The Physical Appearance of a Stereotypical Ancient Babylonian?

by [deleted]

Ancient Babylon is a very interesting period of time to me, but I've never really been able to find a solid source on what Babylonians stereotypically looked like. The two more common answers I've found are that they had an Arabic appearance (very tanned with dark hair), or that they had an Aryan appearance (white skin with blonde hair). The ladder seems less likely to me, but I'm no historian, so share your knowledge with me!

Zither13

"Ancient Babylonia" is a few thousand years, normally divided into much smaller periods, repleat with invasions, wars, uprisings, and other changes of rulership.

For all that, we can assume that the average inhabitant is a farmer speaking a Semitic language - that is, one related to Arabic or Hebrew or Coptic. That translates in appearance to a hard brown tan and black hair. Someone who spent more time indoors, like ladies or priests, would have lighter skin, often rendered in Egyptian art as pale dull yellow.

I must be getting old. When I studied this, no one would have thought of suggesting they were blond, even the Kassite dynasty with their Indo-European names. Seriously, what source claimed they looked Aryan? Has anyone noticed that even Scandinavians are brown-skinned when they are tanned?