King Tut is of Haplogroup R1b1a2 (Celtic)

Back migrations
The earliest known back migration of R1b was from Asia to Africa and took place around 15,000 years ago. A group of R1b1* people moving from the Levant to Egypt, Sudan and spreading in different directions inside Africa to Rwanda, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau. The hotspot is Cameroon. R1b1* was observed at a frequency of up to 95% in some tribes of northern Cameroon (like the Kirdi), and about 15% nationwide. It is in all likelihood where the early R1b people first settled, then spread south and east along the coast.

Other back migrations occured from Europe to the Near East and Central Asia during the Antiquity and Middle Ages. R1b-S28 was found in Romania, Turkey and at the border of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Some of it was surely brought by the Alpine Celts (Hallstatt/La Tène culture), known to have advanced along the Danube, and created the Galatian kingdom in central Anatolia. The rest could just as well be Roman, given that R1b-S28 is the dominant form of R1b in the Italian peninsula. Some have hypothetised that Roman legions went as far as Central Asia or China and never came back, leaving their genetic marker in isolated pockets. See also Were the Romans and the Alpine Celts close cousins ?

A small percentage of Western European R1b subclades were also found among Christian communities in Lebanon. They are most likely descendants of the crusaders.

Several accounts by Greek writers mention redheaded people. A fragment by the poet Xenophanes describes the Thracians as blue-eyed and red haired. Herodotus described the Budini people as being predominantly red haired. Dio Cassius described Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, to be "tall and terrifying in appearance... a great mass of red hair... over her shoulders."

The Roman historian Tacitus commented on the "red hair and large limbs of the inhabitants of Caledonia",[5] which he connected with some red haired Gaulish tribes of Germanic and Belgic relation.

In Asia, red hair has been found among the ancient Tocharians, who occupied the Tarim Basin in what is now the northwesternmost province of China. Caucasian Tarim mummies have been found with red hair dating to the 2nd millennium BC.[6]

Red hair is also found amongst Polynesians, and is especially common in some tribes and family groups. In Polynesian culture red hair has traditionally been seen as a sign of descent from high ranking ancestors and a mark of rulership.[7][8]

In ancient Egypt, followers of Set were known as "the red ones", and were regarded as being "drunkards, womanizers, and rebels."[75]

In the Iliad, Achilles' hair is described as ξανθῆς,[76] usually translated as blonde, or golden[77] but sometimes as red or tawny.[78][79] His son Neoptolemus also bears the name Pyrrhus, a possible reference to his own red hair.[80]

The Norse god Thor is usually described as having red hair.[81]
Mary Magdalene is commonly portrayed with long red hair, as in this painting by Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys.

Esau's entire body is supposed to have been covered with red hair.[82] King David is also known for having red hair, based on the description of his physical appearance as admoni, the Biblical Hebrew word normally interpreted to mean "ruddy", or "red-haired".[83]

Early artistic representations of Mary Magdalene usually depict her as having long flowing red hair, although a description of her hair color was never mentioned in the Bible, and it is possible the color is an effect caused by pigment degradation in the ancient paint.

Red is the preferred dyeing color in Islam. It is said that Muhammad used to dye his hair red.[84]

Judas Iscariot is also represented with red hair in Spanish culture[85][86][87] and in the works of William Shakespeare,[88] reinforcing the negative stereotype. In Spain the prejudice is extended to so-colored cats and dogs.[86]