“My intention was only to point out that when a writer (in a primitive culture) says “big” or “hairy” or “fair-complexioned,” one should not assume that he is using the same measuring stick as the one employed in an entirely different era and geographical region, like present-day Europe / America.”
But you are assuming that everyone was non-white.
Today on this site there was an article about an underground church (cave type thing) discovered in Turkey that is 1500 years old. It has paintings of church fathers and saints on the walls. Guess what? They are all Caucasian.
I once read a fascinating novel written by a Jewish author. His device was to take a Jewish family from the time of the fall of Jerusalem, that managed to escape, in 70 AD and walk it down through history per generation all the way to modern times.
I noticed he described the Jews (some) of 70 AD and on down as being blonde, green and/or blue eyed.
No, you are assuming that I am assuming that everyone was non-white.
For all I know or care, Abraham, Moses, Esau, King David, Jesus, etc. may have been all blue-eyed blondes; I am no anthropologist or student of Middle Eastern tribal migrations.
So, if I uncover a clay tablet written in cuneiform (or happen upon a passage in the Bible), and it says "He was a big man, with a light complexion," I make no assumptions about the stature or the amount of melanin in that man's skin - excepting that I might guess that the individual in question was taller and lighter than his compatriots.
It has paintings of church fathers and saints on the walls. Guess what? They are all Caucasian.
Might be due to any of a number of other factors: Available pigments, artistic conventions, practical considerations, weathering and erosion over time, etc.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you exhibit "A" - the drawings of the famed 19th-century naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. ALL of the American Indians he portrayed look like Europeans (i.e., European body types and facial features). All he did was to supply them with native garb and nut-brown complexions.
Regards,