Hair Weight?
Posted by Hank on August 27, 2001 at 11:07:37: Previous Next
What does hair weigh? A pony tail one loot long cut off would weigh what? Or any other length I could relate to. King David's son, Absalom cut his hair, head & beard, it weighed 5 pounds! How long was it?
Re: Hair Weight?
Posted by Victor on August 27, 2001 at 17:14:08: Previous Next
In Reply to: Hair Weight? posted by Hank on August 27, 2001 at 11:07:37:
: What does hair weigh? A pony tail one loot long cut off would weigh what? Or any other length I could relate to. King David's son, Absalom cut his hair, head & beard, it weighed 5 pounds! How long was it?
It depends upon the thickness. The hairsale group often has weights associated with hair sales. You can get an idea there.
Note to the alarmists: I am posting this link for the sole purpose of researching hair weight.
Re: Hair Weight?
Posted by Victor on August 27, 2001 at 17:32:09: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: Hair Weight? posted by Victor on August 27, 2001 at 17:14:08:
Here are a few examples:
| Hair Length (inches) | Weight (in oz.) |
| 23 | 1.1 |
| 17 | 1.4 |
| 14 | 1.6 |
| 21 | 2.3 |
| 32 | 3 |
Judging by these numbers, it looks like for normal hair it is anywhere from 1/2 oz. to 2 oz. per 10 inches (I'm allowing a bit of leeway here). Suppose Absalom had hair that was, say, 5 times thicker than the heaviest of this range. You'd then have 1 oz. per inch of hair. Five pounds would be 80 ounces. At 1 oz. per inch, that would be 80 inches or nearly 7 feet.
The claim for Absalom's hair weight is so excessive, that I've often wondered if there is a translation error, or maybe a different measure (it was not pounds but sheckels). II Samuel 14 states:
"In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him. Whenever he cut the hair of his head--he used to cut his hair from time to time when it became too heavy for him--he would weigh it, and its weight was two hundred shekels by the royal standard. Three sons and a daughter were born to Absalom. The daughter's name was Tamar, and she became a beautiful woman."
One other thing to consider is that he may have had dreadlocks. This would add a lot of weight per unit length.
Re: Hair Weight?
Posted by Pete_J on August 28, 2001 at 09:25:07: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: Hair Weight? posted by Victor on August 27, 2001 at 17:32:09:
Another approach is to consider tightly braided hair. Thick hair can make a one-inch diameter braid. If we assume a density equal to that of water (hair sinks, but there will be air spaces in even a tight braid), then a one-foot braid will have a volume of about ten cubic inches. Water weighs 0.58 ounce per cubic inch, so a one-foot braid will weigh 5.8 ounces.
My own hair is fine, and so makes a braid less than 1/2 in diameter,
and that would be only 1.5 ounces per foot.
Re: Hair Weight?
Posted by StanleyBey on August 28, 2001 at 14:15:05: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: Hair Weight? posted by Victor on August 27, 2001 at 17:32:09:
Perhaps Absalom used a lot of oil in his hair which could have added weight. It was common in Bible times for people to grease their heads with oil.