This is a very controversial topic-and I'm not bringing it up to argue Afrocentrism or racist views that "the ancient egyptians couldnt have been black". Many people have biased views and agendas regarding this subject-but my interest in this subject is purely academic.
My personal view is that the Egyptians in ancient times were black-more specifically they were related to and looked like the East African people of today.
I tend not to focus on "this pharoah was black" or "what they looked like in the paintings" because that evidence is very anectodal. What a certain dynasty or people in a few photos looked like does not represent the entire population of a country or area. I think DNA and anatomy is the strongest piece of evidence-and I will present it.
Some studies show the invasions didnt change the DNA of current Egyptians significantly.
There are certain studies that say the invasions didnt change the race/dna of egypt.
DNA history of Egypt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My guess is that to determine the level that the invasions affected the dna/race of the modern Egyptians is to compare ancient and modern DNA and see how close their genes are-then directly compare ancient and modern DNA of Egyptians-and thats something that these students havent done. They only determine ancient and modern Egyptians have some similar DNA. If you have some evidence against my claims, please mention it.
I dont think the studies comparing DNA are detailed enough to come to the conclusion modern egyptians are the same as the ancient ones-and anatomy studies show them as being similar to black africans.
Also, at the time Egypt was invaded in ancient times, their population was very tiny in comparison to today, so an invasion could have changed their racial component significantly (similar to how most of the hundreds of millions of South Americans are mestizos-descendants of the smaller native populations who intermarried with European settlers.)
My personal view is that the Egyptians in ancient times were black-more specifically they were related to and looked like the East African people of today.
I tend not to focus on "this pharoah was black" or "what they looked like in the paintings" because that evidence is very anectodal. What a certain dynasty or people in a few photos looked like does not represent the entire population of a country or area. I think DNA and anatomy is the strongest piece of evidence-and I will present it.
1. Craniofacial analysis of Ancient Egyptian skulls groups them with modern East African populations such as the Somali and Oromo.
2. Skeletal analysis of the Ancient Egyptian limb proportions reveal that they have tropical body plans indicating an evolutionary adaptation to a tropical environment of Ancient Egyptian ancestors.
3. DNA studies reveal that Ancient Egyptian remains have African genetic lineages.
4. Histological analysis of Ancient Egyptian skin indicates that the Ancient Egyptians were dark-skinned people.
5. Ancient Egyptians artwork depicts them as brown-skinned with Afros and African style braids. Ethnographic murals show Ancient Egyptians to be much darker than light-skinned neighbors from Libya and Palestine (only jet-black Nubians are darker).
6. The Ancient Egyptian language has an Afroasiatic origin. Proto-Afroasiatic was spoken in the Horn of Africa region and disseminated before the formation of the Ancient Egyptian state. The architects of Ancient Egyptian civilization must have come from the South. This is supported by archeological evidence.
References:
- Studies and Comments on Ancient Egyptian Biological Relationships,S.O.Y. Keita, History in Africa, 20: 129-154 (1993)
- Variation in Ancient Egyptian Stature and Body Proportions Sonia R. Zakrzewski, Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK,American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 121:219229 (2003)
- Genetics, Egypt, and History: Interpreting Geographical Patterns of Y Chromosome Variation S.O.Y. Keita & A. J. Boyce, History in Africa, 32 pp. 221-246 (2005)
- The Origins of Afroasiatic, Ehret, Keita and Newman, Science (2004)
- Population Continuity or Population Change: Formation of the Ancient Egyptian State Sonia R. Zakrzewski, Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 132: 501509 (2007)
- The Geographical Origins and Population Relationships of Early Ancient Egyptians, Egypt in Africa, (1996), pp. 2527
- Determination of optimal rehydration, fixation and staining methods for histological and immunohistochemical analysis of mummified soft ttissues Biotechnic & Histochemistry 2005, 80(1): 7_/13
Some studies show the invasions didnt change the DNA of current Egyptians significantly.
DNA history of Egypt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaEgypt has experienced several invasions during its history. However, these do not seem to account for more than about 10% overall of current Egyptians ancestry when the DNA evidence of the ancient mitochondrial DNA and modern Y chromosomes is considered.
In general, various DNA studies have found that the gene frequencies of present Egyptian populations are intermediate between those of the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, southern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa,[1] though NRY frequency distributions of the modern Egyptian population appear to be much more similar to those of the Middle East than to any Sub-Saharan African or European population, suggesting a much larger Middle Eastern genetic component.[2][3][3][4][5][6][7]
Other studies have shown that modern Egyptians have genetic affinities primarily with populations of Asia, North and Northeast Africa,[27][28][29][30] and to a lesser extent Middle Eastern and European populations.[31]
Were the Ancient Egyptians black? That is entirely up to you. But were they biologically African? It would seem that they were. After considering the full range of anatomical, linguistic, cultural, archeological and genetic evidence, Shomarka Keita feels confident in concluding that the original Egyptians by which he means the pre-dynastic people of Southern Egypt, who founded Egyptian civilization evolved entirely in Africa. Both culturally and biologically, he says, they were more related to other Africans than they were to non-Africans from Europe or Asia.
Through the years, Keita believes, the Egyptians appear to have blended with many immigrants and invaders, many of whom were lighter-skinned and more Caucasoid in appearance than the original Egyptians. Libyans, Persians, Syro-Palestinians, Assyrians, Greeks, and Romans all left their imprint on the faces of Egypt. But Egyptian civilization remained profoundly African to the very end.
Keita himself rarely resorts to such crudely racial expressions as black and white. But if we might be forgiven a momentary lapse into everyday speech, it would probably not hurt to conceive of Keita's theory as the polar opposite of the Hamitic Hypothesis. Whereas the Hamitic theorists saw Egypt as a nation of white people that was gradually infiltrated by blacks, the biological evidence seems to suggest that it was more like a black nation that was gradually infiltrated by whites.
Source: Black Spark White Fire: Did African Explorers Civilize Ancient Europe? - Chapter 77. Black, White or Biologically African? Pg. 471
There are certain studies that say the invasions didnt change the race/dna of egypt.
Egypt has experienced several invasions during its history. However, these do not seem to account for more than about 10% overall of current Egyptians ancestry when the DNA evidence of the ancient mitochondrial DNA and modern Y chromosomes is considered.
In general, various DNA studies have found that the gene frequencies of present Egyptian populations are intermediate between those of the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, southern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa,[1] though NRY frequency distributions of the modern Egyptian population appear to be much more similar to those of the Middle East than to any Sub-Saharan African or European population, suggesting a much larger Middle Eastern genetic component.[2][3][3][4][5][6][7]
Other studies have shown that modern Egyptians have genetic affinities primarily with populations of Asia, North and Northeast Africa,[27][28][29][30] and to a lesser extent Middle Eastern and European populations.[31]
DNA history of Egypt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My guess is that to determine the level that the invasions affected the dna/race of the modern Egyptians is to compare ancient and modern DNA and see how close their genes are-then directly compare ancient and modern DNA of Egyptians-and thats something that these students havent done. They only determine ancient and modern Egyptians have some similar DNA. If you have some evidence against my claims, please mention it.
I dont think the studies comparing DNA are detailed enough to come to the conclusion modern egyptians are the same as the ancient ones-and anatomy studies show them as being similar to black africans.
Also, at the time Egypt was invaded in ancient times, their population was very tiny in comparison to today, so an invasion could have changed their racial component significantly (similar to how most of the hundreds of millions of South Americans are mestizos-descendants of the smaller native populations who intermarried with European settlers.)