[lepton]

Since blue-eyed, blonde and red-headed Jews are not that rare today, geneticists assume some gene-mixing through intermarriage between Jews and Northern Europeans in which Judaism was assumed by the gentile half of the union. In Jesus' time, without such mixng, it is a reasonable assumption that the Hebrews were darker than many Jews of today, but not black.

On the other hand, doesn't tradition hold that David, one of Jesus ancestors, was red-headed? ...Likely from being part of the "Mixed Multitudes" of Moses time?

[yarddog]

Actually a stronger case can be made that the ancient Jews were Blue eyed blondes than that they were Black since zero case can be made for the latter.

As you note, King David was traditionally thought to be red headed. My Son-in-Law's best friend is Jewish and I asked him once about that and he said it is true. Not that there is any real evidence to support it.

As noted earlier, the fact that Ramses had red hair, and that is for certain, should throw a real curve ball into some of these theories.

[Cronos]

On the other hand, doesn't tradition hold that David, one of Jesus ancestors, was red-headed?

I've never heard of that. I really doubt it. REd-heads and blondes in the first millenium would have still be considered unusual and in the time of David (approx. 1000 BC), they would have been barbarians, untrustworthy and very strange. When you talk about Jews, most of us here in the US think of European Jews, who are descendents not only of intermarriages (over 2000 years), but also converts (like the Kazar Empire in the 200s who converted en masse to Judaism). If you look at Yemeni Jews or Jews who lived in Arab lands, they're a lot darker, as dark as Egyptians or Western Indians.