, and the Crimea, which now live in Israel or the United States. Non-Karaite Jews are referred to as Rabbanites].

Prayer at the Karaite synagogue, Ashdod, Israel, 1985.
Photo by Ira Nowinski.

Unfortunately, there’s not a huge amount of information about Jewish henna traditions in Egypt, and they appear to have largely died out by the early 20th century. In this post I’ll try to collect what we do know about henna in Egypt, why it disappeared, and what we can do to revive it.

What Would Jesus Do (About Henna)? The Place of Henna in Ancient and Modern Christianity

We got a question on our Facebook page from one of our fans which was so interesting that it deserved its own blogpost! (Note for all of you readers, please feel free to do the same! I love researching henna questions so fire away!).

The question:

Can you tell me how relevant henna was in Christ’s time? Some of my Christian friends will not get henna because they believe it is ‘marking’ the body which is spoken of in the Bible. I believe the reference is more toward cutting rather than decorating, which I also think henna was used for, to prepare the body for burial. Can you give me some info that would be positive use of henna during Christ’s time?

A fabulous question, and one that I imagine many henna artists have encountered before! Feel free to forward this post to your relatives, send out to your church listserv, or print out and bring to your festivals!

I really wanted to answer this question just so I could make this
picture! "Sacred Heart" by Charles Bosseron Chambers (1883-1964),
with some added henna (by me).

There are two interrelated questions here: 
1) Was henna used in Jesus’ time? And 
2) Is henna use consistent with Christian principles, or ‘What Would Jesus Do (About Henna)’? 

I’ll try my best to answer both these questions, even though I should note that I am very far from an expert on Christian history or theology (and in fact I’m not even Christian myself).

An Unsung Henna Hero: Herraouy and Henna in 19th Century France

While researching my previous post on the etymology of henna, I found a remarkable story that I knew I had to feature on this blog: the first scholar to devote a full-length academic work to the study of henna, the man who first isolated the active dyeing agent of henna (today known as lawsone) and coined the term hennotannic acid for it — the (now) virtually-unknown name of Abd-el-Aziz Herraouy. 

Every so often I come across individuals whose stories seem to jump off the page — previously on this blog I’ve featured the lives of Erich Brauer, Yehiel Haibi, S. G. Wilson, and J.B. Ginsburg, all of whom encountered or documented henna in some way. This post honours someone perhaps even more significant: a true ‘unsung hero’ of the story of henna, especially in the West. This is the story of the ordinary men and women whose stories do not (and will not) appear in textbooks; this post is offered in appreciation of their legacy and in support of “people’s history.” I apologize for its length, but I wanted to devote enough space to fully explore the history and implications of Herraouy's story.

Beit al-Harrawi, Herraouy's family
home, originally built in the
18th century, today a concert
hall for the Arab Oud House.

Abd-el-Aziz Herraouy — or in Arabic, عبد العزيز الهراوي, ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Harrawi — was born to a middle-class family in Cairo, Egypt, on August 5, 1827. He likely had a typical upbringing for his time and standing: education at a state primary and preparatory school, where he would have received instruction in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and French, as well as instruction in arithmetic, geometry, history, geography, and calligraphy (Heyworth-Dunne, 1939, pp. 195-197). 

He went on to study at the School of Pharmaceutics in Cairo, and at the age of 18 Herraouy was sent to Paris to pursue higher education in Chemistry, along with his uncle, Abdelrahman Herraouy, who studied medicine. 

It was an exciting time for Egypt. In 1805 an Albanian Ottoman commander, Muhammad (or Mehmet) Ali Pasha, took control of Egypt and began a period of rapid and dramatic reforms in the military, economic, and cultural spheres, intending to turn Egypt into a modern European-style world power. His son, Sa‘id Pasha, continued in the same vein, supporting a variety of cultural and scientific endeavours, including the educational initiatives which sent Herraouy to Paris as part of the ‘modernization’ of Egypt, aiming to create a corps of educated, European-trained workers who could serve as administrators and civil servants.

Herraouy arrived in Paris in 1845, and began his studies at the Pharmacy School of the University of Paris [École Supérieure de Pharmacie]. He also had a placement in the dyeing laboratory of the Gobelins manufactory, an enormous and prestigious tapestry factory in the centre of Paris famous for supplying the royal families of France (and elsewhere) with their glorious wall hangings, upholstery, carpets, and other tapestries. I don't know whether Herraouy had a particular interest in studying dyeing or if he just happened to be placed there.