It would seem that the beard was held in the highest esteem, especially in Asiatic countries, from the earliest period of which any records have been preserved.  The Hebrew priests are commanded in the Book of Leviticus, ch. xix, not to shave off the corners of their beards; and the first High Priest, Aaron, probably wore a magnificent beard, since the amicable relations between brethren are compared, in the 133rd Psalm, to “the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard; that went down to the skirts of his garments.”  The Assyrian kings intertwined gold thread with their fine beards—­and, judging from mural sculptures, curling tongs must have been in considerable demand with them.  In ancient Greece the beard was universally worn, and it is related of Zoilus, the founder of the anti-Homeric school, that he shaved the crown of his head, in order that all the virtue should go to the nourishment of his beard.  Persius could not think of a more complimentary epithet to apply to Socrates than that of “Magistrum Barbatum,” or Bearded Master—­the notion being that the beard was the symbol of profound sagacity.[158] Alexander the Great, however, caused his soldiers to shave off their beards, because they furnished their enemies with handles whereby to seize hold of them in battle.  The beard was often consecrated to the deities, as the most precious offering.  Chaucer, in his Knight’s Tale, represents Arcite as offering his beard to Mars: 

  And evermore, unto that day I dye,
  Eterne fyr I wol bifore the fynde,
  And eek to this avow I wol me bynde,
  My berd, myn heer, that hangeth long a doun,
  That neuer yit ne felt offensioun
  Of rasour ne of schere, I wol ye giue,
  And be thy trewe seruaunt whiles I lyue.[159]

  [158] The notion that a beard indicated wisdom on the part of
        the wearer is often referred to in early European
        literature.  For example, in Lib. v of Caxton’s Esop, the
        Fox, to induce the sick King Lion to kill the Wolf, says
        he has travelled far and wide, seeking a good medicine
        for his Majesty, and “certaynly I have found no better
        counceylle than the counceylle of an auncyent Greke,
        with a grete and long berd, a man of grete wysdom, sage,
        and worthy to be praysed.”  And when the Fox, in another
        fable, leaves the too-credulous Goat in the well,
        Reynard adds insult to injury by saying to him, “O
        maystre goote, yf thow haddest be [i.e. been] wel
        wyse, with thy fayre berde,” and so forth. (Pp. 153 and
        196 of Mr. Jacobs’ new edition.)—­A story is told of a
        close-shaven French ambassador to the court of some
        Eastern potentate, that on presenting his credentials
        his Majesty made sneering remarks on his smooth face
        (doubtless he was himself “bearded to the eyes"), to
        which the envoy boldly replied:  “Sire, had my master
        supposed that you esteem a beard so highly, instead of
        me, he would have sent your Majesty a goat as his
        ambassador.”