Ancient jewish covering

 Yes. Ancient Jewish women—particularly married women—did cover their hair, and the practice is demonstrably ancient. But we should distinguish when the practice existed from when Jewish law formally defined it as an obligation.

A rough historical timeline

Period Evidence for women's head covering

Biblical period (~1000–500 BCE) Evidence is suggestive but not conclusive that all married women routinely covered their hair. Biblical passages mention women with covered heads, but they don't establish a universal rule.

Second Temple period (~516 BCE–70 CE) Head covering appears to have been a recognized aspect of female modesty, but the evidence is incomplete and practices probably varied.

Mishnah (~200 CE) Clear evidence: Mishnah Ketubot 7:6 says a married woman going out with her head uncovered violated dat Yehudit—accepted Jewish women's practice. 

Talmud (~300–600 CE) The Babylonian Talmud goes further, arguing from Numbers 5:18 that a married woman's hair covering has a Torah-law basis. It also discusses different levels of covering and when a woman could uncover her hair inside a courtyard. 

Medieval Judaism Hair covering becomes firmly incorporated into Jewish legal practice, particularly for married women.

Modern period Practice varies enormously: Haredi/Hasidic women generally cover their hair after marriage, while many Reform, Conservative and secular Jewish women do not.

So when did it actually begin?

We cannot identify a single date. The practice is probably older than the Mishnah, because the Mishnah (~200 CE) describes uncovered hair as a violation of established Jewish women's practice rather than introducing a new custom. 

There is an even more interesting earlier Jewish text. The Sifrei, a Tannaitic midrash from roughly the same general period, interprets the ritual of the suspected adulteress in Numbers 5:18—where her hair is uncovered—as evidence that “the daughters of Israel cover their hair.” 

The Talmud later makes the argument explicitly: because Numbers 5:18 says the woman's hair is uncovered as part of the humiliation ritual, the rabbis reasoned that this implies that married women normally had their hair covered. 

One important point

It would be inaccurate to say:

> “Jewish women have covered their hair since Moses.”

The evidence doesn't allow us to make that claim confidently.

A better historical statement is:

> Hair covering for married Jewish women was an established practice by the early rabbinic period (at least by the 2nd–3rd century CE), and it was probably practiced earlier, but the exact origin cannot be dated.

And interestingly, the Talmud itself recognizes that women did not necessarily cover every hair at every moment. It distinguishes public spaces from private courtyards and discusses partial coverings. 

So the modern image of “Jewish married woman = completely covered hair at all times” is actually a later development of a much older and more nuanced practice.