Ephesus under the name Arisinoeia in Ionia 288BC Ancient Greek Coin i46125

Item: i46125

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Greek city of Ephesus (Ephesos) under the name Arisinoeia in Ionia

Bronze 10mm (0.99 grams) Struck circa 288-280 B.C.

Reference: Sear 4404; B.M.C. 14.56,72

Veiled head of Arsinoe right.
Stag kneeling left, looking back, astragalos above; AP-ΣI
either side of neck, APICTAIOC before.

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Guarantee of Authenticity.

Arsinoe is one of the nymphs who cared infant Dionysus.
The Nysiads or Nysiades (Νυσιάδες) were the
nymphs
of Mount
Nysa
who cared for and taught the infant
Dionysus
.

Their names include:

• Ambrosia
• Arsinoe
• Bromia or Bromis
• Cisseis
• Coronis
• Erato
• Eriphia
• Nysa
• Pedile
• Polymno or Polyhymno

Also mentioned are
Callichore
and
Calyce
(after whom two moons of
Jupiter
,
Kallichore
and
Kalyke
, are named).

In later tellings of Dionysus’s infancy, the Nysiades appear to be identified
with the
Hyades
.^[8]
The term might have been used for the
Pleiades
and the
Hyades
as Dionysus’s tutors altogether.

A nymph in
Greek mythology
is a female minor nature deity
typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from
gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and
are usually depicted as beautiful, young
nubile
maidens who love to dance and sing;
their amorous freedom sets them apart from the restricted and chaste wives and
daughters of the Greek
polis
. They are believed to dwell in
mountains and
groves
, by springs and rivers, and also in
trees and in valleys and cool
grottoes
. Although they would never die of old
age nor illness, and could give birth to fully immortal children if mated to a
god, they themselves were not necessarily immortal, and could be beholden to
death in various forms.
Charybdis
and
Scylla
were once nymphs.

Other nymphs, always in the shape of young maidens, were part of the
retinue
of a god, such as
Dionysus
,
Hermes
, or
Pan
, or a goddess, generally the huntress
Artemis
.^[1]
Nymphs were the frequent target of
satyrs
. They are frequently associated with the
superior divinities: the huntress
Artemis
; the prophetic
Apollo
; the reveller and god of

wine,
Dionysus
; and rustic gods such as Pan and
Hermes.

Etymology

Nymphs are personifications of the creative and fostering activities of
nature, most often identified with the life-giving outflow of springs: as
Walter Burkert
(Burkert 1985:III.3.3) remarks,
“The idea that rivers are gods and springs divine nymphs is deeply rooted not
only in poetry but in belief and ritual; the worship of these deities is limited
only by the fact that they are inseparably identified with a specific locality.”

The
Greek
word
νύμφη has “bride” and “veiled” among its meanings: hence a marriageable
young woman. Other readers refer the word (and also
Latin
nubere and
German
Knospe) to a root expressing the
idea of “swelling” (according to
Hesychius
, one of the meanings of
νύμφη is “rose-bud”).

 Adaptations

The Greek nymphs were spirits invariably bound to places, not unlike the
Latin genius loci
, and the difficulty of
transferring their cult may be seen in the complicated myth that brought
Arethusa
to Sicily. In the works of the
Greek-educated
Latin poets
, the nymphs gradually absorbed into
their ranks the indigenous Italian divinities of springs and streams (Juturna,
Egeria
,
Carmentis
,
Fontus
), while the
Lymphae
(originally Lumpae), Italian
water-goddesses, owing to the accidental similarity of their names, could be
identified with the Greek Nymphae. The mythologies of classicizing Roman poets
were unlikely to have affected the rites and cult of individual nymphs venerated
by country people in the springs and clefts of
Latium
. Among the
Roman
literate class, their sphere of influence
was restricted, and they appear almost exclusively as divinities of the watery
element.

In modern Greek
folklore

A Sleeping Nymph Watched by a Shepherd by
Angelica Kauffman
, about 1780, (V&A
Museum no. 23-1886)

The ancient Greek belief in nymphs survived in many parts of the country into
the early years of the twentieth century, when they were usually known as “nereids“.
At that time, John Cuthbert Lawson wrote: “…there is probably no nook or
hamlet in all Greece where the womenfolk at least do not scrupulously take
precautions against the thefts and malice of the nereids, while many a man may
still be found to recount in all good faith stories of their beauty, passion and
caprice. Nor is it a matter of faith only; more than once I have been in
villages where certain Nereids were known by sight to several persons (so at
least they averred); and there was a wonderful agreement among the witnesses in
the description of their appearance and dress.”^[2]

Nymphs tended to frequent areas distant from humans but could be encountered
by lone travelers outside the village, where their music might be heard, and the
traveler could spy on their dancing or bathing in a stream or pool, either
during the noon heat or in the middle of the night. They might appear in a
whirlwind. Such encounters could be dangerous, bringing dumbness, besotted
infatuation, madness or stroke to the unfortunate human. When parents believed
their child to be nereid-struck, they would pray to Saint Artemidos.^[3]

 

Modern sexual
connotations

 

The Head of a Nymph by
Sophie Anderson

Due to the depiction of the mythological nymphs as females who mate with men
or women at their own volition, and are completely outside male control, the
term is often used for women who are perceived as behaving similarly. (For
example, the title of the
Perry Mason
detective novel The Case of the
Negligent Nymph (1956) by
Erle Stanley Gardner
is derived from this
meaning of the word.)

The term
nymphomania
was created by modern
psychology
as referring to a “desire to engage
in
human sexual behavior
at a level high enough to
be considered clinically significant”, nymphomaniac being the person
suffering from such a disorder. Due to widespread use of the term among lay
persons (often shortened to nympho) and stereotypes attached,
professionals nowadays prefer the term
hypersexuality
, which can refer to males
and females alike.

The word
nymphet
is used to identify a sexually
precocious girl. The term was made famous in the novel
Lolita
by
Vladimir Nabokov
. The main character,
Humbert Humbert
, uses the term many times,
usually in reference to the title character.

Nymphs who mate with the god Poseidon, are believed to give birth to the
mythical creature,
cyclops
.

Ephesus (Ancient

Greek Ἔφεσος,

Turkish

Efes) was an ancient Greek city on the west coast of

Anatolia
,

near present-day Selçuk

,

Izmir Province

, Turkey

. It was one of the twelve cities of the

Ionian League

during the

Classical Greek

era. In the Roman period, it was for many years the second

largest city of the

Roman

Empire
; ranking behind

Rome, the empire’s

capital.^[1][2]

Ephesus had a population of more than 250,000 in the 1st century BC, which also

made it the second largest city in the world.^[2]

The city was famed for the

Temple of Artemis

(completed around 550 BCE), one of the

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

. The Temple was destroyed in 401 CE by a

mob led by St.

John Chrysostom

.^[3]

Emperor

Constantine I

rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths. The

town was again partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614. The city’s

importance as a commercial center declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by

the Cayster River

(Küçük Menderes).

Ephesus was one of the

seven churches of Asia

that are cited in the

Book of Revelation

.^[4]

The Gospel of John

may have been written here.^[5]

It is also the site of a large

gladiators
‘

graveyard.

Today’s archaeological site lies 3 kilometers southwest of

the town of Selçuk
,

in the Selçuk district of

İzmir Province

, Turkey

. The ruins

of Ephesus are a favorite international and local tourist attraction, partly

owing to their easy access from

Adnan Menderes Airport

and via the port of

Kuşadası
.

//

 History

 Neolithic

age

The area surrounding Ephesus was already inhabited during the

Neolithic Age (about 6000 BCE), as was revealed by the excavations at the nearby

hoyuk (artificial mounds known as

tells) of Arvalya

and Cukurici.^[6][7]

 Bronze

age

Excavations in recent years have unearthed settlements from

the early Bronze Age

at the Ayasuluk Hill. In 1954 a burial ground from the

Mycenaean

era (1500-1400 BCE) with ceramic pots was discovered close to the

ruins of the basilica of St. John.^[8]

This was the period of the Mycenaean Expansion when the

Achaioi

(as they were called by

Homer
) settled in

Ahhiyawa

during the 14th and 13th centuries BCE. Scholars believe that

Ephesus was founded on the settlement of Apasa (or Abasa), a

Bronze Age
-city

noted in 14th-century BCE

Hittite

sources as in the land of

Ahhiyawa

.

[9]

 Dark

age

The city of Ephesus itself was founded as an

Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BCE on the Ayasuluk Hill, three

kilometers from the center of antique Ephesus (as attested by excavations at the

Seljuk
castle

during the 1990s). The mythical founder of the city was a prince of

Athens
named

Androklos

, who had to leave his country after the death of his father, King

Kadros. According to legend, he founded Ephesus on the place where the oracle of

Delphi
became

reality (“A fish and a boar will show you the way”). Androklos drove away most

of the native Carian

and Lelegian

inhabitants of the city and united his people with the remainder. He was a

successful warrior and, as king, he was able to join the twelve cities of

Ionia
together

into the

Ionian League

. During his reign the city began to prosper. He died in a

battle against the Carians when he came to the aid of

Priene
, another

city of the Ionian League.^[10]

Androklos and his dog are depicted on the Hadrian temple frieze, dating from the

second century. Later, Greek historians such as

Pausanias

, Strabo

and the poet Kallinos, and the historian

Herodotos

however reassigned the city’s mythological foundation to Ephos,

queen of the Amazons

.

The Greek goddess

Artemis
and

the great Anatolian goddess

Kybele

were identified together as Artemis of Ephesus. The

many-breasted “Lady of Ephesus”, identified with

Artemis
, was

venerated in the

Temple of Artemis

, one of the

Seven Wonders of the World

and the largest building of the ancient world

according to

Pausanias

(4.31.8). Pausanius mentions that the temple was built by Ephesus,

son of the river god

Caystrus

.^[11]

before the arrival of the Ionians. Of this structure, scarcely a trace remains.

 Archaic

period

About 650 BCE, Ephesus was attacked by the

Cimmerians
,

who razed the city, including the temple of Artemis. A few small Cimmerian

artifacts can be seen at the archaeological museum of Ephesus.

When the Cimmerians had been driven away, the city was ruled

by a series of tyrants. After a revolt by the people, Ephesus was ruled by a

council called the Kuretes. The city prospered again, producing a number

of important historical figures, such as the

iambic

poets

Callinus

[12]

and the satirist

Hipponax
,

the philosopher

Heraclitus
,

the great painter

Parrhasius

and later the grammarian

Zenodotos

, the physicians

Soranus

and Rufus.

About 560 BCE Ephesus was conquered by the

Lydians
under

the mighty king Croesus

. He treated the inhabitants with respect, despite ruling harshly,

and even became the main contributor to the reconstruction of the temple of

Artemis.^[13]

His signature has been found on the base of one of the columns of the temple

(now on display in the

British Museum

). Croesus made the populations of the different settlements

around Ephesus regroup (synoikismos)

in the vicinity of the Temple of Artemis, enlarging the city.

Later in the same century, the Lydians under Croesus invaded

Persia. The Ionians refused a peace offer from

Cyrus the Great

, siding with the Lydians instead. After the Persians

defeated Croesus the Ionians offered to make peace but Cyrus insisted that they

surrender and become part of the empire.^[14]

They were defeated by the Persian army commander

Harpagos

in 547 BCE. The Persians then incorporated the Greek cities of Asia

Minor into the

Achaemenid Empire

. Those cities were then ruled by

satraps
.

Ephesus has intrigued archaeologists for the main reason that

for the Archaic Period, there is no definite location for the settlement. There

are numerous sites to suggest the movement of a settlement between the Bronze

Age and the Roman period but the silting up of the natural harbors as well as

the movement of the Kayster River meant that the location never remainded the

same.

 Classical

period

Ephesus continued to prosper. But when taxes continued to be

raised under

Cambyses II

and

Darius

, the Ephesians participated in the

Ionian Revolt

against Persian rule in the

Battle of Ephesus (498 BCE)

, an event which instigated the

Greco-Persian wars

. In 479 BCE, the Ionians, together with

Athens
and

Sparta

, were able to oust the Persians from Anatolia. In 478 BCE, the Ionian

cities entered with Athens and Sparta into the

Delian League

against the Persians. Ephesus did not contribute ships but

gave financial support by offering the treasure of

Apollo
to the

goddess Athena
,

protectress of Athens.

During the

Peloponnesian War

, Ephesus was first allied to Athens^[

neededcitation] but sided in a later phase, called the Decelean War, or

the Ionian War, with Sparta, which also had received the support of the

Persians. As a result, rule over the kingdoms of Anatolia was ceded again to

Persia.

These wars did not much affect daily life in Ephesus. The

Ephesians were surprisingly modern in their social relations. They allowed

strangers to integrate. Education was much valued. Through the cult of Artemis,

the city also became a bastion of women’s rights. Ephesus even had its female

artists. In later times,

Pliny the Elder

mentioned having seen at Ephesus a representation of the

goddess

Diana

by Timarata, the daughter of a painter.

In 356 BCE the temple of Artemis was burned down, according

to legend, by a lunatic called Herostratus. By coincidence, this was the night

that

Alexander the Great

was born. The inhabitants of Ephesus at once set about

restoring the temple and even planned a larger and grander one than the

original.

 Hellenistic

period

When

Alexander the Great

defeated the Persian forces at the

Battle of Granicus

in 334 BCE, the Greek cities of Asia Minor were

liberated. The pro-Persian tyrant Syrpax and his family were stoned to death,

and Alexander was greeted warmly when he entered Ephesus in triumph. When

Alexander saw that the temple of Artemis was not yet finished, he proposed to

finance it and have his name inscribed on the front. But the inhabitants of

Ephesus demurred, claiming that it was not fitting for one god to build a temple

to another. After Alexander’s death in 323 BCE, Ephesus in 290 BCE came under

the rule of one of Alexander’s generals,

Lysimachus
.

As the river

Cayster

silted up the harbor, the resulting marshes caused malaria and many

deaths among the inhabitants. The people of Ephesus were forced to move to a new

settlement two kilometers further on, when the king flooded the old city by

blocking the sewers.^[15]

This settlement was called after the king’s second wife,

Arsinoe II of Egypt

. After

Lysimachus

had destroyed the nearby cities of

Lebedos

and Colophon

in 292 BCE, he relocated their inhabitants to the new city. The

architectural layout of the city would remain unchanged for the next 500 years.

Ephesus revolted after the treacherous death of

Agathocles

, giving the Syrian king

Seleucus I Nicator

an opportunity for removing and killing Lysimachus, his

last rival, at the

Battle of Corupedium

in 281 BCE. After the death of Lysimachos the town took

again the name of Ephesus.

Thus Ephese became part of the

Seleucid Empire

. After the murder of king

Antiochus II Theos

and his Egyptian wife, pharaoh

Ptolemy III

invaded the Seleucid Empire and the Egyptian fleet swept the

coast of Asia Minor. Ephesus came under Egyptian rule between 263-197 BCE.

When the Seleucid king

Antiochus III the Great

tried to regain the Greek cities of Asia Minor, he

came in conflict with Rome

. After a series of battles, he was defeated by

Scipio Asiaticus

at the

Battle of Magnesia

in 190 BCE. As a result, Ephesus came under the rule of

the Attalid king of

Pergamon

Eumenes II

(197-133 BCE). When his grandson

Attalus

III
died without male children of his own, he left his kingdom to the

Roman Republic

.

A
veil is an article of clothing or cloth hanging that is intended to cover
some part of the
head
or

face, or an object of some significance. It is especially associated
with women and sacred objects.

One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an
object or space. The actual sociocultural, psychological, and sociosexual
functions of veils have not been studied extensively but most likely include the
maintenance of social distance and the communication of social status and
cultural identity. In Islamic society, various forms of the veil have been
adopted from the Arab culture in which Islam arose. The
Quran
has no requirement that women cover their
faces with a veil, or cover their bodies with the full-body
burqua
or
chador
.

History

The first recorded instance of veiling for women is recorded in an
Assyrian
legal text from the 13th century BC,
which restricted its use to noble women and forbade prostitutes and common women
from adopting it.^{[citation
needed]} The
Mycenaean Greek
term a-pu-ko-wo-ko
meaning “craftsman of horse veil” written in
Linear B
syllabic script is also attested since
ca. 1300 BC. In
ancient Greek
the word for veil was “καλύπτρα”
(kaluptra,
Ionic Greek
“καλύπτρη” – kaluptrē, from
the verb “καλύπτω” – kaluptō, “I cover”) and is first attested in the
works of Homer
.

Classical Greek and Hellenistic statues sometimes depict Greek women with
both their head and face covered by a veil. Caroline Galt and Lloyd
Llewellyn-Jones have both argued from such representations and literary
references that it was commonplace for women (at least those of higher status)
in ancient Greece to cover their hair and face in public.

For many centuries, until around 1175,
Anglo-Saxon
and then
Anglo-Norman
women, with the exception of young
unmarried girls, wore veils that entirely covered their hair, and often their
necks up to their chins (see
wimple
). Only in the
Tudor period
(1485), when
hoods
became increasingly popular, did veils of
this type become less common.

For centuries, women have worn sheer veils, but only under certain
circumstances. Sometimes a veil of this type was draped over and pinned to the
bonnet
or hat of a woman in
mourning
, especially at the
funeral
and during the subsequent period of
“high mourning”. They would also have been used, as an alternative to a

mask, as a simple method of hiding the identity of a woman who was
traveling to meet a lover, or doing anything she didn’t want other people to
find out about. More pragmatically, veils were also sometimes worn to protect
the complexion from sun and wind damage (when un-tanned skin was fashionable),
or to keep dust out of a woman’s face, much as the
keffiyeh
is used today.

Religion

In Judaism
,
Christianity
and
Islam
the concept of covering the head is or
was associated with propriety and modesty. Most traditional depictions of the
Virgin Mary
, the mother of
Christ
, show her veiled. During the
Middle Ages
most European and Byzantine married
women covered their hair rather than their face, with a variety of styles of
wimple
, kerchiefs and headscarfs. Veiling,
covering the hair rather than the face, was a common practice with church-going
women until the 1960s, typically using

lace, and a number of very traditional churches retain the custom.
Lace face-veils are still often worn by female relatives at funerals.

In North India, Hindu women may often veil for traditional purposes, it is
often the custom in rural areas to veil in front of male elders. This veil is
called the Ghoonghat
or Laaj. This is to show humility and
respect to those elder to the woman, in particular elder males. The ghoonghat is
customary especially in the westerly states of
Gujarat
and
Rajasthan
.

Although religion stands as a commonly held reason for choosing to veil, it
has also reflects on political regimes and personal conviction, allowing it to
serve as a medium through which personal character can be revealed.

Praying Jewish woman wearing
Tichel

Judaism

After the
destruction of the Temple
in
Jerusalem
, the
synagogues
that were established took the
design of the
Tabernacle
as their plan. The
Ark of the Law
, which contains the
scrolls
of the
Torah
, is covered with an embroidered curtain
or veil called a
parokhet
. (See also
below
regarding the veiling – and unveiling –
of the bride.)

The
Veil of our Lady
is a liturgical feast
celebrating the protection afforded by the
intercessions
of the Virgin Mary.

Traditionally, in Christianity, women were enjoined to cover their heads in
church, just as it was (and still is) customary for men to remove their hat as a
sign of respect. This practice is based on
1 Corinthians 11:4–16
, where
St. Paul
writes:

Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered brings shame upon
his head. But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled
brings shame upon her head, for it is one and the same thing as if she had
had her head shaved. For if a woman does not have her head veiled, she may
as well have her hair cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her
hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should wear a veil. A man, on the
other hand, should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of
God, but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but
woman from man; nor was man created for woman, but woman for man; for this
reason a woman should have a sign of authority on her head, because of the
angels. Woman is not independent of man or man of woman in the Lord. For
just as woman came from man, so man is born of woman; but all things are
from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with
her head unveiled? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears his
hair long it is a disgrace to him, whereas if a woman has long hair it is
her glory, because long hair has been given (her) for a covering? But if
anyone is inclined to be argumentative, we do not have such a custom, nor do
the churches of God (New
American Bible translation)

In many traditional
Eastern Orthodox Churches
, and in some very
conservative
Protestant
churches as well, the custom
continues of women covering their heads in church (or even when praying
privately at home).

In the
Roman Catholic Church
, it was customary in most
places before the 1960s for women to wear a headcovering in the form of a scarf,
cap, veil or hat when entering a church. The practice now continues where it is
seen as a matter of etiquette, courtesy, tradition or fashionable elegance
rather than strictly of canon law.
Traditionalist Catholics
also maintain the
practice.

The wearing of a headcovering was for the first time mandated as a universal
rule for the
Latin Rite
by the
Code of Canon Law of 1917
, which code was
abrogated by the advent of the present (1983) Code of Canon Law. Traditionalist
Catholics majorly still follow it, generally as a matter of ancient custom and
biblically approved aptness, some also supposing St. Paul’s directive in full
force today as an ordinance of its own right, without a canon law rule enforcing
it. The photograph here of Mass in the
Netherlands
in about 1946, two decades before
the changes that followed the
Second Vatican Council
, shows that, even at
that time, when a hat was still considered part of formal dress for both women
and men, wearing a headcovering at Mass was not a universal practice for
Catholic women.

A veil over the hair rather than the face forms part of the headdress of some
religiouss
of

nuns or
religious
sisters; this is why a woman who
becomes a nun is said “to take the veil”. In medieval times married women
normally covered their hair outside the house, and nun’s veils are based on
secular medieval styles, reflecting nuns position as “brides of Christ”. In many
institutes, a white veil is used as the “veil of probation” during
novitiate
, and a dark veil for the “veil of
profession” once religious vows are taken – the color scheme varies with the
color scheme of the habit of the order. A veil of
consecration
, longer and fuller, is used by
some orders for final profession of
solemn vows
.

Nuns
also wear veils

Nuns are the female counterparts of

monks, and many
monastic orders
of women have retained the
veil. Regarding other institutes of religious sisters who are not
cloistered
but who work as teachers, nurses or
in other “active” apostolates outside of a nunnery or monastery, some wear the
veil, while some others have abolished the use of the veil, a few never had a
veil to start with, but used a bonnet-style headdress even a century ago, as in
the case of
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
.

The fullest versions of the nun’s veil cover the top of the head and flow
down around and over the shoulders. In Western Christianity, it does not wrap
around the neck or face. In those orders that retain one, the starched white
covering about the face neck and shoulders is known as a
wimple
and is a separate garment.

The Catholic Church has revived the ancient practice of allowing women to
profess a solemn vow as
consecrated virgins
. These women are set aside
as sacred persons who belong only to Christ and the service of the church. They
are under the direct care of the local
bishop
, without belonging to a particular order
and receive the veil as a
sign
of
consecration
.

There has also been renewed interest in the last half century in the ancient
practice of women and men dedicating themselves as
anchorites
or
hermits
, and there is a formal process whereby
such persons can seek recognition of their vows by the local bishop – a veil for
these women would also be traditional.

Some Anglican
women’s religious orders also wear a
veil, differing according to the traditions of each order.

In
Eastern Orthodoxy
and in the
Eastern Rites
of the Catholic Church, a veil
called an
epanokamelavkion
is used by both nuns and
monks, in both cases covering completely the
kamilavkion
, a cylindrical hat they both
wear. In
Slavic
practice, when the veil is worn over the
hat, the entire headdress
is referred to as a
klobuk
. Nuns wear an additional veil under
the klobuk, called an
apostolnik
, which is drawn together to
cover the neck and shoulders as well as their heads, leaving the face itself
open.

Islam

A variety of headdresses worn by
Muslim women
and girls in accordance with
hijab
(the principle of dressing modestly)
are sometimes referred to as veils. The principal aim of the Muslim veil is to
hide that which men find sexually attractive. Many of these garments cover the
hair, ears and throat, but do not cover the face. The
khimar
is a type of
headscarf
. The
niqāb
and
burqa
are two kinds of veils that cover
most of the face except for a slit or hole for the eyes.

The Afghan
burqa covers the entire body, obscuring
the face completely, except for a grille or netting over the eyes to allow the
wearer to see. The
boshiya
is a veil that may be worn over a
headscarf; it covers the entire face and is made of a sheer fabric so the wearer
is able to see through it. It has been suggested that
the practice of wearing a veil
 – uncommon among
the Arab
tribes prior to the rise of
Islam
 – originated in the
Byzantine Empire
, and then spread.

The wearing of head and especially face coverings by Muslim women has raised
political issues in the West; see for example
Hijab controversy in Quebec
,
Islamic dress controversy in Europe
,
Islamic scarf controversy in France
, and
United Kingdom debate over veils
. There is also
high debate of the veil in
Turkey
, a
Muslim majority country
but secular, which
banned the headscarves in universities and government buildings, due to the
türban (a Turkish styled headscarf) being viewed as
a political symbol of Islam
, see
Headscarf controversy in Turkey
.

Frances Perkins
wearing a veil
after the death of U.S. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Hats

Veils pinned to hats have survived the changing fashions of the centuries and
are still common today on formal occasions that require women to wear a hat.
However, these veils are generally made of netting or another material not
actually designed to hide the face from view, even if the veil can be pulled
down.

Wedding veils

An occasion on which a Western woman is likely to wear a veil is on her
white wedding
day.
Brides
once used to wear their hair flowing
down their back at their wedding to symbolise their virginity. Veils covering
the hair and face became a symbolic reference to the virginity of the bride
thereafter. Often in modern weddings, the ceremony of removing a face veil after
the wedding to present the groom with a virgin bride is skipped, since many
couples have already entered into conjugal relations prior to their wedding
day – the bride either wears no face veil, or it is lifted before the ceremony
begins, but this is not always the case. Further, if a bride is a virgin, she
often wears the face veil through the ceremony, and then either her father lifts
the veil, presenting the bride to her groom, or the groom lifts the veil to
symbolically consummate the marriage, which will later become literal. Brides
who are virgins may make use of the veil to symbolize and emphasize their status
of purity during their wedding however, and if they do, the lifting of the veil
may be ceremonially recognized as the crowning event of the wedding, when the
beauty of the bride is finally revealed to the groom and the guests. It is not
altogether clear that the wedding veil is a non-religious use of this item,
since weddings have almost always had religious underpinnings, especially in the
West. Veils, however, had been used in the West for weddings long before this.
Roman brides, for instance, wore an intensely flame-colored and fulsome veil,
called the flammeum, apparently intended to protect the bride from
evil spirits
on her wedding day. Later, the
so-called velatio virginum became part of the rite of the
consecration of virgins
, the liturgical rite in
which the church sets aside the virgin as a sacred person who belongs only to
Christ.

In the 19th century, wedding veils came to symbolize the woman’s
virginity
and
modesty
. The tradition of a veiled bride’s face
continues even today wherein, a virgin bride, especially in Christian or Jewish
culture, enters the marriage ritual with a veiled face and head, and remains
fully veiled, both head and face, until the ceremony concludes. After the full
conclusion of the wedding ceremony, either the bride’s father lifts the veil
giving the bride to the groom who then kisses her, or the new groom lifts her
face veil in order to kiss her, which symbolizes the groom’s right to enter into
conjugal relations with his bride.

The lifting of the veil was often a part of ancient wedding ritual,
symbolizing the
groom
taking possession of the wife, either as
lover or as property, or the revelation of the bride by her parents to the groom
for his approval.

A bride wearing a typical wedding veil

In Judaism, the tradition of wearing a veil dates back to biblical times.
According to the Torah in
Genesis 24:65
, Isaac is brought Rebekah to
marry by his father Abraham’s servant. It is important to note that Rebekah did
not veil herself when traveling with her lady attendants and Abraham’s servant
and his men to meet Isaac, but she only did so when Isaac was approaching. Just
before the wedding ceremony the
badeken
or bedeken is held. The groom places
the veil over the bride’s face, and either he or the officiating Rabbi gives her
a blessing. The veil stays on her face until just before the end of the wedding
ceremony – when they are legally married according to Jewish law – then the
groom helps lift the veil from off her face.

The most often cited interpretation for the
badeken
is that, according to
Genesis 29
, when Jacob went to marry Rachel,
his father in law Laban tricked him into marrying Leah, Rachel’s older and
homlier sister. Many say that the veiling ceremony takes place to make sure that
the groom is marrying the right bride. Some say that as the groom places the
veil over his bride, he makes an implicit promise to clothe and protect her.
Finally, by covering her face, the groom recognizes that he his marrying the
bride for her inner beauty; while looks will fade with time, his love will be
everlasting. In some ultra-orthodox traditions the bride wears an opaque veil as
she is escorted down the aisle to meet her groom. This shows her complete
willingness to enter into the marriage and her absolute trust that she is
marrying the right man. In Judaism, a wedding is not considered valid unless the
bride willingly consents to it.

In ancient Judaism
the lifting of the veil took place just
prior to the consummation of the marriage in sexual union. The uncovering or
unveiling that takes place in the
wedding ceremony
is a symbol of what will take
place in the marriage bed. Just as the two become one through their words spoken
in wedding vows, so these words are a sign of the physical oneness that they
will consummate later on. The lifting of the veil is a symbol and an
anticipation of this.

In the
Western world
,
St. Paul’s
words concerning how marriage
symbolizes the union of Christ and His Church may underlie part of the tradition
of veiling in the marriage ceremony.

Dance

Veils are part of the stereotypical images of courtesans and harem women.
Here, the mysterious veil hints at sensuality, an example being the dance of the
seven veils. This is the context into which belly dancing veils fall, with a
large repertoire of ways to wear and hold the veil, framing the body and
accentuating movements. Dancing veils can be as small as a scarf or two, silk
veils mounted on fans, a half circle, three-quarter circle, full circle, a
rectangle up to four feet long, and as large as huge Isis wings with sticks for
extensions. There is also a giant canopy type veil used by a group of dancers.
Veils are made of rayon, silk, polyester, mylar and other fabrics (never wool,
though). Rarely used in Egyptian cabaret style, veil dancing has always played
an important part in the international world of belly dance, extending the range
of the dance and offering lovely transitory imagery.

Courtesans

Conversely, veils are often part of the stereotypical image of the
courtesan
and
harem
woman. Here, rather than the virginity of
the bride’s veil, modesty of the Muslim scarf or the piety of the nun’s
headdress, the mysterious veil hints at sensuality and the unknown. An example
of the veil’s erotic potential is the
dance of the seven veils
.

In this context, the term may refer to a piece of sheer cloth approximately 3
x 1.5 metres, sometimes trimmed with sequins or coins, which is used in various
styles of belly dancing
. A large repertoire of ways to
wear and hold the veil exists, many of which are intended to frame the body from
the perspective of the audience.

Veils for men

Among the
Tuareg
,
Songhai
,
Moors
,
Hausa
. and
Fulani
of
West Africa
, women do not traditionally wear
the veil, while men do. The men’s facial covering originates from the belief
that such action wards off evil spirits, but most probably relates to protection
against the harsh desert sands as well; in any event, it is a firmly established
tradition. Men begin wearing a veil at age 25 which conceals their entire face
excluding their eyes. This veil is never removed, even in front of family
members.

In India
,
Pakistan
,
Bangladesh
, and
Nepal
, men wear a
sehra
on their wedding day. This is a male
veil covering the whole face and neck. The sehra is made from either flowers,
beads, tinsel, dry leaves, or coconuts. The most common sehra is made from fresh
marigolds. The groom wears this throughout the day concealing his face even
during the wedding ceremony. In India today you can see the groom arriving on a
horse with the sehra wrapped around his head.

Etymology

“Veil” came from Latin
vēlum, which also means “sail“.
There are two theories about the origin of the word vēlum:-

• Via the “covering” meaning, from (Indo-European
  root
  ) *wel– = “to cover, to
  enclose”.
• Via the “sail” meaning, from Indo-European *weghslom, from root *wegh-
  = “way” or “carry in a vehicle”, because it makes the ship move.