A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover part of the head or face, or an object of some importance. The veil has a long history in European, Asian and African societies. The practice has been prominent in different ways in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The practice of veiling is especially associated with women and sacred objects, although in some cultures it is men more than women who are expected to wear a veil. In addition to its enduring religious significance, veiling continues to play a role in some modern secular contexts, such as wedding customs.
Elite women in ancient Mesopotamia and the Greek and Persian empires wore the veil as a sign of respectability and high status. The first attested reference to veiling is a Middle Assyrian law code dating from between 1400 and 1100 BC. Assyria had explicit sumptuary laws that spelled out what women should watch and what women shouldn't, depending on the woman's class, rank, and occupation in society. Slaves and prostitutes were forbidden to watch and faced severe penalties if they did.
A veil called a flammeum was the most prominent feature of the dress worn by the bride at Roman weddings. The veil was a deep yellow color reminiscent of a candle flame. The flammeum also evoked the veil of the Flaminica Dialis, the Roman priestess who could not divorce her husband, the high priest of Jupiter, and was therefore seen as a good omen for lifelong fidelity to one man. The Romans apparently thought that the bride was "clouded by a veil" and connected the verb nubere (to marry) with clouds, the word for cloud.
Ancient African rock carvings depicting human faces with eyes but no mouth or nose suggest that the origins of the litan are not only pre-Islamic, but even prehistoric. Wearing the litan is not seen as a religious requirement, although it is apparently believed to provide magical protection against the forces of evil. In practice, litham has served as protection against the dust and extreme temperatures that characterize the desert environment. Its use by the Almoravids gave it political significance during their conquests.
