It was fashion to curl the hair and beard. It is recorded that they would curl their beards. Regardless it was fashion and similar to Assyrians and others in Mesopotamia. It had nothing to do with their ethnicity or race or having natural curly hair etc people who make this into racial profiling are ignorant.

Mesopotamian style beard

Byzantine style beard

Roman Style Beard

Etruscan style beard

Jewish style Beard

• Assyrians resorted to a black dye for eyebrows, hair, and beard; while the Persians used henna which produced an orange-red color, a style that existed from 1900 B.C.
• Gold dust, gold thread, and scented yellow starch were sometimes used in the hair and the beard for festive occasions.
• In ancient India and Turkey, the beard was allowed to grow long, a symbol of dignity and of wisdom.
• To cut the beard was infamy among the Turks; slaves were shaved as a mark of servility.
• The use of the razor was encouraged in Rome by Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (616-578 B.C.), in an effort towards hygienic reform.
• Shaving did not come into general use until about 454 B.C., when a group of Greek Sicilin barbers went to the mainland from Sicily.
• Barber shops were situated on the main streets, but were patronized only by those who could not afford to have slaves.
• The Greeks and Romans of the ancient days mostly shaved, and the term barbarous (beard-wearing) was applied for a long period to people who were considered out of the realm of polite society.
• Scipio Africanus, according to Pliny, was the first Roman to shave daily.
• Philosophers continued to keep their beards.
• Until the advent of Christianity in the 7th century, all Anglo-Saxons wore beards; members of the clergy were then compelled by law to shave.
• English princes wore mustaches until William I by law (1066-87) compelled them to cut them off in accordance with the Norman fashion.
• The Crusades were perhaps accountable for the return of beards, and for more than four centuries great diversity was allowed: beards, mustaches, and shaven faces all coexisted.
• The Renaissance fashion in Europe included both clean-shaven faces and beards varying in shape and length.
• Many men starched their beards in the 1560s.

In 1637, Louis XIII triumphed over the Spanish influence when he amused himself by shaving his courtiers, leaving only a tiny lip beard "a la royale" or "la mouche", a custom adopted by the French and Dutch cavaliers.

The "imperial", a pointed tuft of whiskers on the chin, was named in honor of Napolean III, in the 19th century.

In the 19th century, long side whiskers merging into a mustache became known as the "Franz Josef" in honor of the emperor of Austria

During the Victorian period, from about 1840 to 1870, London set the fashion for the world. Side whiskers developed a longer, more luxuriant growth and were sometimes referred to as "mutton chops" or "Piccadily weepers".

We obviously do not have any real beards, but we can interpolate images.

Nobility wore elaborately styled beards on state occasion. Common people didn’t. As you can imagine curling a beard to correspond to latest style took hours.

Sculptors, creating bas-reliefs and statues for posterity, obvious “beautified” the images. European sculptors and painters 4,000 years later did the same.

BTW. Inhabitants of Egypt did not “walk like an Egyptian” either.

P.S. Have you ever tried to shave with a copper or bronze razor? A flint or obsidian one would do a better job.

100% like Ethiopians

I’ve answered a similar question before, but I don’t mind looking for the same images over and over. It’s actually a fun topic for me. :)

So, generally speaking, the Middle Ages/Medieval Era was a long time. Lots of generations, lots of different fashion trends. An Anglo-Saxon prince from around 1200 might not look the same as a similar prince from around 1400. In Europe, there were lots of different countries and lots of different cultures, and different cultures tend to have their own trends. Social class was a major factor too. Basically, pick a time, pick a country, pick the social class, and see what you can get.

Here are some pictures with some examples of masculine hairstyles and headgear.

Edit:

When you read my answer please remember that I am answering from the knowledge I gain by reading books and magazine articles on science. Nowhere in this science is there any agreement for any religious belief that humanity did not descend from apes.

Please also remember that many questions of this type make false assumptions. Here the assumption is that “the first humans were black” and therefore the assumption is that human beings at first “looked like black West Africans”.

So I do not want to hear any comments referring to either your belief that “man is not an evolved ape” or to your belief that “the first people were black”.

• The first comment is ignorant of the science.
• The second comment is ignorant of most of the science - the first “people” were in Africa, the first “people” did have “dark skin” - but that is all we can say. Modern concepts of race do not really apply.
• Just as man did not evolve from chimpanzees, man also did not evolve from “modern black West Africans”.
• I should not have to start off an answer like this, when you consider the details in my answer already saying this, but some people do not read all of my answer or appreciate the fact that the proven science contradicts all pretensions and prejudices about “human race”.
• The question made a false assumption about human hair, and so I explained both the correction and the context, without (at first) commenting on the likely reason this false assumption was made.

End edit.

No.

Within the last year I read a science magazine article that went into this in some detail, as it described the evolution of human hair.

• First of all, human head hair is in general the same hair as chimpanzee (and also gorilla) head and body hair.
• Second of all, human body (and pubic) hair is a shared not by chimpanzees but with more distant ancestors in common, like those of gorillas.
• So the origin of our hair is straight “head and body hair” (even for “black people” with curly head hair) for the common ancestor of human, chimpanzee and gorilla, where some of the body hair is the curly hair that will later evolve to be our pubic and body hair.
• When humans started evolving to be “naked” the straight “body” hairs became the shorter and thinner and curlier “pubic” and “body” hairs we see today.
• And even though at first inspection it may seem that West Africans have the thinner “pubic/body” hair on their heads, it is just a thinner version of everyone else’s straight chimpanzee head and body hair. It is the thinner hair that makes it curly.

If we are talking about WARMTH at night when it is raining, the straight hair makes more sense, both on the heads and on the body.

That is why our head hair is basically the same as chimpanzee head and body hair, even if we are a highly evolved West African variant of it, that is much thinner and curlier, and lets you sweat easier.

West Africans are different to other “black people”, e.g. the Melanesians of Australia, or the Dravidians of southern India. They would probably have evolved curly head hair (from the straight ancestor) to make it easier to sweat, and possibly for “dreadlock” type decorative advantage - making it easier to recognise individuals.

Consider the evidence from the straight head hair majority.

Some notes on the above images:

• Dravidians from southern India can have very very black skin, but will have straight hair, and if their skin tone was significantly ligher, would be very similar to “Europeans” in many other ways.
• Many Melanesians, such as the Australian Aboriginals, can have natural “blonde” hair, without any European ancestry at all. Interestingly enough, their “blonde” hair appears to be a completely independent evolution of that of Northern Europeans.
• Somalians, like most East Africans, can be just as “black” as West Africans, but will not be able to “dreadlock” as easily as West Africans.

One of the reasons I answered this question is to demonstrate how LITTLE the many different human “races” really differ from each other.

• Even when the head hair looks the same as pubic hair, it is still basically still inherited from a common ancestor of man and chimpanzee with straight hair “covering over” the thinner pubic hair on the body.
• And despite all having “black skin” the three examples abiove are just as far apart from each other, as they all are to “Europeans” or “Asians”.

In fact, if you really want to know what the “common ancestral human” would have looked like, it would have been the ethnicity with the most divergent DNA (because they did not interbreed as much), that looks like an “average”.

The Khoikhoi of southern Africa. With CURLY hair and brown skin of course.

And this is how they are “the most evolved”, and “human average” so to speak.

• Brown skin giving both the benefit of vitamin D and protection from the sun.
• Naked, not “hairy”. At most the men have a thin “designer stubble” beard.
• No “Asian eyes”, or blonde/red hair, or blue/green/grey eyes.
• And of course, where there is hair, it is always curly. And it is curly so we can sweat through it.

You have it all wrong.

Curly hair is the most “evolved”. Both on the relatively hairless body of the Bushman and on top of his head.

Yes, there are some evidences which show some ancient Persians had blonde hairs and blue eyes, for example look at these immortal warriors in the palace of Darius the Great at Susa (the right one):

The details of another Persian soldier:

Also look at the hair color of Darius the Great on the famous ancient Greek Darius vase: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...arius_vase.jpg

There are still many people in Iran who have blonde hairs and blue eyes, for example look at these Bakhtiari girls:

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and his granddaughter:

Mohammad Ali Ramin:

Hassan Khomeini and his son:

Yes, some were blonde. When I did a Google search for blonde Iranians I found MANY blonde Iranians:

Blonde Iranians - Google Search

Light skin, hair and eyes originated in WEST ASIA and NOT Europe. Blue eyes originated in West Asia 42 000 years ago, light skin 28 000 years ago and light hair among the West Asian in origin, Ancient Northern Eurasians 16 000 years ago.

Light skin, hair and eyes are indigenous to West Asia:

Ancient Iranian relief showing a blonde, blue eyed Immortal Soldiers:

Blonde Persian and Greek.

Quora User, who lives in Iran, gave us a complete answer already. So I’ll give answers to diversity in 3 countries I’ve traveled in;

Most countries in the world, certainly including those in the Middle East where trade routes have been used thru them for thousands of years, have diverse ethnicities. There are very few pure “Races”, a term that should have been put aside by now.

Consider the European, Ethiopian and Separdi Semites ( Mizrahi, the Jews of Biblical days) among Israels Jews, who are mostly not the same people, or the vast variety of backgrounds in Turkey, who are descended from many people’s.

In Egypt, where there are four main ethnic groups; Endogenous Egyptians, Bedouins who are derived from certain Arabic desert people, Nubians, and Mediterraneans, Arabic people with some western Asian and European ancestry as well. This last group are the largest ethnic group in Egypt. But red hair?

Yes. red hair. Ramses II of the 19th dynasty 3200 years ago, the best known of the Pharaohs, was a Mediterranean who was born in the Nile Delta but ruled in upper (Southern) Egypt, among the endogneous Egyptians, a unique ethnic group who still live there today. These Egyptians built the pyramids, temples and tombs over thousands of years, but Ramses II was not one of them.

He had some Red hair. Indeed, he still does!! His very well preserved mummy in one of the two Royal Mummy rooms in the Egyptian museum of antiquities in Cairo (being moved to a larger facility in Giza) still shows a few tufts of red hair, although he lived to at least 90 years.

Now a true story, if a silly one. When I was face to face with Ramses II in 2007 (he is in a glass box, air tight), I playfully asked him “well, did you see Moses or what?”. He didn’t answer. I assumed it was because he was one of histories greatest Kings and I was just a commoner (the photo is not mine, photos are not permitted in the Egyptian museum by tourists).

Beards worldwide has always been symbolic of Alpha Male royalty and masculinity which convinced the “hairless” face Egyptians to wear fake beards even their female Queens. The Egyptian Hyksos Shepard Kings wore natural beards.

Just remember that the ancient Persians had an extremely large territory so it is very possible. In general they are not unless up north that a lot of Azerbaijanians and people from Guilan and Mazandaran that are very light skinned blue eyes and blond as kids. Some of people from Kurdistan have the same features.

Both.

“Roman” is not a racial label, it’s an ethnicity.

Romans were as genetically diverse as they could be, since they were a population that started out in the middle of a land that is in the middle of a very busy sea: genetic traces of African ancestry are documented in Italy since the VII century BC, for example. And as they expanded, they eventually extended the possibility of becoming a Roman citizen to a number of people with very different hair types.

As for the haircuts, they varied too, depending on class, social role and epoch.

Women kept their hairs in a sort of ponytail until marriage and then the hairstyles went wild: Etruscan style, curls, braids — all rose and fell out of fashion during the Roman Empire. Some hairstyles were so complicated, there were specific slaves specialized only for this (ornitrices). Roman women also liked to dye their hairs blonde or red, that were rare natural colors in Rome.

Here are some examples:

First century AD

Second century AD

Men were… quite simpler 😂

Until V century BC, there wasn’t a barber (tonsor) in all of Rome. They kept their hairs long and wild, because caring too much for them was seen as unmanly and too partial to Greeks and other oriental foreigners. Later during the Empire, when barber shops became the norm, the fashion was dictated by the current Emperor — similar to what happens today with celebrities. That’s how they went from Augustus

To Marc Aurelius

and so on.

Due to how beards have been highlighted across ancient Mesopotamian culture, it is believed that they were a sign of power and status. All of their deities are also shown with thick, flowing facial hair with even some high-powered women sporting false beards.

Greeks had mainly wavy hair and not curly.

Wavy is typical of southern Europe in avoiding the fairly bright sun light that may heat the head giving sun-stroke, while in Africa with awfully hot sun one needs curly hair for protection.

Straight hair is typical of northern Europe where there isn’t much of sun light and there is need of allowing it pass to warm the head.

Hence, Greek and Roman status were most likely to be of wavy nature, and they did so, even though there are up to date Italians and Greeks with straight hair and if mixed due to globalization with curly hair too.

In addition the fashion of long hair on those days provided in turning the hair even if it was straight, into wavy and I noticed it lately upon my hair that was wavy at shoulder’s length and when i had it cut short it became straight.

Its not common ethnic traits for Persians or Turks. Persians are famous for their jet black hair and brunette appereance. But people disgarding his Greek(European)and Georgian(Caucasian)ancestry. He didn't took his red hair and light skin from his kurdish/Azeri father but it's came from his Greek-Georgian grandmother known as Queen Despina Kommene:

She was redhead Greek-Georgian lady from Blacksea region. Her beauty being the subject in English and Other European art.

In history Safavids are obsessed to marrying with Greek and Caucasian Ladies Similar to Ottomans . They married with them and mimicking their attire , culture. Their invasions to Caucasian Region also bring Caucasian clothes to the Iranian Azerbaijan region this era.

For someone asking the general phenotype of Persians are like this:

Its Clear as water he took his Phenotype from his Grandmother side. Not from Iranians or Turcomans.

His appereance respesented Greek-Georgian roots:

Did most men in the Middle Ages really have the bowl haircut depicted in art from the era? If not, what other hair styles were popular amongst men in both Europe and other parts of the world?

The art of the era you are thinking of is probably exclusively late 14th and 15th century stuff.

In the North-West block consisting of France, the British Isles and the Low Countries high aristocracy are generally shown with the bowl or pageboy haircut starting from the 1380s or 1390s.

In manuscripts from the late 14th and early 15th century English kings like Richard II and Henry V are shown having this cut. Despite this Richard II’s “official” portrait or devotion shows him with longer hair like his predecessors.

Henry V (then still prince) handing a book to John Mowbray in a manuscript from around 1411. Note that both have the hollywood favorite bowl cut.

The hairstyle was also very common in Franco-Burgundian portraits and manuscripts of the mid 15th century.

And then the 80s happened and people started growing their hair long as a form of protest against the CIA backing of Nicaraguan Contra’s.

Or something to that effect.

I am not entirely confident suggesting a specific decade but by the late 15th century the upper classes switched back to medium or long hairstyles. In places like Spain, Italy and Central Europe the bowlcut hairstyle does not seem to be so common as it was in North-Western Europe.

So it was popular among the upper classes of Europe only in a certain region for about 100 years out of the 1000 the whole middle ages lasted.

If Hollywood ever applies the same standard to the 20th century I would like to suggest they opt for the style of Guy Fieri. The Eastern front of WWII for example seems rather drab, cold and desolate and would benefit if it was depicted having Russians and Germans in shades, spiky hair and flaming shirts.

As for your question

Did most men in the Middle Ages really have the bowl haircut depicted in art from the era? If not, what other hair styles were popular amongst men in both Europe and other parts of the world?

No to the first part, among aristocrats it was only a short lived fashion. Now arguably the trimmed and tonsured monk hairstyle shows some similarities but there is no saying how common it was in earlier days. Likewise the haircuts of people become less well known the further back you go into the Middle Ages.

Other hairstyles common in Europe were simply wearing it at medium or long length. But frankly a full analysis would be worthy of a short book especially if you want to include the rest of the world and deal with the entire 1000 years.

Most Egyptians just shaved their own hair of, close to the scull, and whore elabroate wigs instead. Both men and women did that . Because of the lice. Lice dont live one dead hair.

Those wigs took a long time to make and was very expensive, a wig, could easily cost up to one years wages.

The wigs was made out of black thick human hair that had been carefully braided and hanged down the sides and in the back , pretty much as a long page, and then a short bang , about one centimeters above the eyebrows, the also braided bang would hang down. The wigs was also unisex , both a man and a women could wear the same wig, even if often personal preferences about wich sort of braid the length and the shape of the bang was , the bigs style didnt differ all that much.

The egyptians wanted to look as the other egyptisn they did not want to stick out. They wanted to be seen as a part of the society , therefor they dressed in a similar way as everyone else. Following of faschions was done but descretly.

Ancient Egyptian hairstyles differed significantly from modern Egyptian hairstyles due to various factors. In ancient times, Egyptian hairstyles were elaborate and held significant cultural and symbolic significance. Ancient Egyptian hairstyles may appear more structured and formal than modern hairstyles. While today's styles are diverse and influenced by a multitude of global trends and personal preferences, ancient Egyptian hairstyles were more uniform within specific social classes and often had symbolic or cultural significance. Wigs were also much more prevalent in ancient Egypt than in most modern cultures, where wigs are typically used for fashion, necessity, or entertainment rather than as a daily accessory.

There was a wide range of ancient Egyptian hairstyles, often reflecting social status, age, and profession. Egyptians were deeply concerned about appearance and hygiene, leading to a wide range of hairstyles and grooming practices.

The Egyptians used hair as a form of identity and expression. Workers had short hair, while the elite had longer, elaborately styled hair. Wigs, which were made from human hair or plant fibers, were also popular. For public appearances and ceremonial occasions, these elaborate wigs were an essential part of an individual's attire. Women's hairstyles included curls, braids, and twists, often intricate and with symbolic meaning. For example, braids and twists in Kemetic Egypt carried specific symbols. Often enrobed in decorations like tiaras, hairstyles were an essential part of cultural and social identity.

With the influence of different cultures and modern fashion trends in recent years, Egyptian hairstyles have evolved significantly from their ancient counterparts. Modern Egyptian hairstyles are increasingly influenced by global trends and are less symbolic or culturally significant than ancient Egyptian hairstyles.

Environment and development influence human appearance. In Greece and Italy, southern Europe the weather was/is not as hot as Africa and not as cold as Northern Europe.

This means that most in Greece/Italy have wavy hair letting some sun heat pass through, while in Africa the hair is curly not letting the hot sun reach the head and possibly give a sun stroke, while in Northern Europe the hair is straight as to let all the sun heat pass through the hair to warm the head.

In ancient statues hair in southern Europe (mainly Italy, Greece, Malta, Spain, Portugal, southern France)was similarly presented as wavy, curly in Africa and straight towards Northern Europe.

You need to observe closer or check your eye side if you saw ancient Greek and Italian status in general with curly(in circles) rather than wavy(with corners) hair.

Alexander the Great was known mostly for his hair. After his father Philip of Macedon was murdered there were a number of claimants to the throne but it’s a little known fact that Alexander being crowned king was the result of a vote on best hair amongst the nobility of Macedonia. This was carried out on a blind basis, all claimants had to wear masks and cloaks to conceal their identity, so that it would only be the possessor of “best hair” that won the throne. The criteria were style of hair, lustrousness of hair, and sheen of hair. Alexander won on all 3 counts.

After defeating the Persians news of the greatness of Alexander’s hair spread further and in fact a number of cities were named purely in honour of his hair. Alexandershairia. Shortened to Alexandria. Many of the incidents in Alexander’s life have strong connections to his hair. His cutting of the Gordian knot for example was carried out with a sword knotted from hair cut and accumulated by his personal barber, Perseus ToniGuyus . It’s a little known fact that it was the onset of baldness that led to his death. First spotted by Ptolemy, one of his band of brothers, hairs on his pillow and a noticeable thinning of his locks, led to an almighty row that led to his death and the partition of his empire.

Well, I don't know about rollers, or naturally curly, but this site implies that the men, at least some of them, had it curled at the style shop.

A man might get his hair curled or have his hair cut. If he were experiencing severe hair loss, he might wear a wig to cover up the problem. Then, as now, some men looked for ways to conquer the hair loss problem. During the Republic, grease and oil were thought to make hair grow.

Beards were out-of-fashion among the aristocracy of the Late Republic; and didn't come back into vogue until the first century CE. So men shaved or used the pitch-and-resin-facial-hair-removal technique to ensure they remained clean-shaven. If a man were in mourning, though, his hair and beard were permitted to grow as a sign of his sorrow. The poor often ignored fashion since it was thought impossible for a man to shave himself and they could ill afford the expense of a daily barbering. Sometimes young men would wear beards just to draw reactions from their elders (sound familiar?).

As we do today, a man went to a barbershop where the barber (tonsor)--either male or female--would cut their hair or remove it.

Historically we know they Mingled with many outside of there own kinds and Tribes and what you get is a change in people. That is why GOD forbid it to take place. We are all suppose to be pure and right linage. GOD will punish those who break this Command as we see around the World just that! He SEGREGATED everyone on EARTH for that reason to stay pure and keep everyone’s Linage clean from outside Mingling of other Kinds and tribes= Races. He put us all on separate Continents for that reason, to stay with own kinds and tribe. Even ANIMALS are better than HUMANS made in the Image of GOD. Genesis Clearly states it from GOD to stay with own kinds and tribes. Then throughout all of his Holy Words of GOD he commands us to be and to have Purity in our Linages and keep with our own Kind and Tribes! Yet like Jacob=ISRAEL we fail and are punished for it. Then we wonder why? Blinded from and from the Truth of GOD. interpretation we Make up our own which he clearly warns us against doing so. KJV is the most Accurate of anything ever written to man from GOD. PROVEN then Warning about making up your own=Revelation 22:18–19 which everyone seems to Ignore!