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The African Tribes of Egypt and Israel Final
The African Tribes of Egypt and Israel Final
December 7, 2016
Exodus and Egyptian Warfare
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
Introduction
The ancient tribes of Egypt and Israel were/are black. The identification can be reckoned
as Negro, black, or African by modern standards. This application is evident from ancient
Egyptian depictions of themselves, in statue or in wall relief (for the Egyptians) and by biblical
misidentification with Egyptians in the case of the Israelites. The Egyptians, as described by
ancient Greek and Roman sources, are/were dark-skinned and wooly haired. Ancient record
attests that people groups from ancient Babylon to ancient Ethiopia were black African, though
this term too can be misleading. Identifying Egypt with black African nations of today runs
contrary to modern archeology, yet the evidence presents this reality beyond doubt. The presence
of ancient African culture from the Euphrates to the Nile aids in identifying the most influential
African nation in history, Israel. With this emphasis, we examine ancient Egyptian ethnicity,
focusing first on the Bible, archeology and ancient testimony from cognate people groups.
In a 2005 study of skin tissues from several mummies discovered in Luxor, Egypt,
ancient Thebes, to identify mummification techniques used by the Ancient Egyptians, several
pertinent facts about Egyptian ancestry came to light. This study showed conclusively that the
mummies all exhibited tissue consistent with that of Negro ancestry, “Although much of the
epidermis had already separated from the dermis, the remaining epidermis often was preserved
well. The basal epithelial cells were packed with melanin as expected for specimens of Negroid
origin.”1 In a casual, side observation, the researchers answered a hotly contended archeological
mystery…Egypt was black. With the information concerning Egyptian ethnicity reported in
scientific journals, documented by ancient Greek and Roman sources, and abundantly portrayed
1
A.M. Vermehren and M. Mekota "Determination of optimal rehydration, fixation and staining methods
for histological and immunohistochemical analysis of mummified soft tissues." Biotechnic & Histochemistry. (New
York: Thompson Reuters, 2005) 80: 7-13.
2
on the walls of Egyptian temples and tombs, why then are the Egyptians depicted and identified
erroneously? Are their cultural motives behind these appearances? An investigation into the
ethnicity of the Ancient Egyptians will encompass many factors: the important reason for
racially identifying Egypt, the cultural connection to Israel, modern Egyptian misidentification
Time works to obscure all things. Truths of yesterday can prove to be great mysteries of
tomorrow. For this reason, it is important to view carefully ancient interpretation and rely heavily
on eyewitness report. Time holds no prisoners, thus an accurate assessment of ancient record is
interpretation of history takes the forefront. There are many examples of this type of historical
revision and tampering with the identity of a culture. Josephus, 1st century Hebrew historian,
speaks of this cultural revising, from an ancient perspective, about the Greeks:
There were some also who passed over the sea in ships, and
inhabited the islands: and some of those nations do still retain the
denominations which were given them by their first founders; but
some have lost them also, and some have only admitted certain
changes in them, that they might be the more intelligible to the
inhabitants. And they were the Greeks who became the authors of
such mutations. For when in after-ages they grew potent, they
claimed to themselves the glory of antiquity; giving names to the
nations that sounded well (in Greek) that they might be better
understood among themselves; and setting agreeable forms of
government over them, as if they were a people derived from
themselves.2
Josephus indicates that the ancient Greeks, in the time of their domination of world culture,
renamed certain places, people, and people groups for two reasons: easier Greek pronunciation
and to assert antiquity. In this renaming, the Greeks were marking themselves as the most
2
Josephus and A. M. William Whiston, Josephus the Complete Works (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998),
41.
3
ancient nation; the act of designation signified both antiquity and authority. In this aspect, we
understand how and why in English Mitsraim becomes Egypt, Cush becomes Ethiopia and so on.
Today we overlook these differences, yet our entire ancient understanding automatically emerges
from a Greek perspective, even by the names given to these people and places. To identify
ancient people groups accurately, the investigator must overcome misrepresentation, from many
eras. Even in ancient times, an altered perspective can hide the identity of a people.
What is a Negro? What does being black mean? What is an African? These three terms
are often intermingled and usually elicit a persistent definition: people with dark skin and wooly
hair. The American Heritage Dictionary defines the term Negroid as “Of or being a major human
pigmentation and often tightly curled hair and including peoples indigenous to sub-Saharan
Africa.”3 The term ‘black Africa’ is used to designate this race of people as (only) emerging from
below the Saharan desert, signified by dark skin, woolly hair, flat/thick noses and thick lips.
Recent studies go a long way to disprove this architype, however. John Relethford, NYU PhD of
Anthropology, writes, "Previous results obtained mtDNA and microsatellite DNA and
craniometrics variation show a pattern in which the highest level of within-population diversity
occurs in Sub-Saharan Africa. The current study shows the same pattern for human skin color.”4
The preceding study shows that the most racially diverse group of people on the Earth exist in
Sub-Saharan Africa, continuing to state that skin color, hair texture, and other physical
3
Margret S. Berube, Christopher Leonesio, Joseph P. Pickett and David R. Pritchard, The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006), 1177.
4
John Relethford, "Human Skin Color Diversity is Highest In Sub-Saharan African Populations." Human
Biology (Wayne State Univerity Press, 2000) 72 (5): 773-780.
4
characteristics differ most in this region of the world. This information is important to
understand. Africans are not one group, they are an ethnically diverse group of families, more
widespread than any other continent on Earth. In secular definition, land classifies the families of
the Earth, but in biblical identification land, ancestors and prophetic significance are the major
classification components. It is seen that more than one group can exist in the same place, as was
the case for the ancient Israelites, who existed in Canaan. A son of Shem living in a place named
There are three main groups of biblical tribes (which further break down into seventy
families), those descending from either Shem, Ham or Japheth.5 Within these families there
exists stark ranges of skin tone, with Japheth designated as the lightest and Ham as the darkest.
Rabbi Eleazer Ben Hurcanus, 1st century AD, indicates this divide in his commentary on the
Genesis 10 division of the Earth, “He especially blessed Shem, (making them) dark but comely,
and he gave them the habitable earth. He blessed Ham and his sons (making them) dark like the
raven, and he gave them as an inheritance the coast of the sea. He blessed Japheth and his sons,
(making) them entirely white and he gave them for an inheritance the deserts and its fields…”6 It
is significant that the Hebrew text of Eleazar Hurcanus7 uses the term שחורor shachur as both
describing Shem and Ham. This depiction is lifted directly from the Bible, located in Song of
Songs 1:5, “I am black [shachur], but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar,
as the curtains of Solomon.” The text describes a bride of Israel as being black and beautiful.
Song of Songs 5:11 continues, “His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black
[shachur] as a raven,” another depiction of an Israelite with bushy jet-black hair. In a casual
5
Gen. 10
6
Eleazar Hurcanus and Gerald Friedlander, Pirke de Rabbi Eleazar (New York: The Bloch Publishing
Company, 1916), 173.
7
http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/vl/pirkeyeliezer/pirkeyeliezer03.pdf [Accessed on December 5, 2016]
5
depiction of two Israelites, the scriptural image obtained defines black Africa; dark skin and
black, wooly hair. Rabbi Eleazar’s depiction, from a crucial 1st century perspective, indicates a
similar appearance of Hametic tribes (people groups descending from Ham) and Semetic tribes
(people groups descending from Shem). This understanding of the similar, Negroid appearance
of Shem and Ham is a prevalent theme in all ancient depiction, from the Bible, to Judaism and
The book of Genesis provides the biblical definition of the families of the world. The
Bible divides the tribes of humanity by Noah’s sons, as has been related. The Table of Nations
(the biblical chart describing the familial divisions of the Earth) remains verified by
archeological findings and critical scholarship. This breakdown from Genesis chapter 10 details
the sons of Noah’s sons, totaling 70 individuals, “These are the families of the sons of Noah,
after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after
the flood.”8 Given the amount of time passing between even Moses’ depictions of humankind’s
national divide, one would believe that reckoning these families of the Earth in today’s current
populations would be impossible. Conversely, the Bible presents the nations by their ancient
designation in future prophecy, indicating these people groups are still active and important. The
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the
nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year
to year to worship the King, Yahuah9 of hosts, and to keep the feast
of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all
the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King
Yahuah of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the
family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there
shall be the plague, wherewith Yahuah will smite the heathen that
come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the
8
Genesis 10:32 KJV
9
The name of the Father, Yahauh, will replace ‘the LORD’, as originally intended in the ancient Hebrew.
6
The Egyptians, as a people group today, may have differed dramatically from the Egyptians of
the past (as will be shown later). This however is not how the Bible describes the ancient
understanding. The Bible describes the ancient Egyptians as remaining until the final days of
Earth, when the entire world will go up to Jerusalem to keep the festival of Tabernacles. This
means that the Egyptians will still be an ethnic group descending from Mitsraim, the son of Ham,
the grandson of Noah in the far future. Another attestation to the surviving unit of people groups
is found in the book of Malachi, “For I am Yahuah, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed.”11 Jeremiah reiterates, “Thus saith Yahuah, which giveth the sun for a light by
day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea
when the waves thereof roar; Yahuah of hosts is his name. If those ordinances depart from before
me, saith Yahuah, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me
forever.”12 According to the Bible, the nations of Israel and Egypt will still exist in the far future.
The book of Revelation states, “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed
out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the
earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of
the sea.”13 Gog and Magog draw particular importance in both the first and last book of the bible.
These families are the names of people groups derived from the Genesis 10 table of nations. This
Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus
saith Adoni Yahuah; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief
10
ZecharYah 14:16-19 KJV
11
Mal 3:6 KJV
12
YiramYahu 31:35-36 KJV
13
Rev 20:7-8
7
prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and leave
but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the
north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: And I
will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows
to fall out of thy right hand…”14
The implication here from these biblical passages is that a family of people, identified by their
ancient denomination, Gog, Magog, Meshech and Tubal, will incur wrath for their future actions.
This prophecy is directly concerning the future sons of Japheth, “The sons of Japheth; Gomer,
and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.”15 Bible prophecy
denotes future people groups by their ancient names, with the understanding that they will
remain as a people group in the future. The implication is phenomenal, original familial
boundaries are still applicable in the last days. Identifying these people groups in order to
understand prophecy is of the utmost importance. If the Bible is true for prophecy and for
identification, then these groups should still be identifiable today by their biblical characteristics.
The following sections will accomplish an ethnic identification of Egypt and the implications for
Israel.
Who Is Africa?
“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” – Hosea 11:1
14
Ez 39:1-3 KJV
15
Gen 10:2 KJV
8
The continent of Africa has undergone many changes, holding within its boundaries
many differing people groups. In order to identify ancient Egypt, one must understand that its
borders exist physically in Africa. In modern interpretation, Egypt is not African, in an ethnic
sense. An imaginary partition exists between people groups of North Africa and lower Africa,
beginning at the Sahara Desert. There exists a fundamental bias in the academic community
against advanced people groups emerging from a black African context. The sentiment of
European enlightenment thought concerning Africa emerges from such founding philosophers as
David Hume and Emanuel Kant. Kant writes, “The Negroes of Africa have received from nature
no intelligence that rises above the foolish. The difference between the two races is thus a
substantial one: it appears to be just as great in respect to the faculties of the mind as in
Not to mention our colonies, there are Negroe slaves dispersed all
over Europe, of which none ever discovered any symptoms of
ingenuity, tho' low people, without education, will start up
amongst us, and distinguish themselves in every profession. In
JAMAICA indeed they talk of one Negroe as a man of parts and
learning; but 'tis likely he is admired for very slender
accomplishments like a parrot, who speaks a few words plainly.17
This sentiment underscores the proclivity to render Africa and its inhabitants as critically inferior
to the civilized societies of Europe. British historian and writer of African history, Basil
Davidson, expounds:
Basil continues to state that this sentiment was not only utilized to scientifically and
philosophical undermine the accomplishments of ancient Africans, but also to justify modern
still exists in modern interpretation, unspoken. Davidson writes that the seemingly established
inferiority of the African was, “…exceedingly convenient in high imperial times. For it could be
argued (and it was; indeed, it still is) that these peoples, history-less, were naturally inferior or
else they were ‘children who had still to grow up’; in either case they were manifestly in need of
government by others who had grown up.”19 Ellicott’s Bible Commentary (19th century) relates
this sentiment historically, “From the study of the skulls and bodies of a large number of
mummies Brugsch-Bey in his recent history has come to the conclusion that the ancient
Egyptians did not belong to any African race, but to the great Caucasian family.”20 Ellicott’s own
statements contradict this finding, “Ham is the progenitor of the dark races.”21 While providing
no genealogical explanation for this apparent ancestry anomaly, this interpretation of Egypt
explicitly removes Africa itself from the Egyptians, providing instead a Caucasian heritage. The
Bible, however, states that Ham is the father of Cush, Mitzraim (Egypt), Canaan and Put.22 One
is left with the peculiar notion of ancient revision in accordance with a dominant societal
structure.
18
Basil Davidson, The African Genus (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1969), 25.
19
Basil Davidson, The Lost Cities of Africa (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1959), ix.
20
C.J. Ellicott, Ellicott’s Commentary on the Whole Bible Vol I Genesis - Numbers (Oregon: Wipf and
Stock Publishers, 1957), 49.
21
Ibid.
22
Gen 10:6 KJV
10
While the Bible designates the names of the sons of Ham, it does not expressly designate
all the people groups associated with a land mass. The Israelites dwelled in the land of Canaan
and were not themselves Canaanites derived from Canaan, son of Ham. This identification would
be in error if one insisted that a people group must be descended from the assigned name of a
place. The name ‘Africa’ however, does hold a few clues as to the biblical variety of its
inhabitants. While some would indicate that the name Africa stems from a purely Latin source in
the Roman era, the word is a combination of Hebrew and Latin. Josephus expounds on the
designation of Africa
The word ‘Aphar’ in Hebrew signifies ‘dust’ or ‘turban’.24 This description of the sons of
Abraham by Keturah fits linguistically well with the biblical list of Genesis 25:2 and 1
Chronicles 1:33. The narrative given by Josephus, however, continues the plight of Abraham in
an alternate lineage apart from the Sarah or Hagar genealogies. This extended family tree shows
conclusively that the descendants of Abraham did not only emerge in the modern Middle East,
23
Josephus and A.M. William Whitson, Josephus the Complete Works (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998),
51.
24
James Strong, Strong’s Concordance (James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.
MacDonald Publishing Company. 1898
11
but also extended into Africa, west of Egypt. The names and families of Cush, Put, and Mitzraim
can already be associated to the continent of Africa, but with this additional ancient information,
so too can some descendants of Abraham at an early point in biblical history. A population of
Semite Hebrew lineage exists within Africa, even before the patriarchal Israel, and it is,
according to Josephus, from Hebrew ancestry that Africa receives its namesake.
“By the almost unanimous testimony of ancient historians, [the Egyptians] belonged to an
African race”25
25
Gaston Maspero, Histoire ancienne des peuples de l'Orient. (Paris: Hachette, 1917), 15.
12
The Egyptians knew themselves by the term Kemet. The biblical significance of this term
reveals a great amount of affinity to the African continent and culture. The term Kemet is
linguistically equivalent to the term Cham in Hebrew, or Ham, son of Noah. The Chet (or Het) in
Hebrew is a guttural, which can easily morph sonically into the /k/ sound. The definitions of this
word range from ‘hot’ to ‘poison’. One specific form of the word, Chemat, means wrath,
providing a direct biblical understanding of the ancient Egyptian designation for themselves. The
undeniable. We begin our account in the Middle Kingdom. Beni Hasan is a cemetery complex of
Egypt located about 100 miles northeast of Cairo. This ancient cemetery housed mainly tombs
from the Middle Kingdom, 11th and 12th Dynasties. Beni Hasan is important in biblical history,
dating to the start of the second millennium BC, an era slightly beyond the time of Joseph
(Joseph) being sold into Egypt, corresponding to near Abraham’s lifetime. An identification of
26
Molefi Kete Asante, The History of Africa The Quest for Eternal Harmony. (New York: Routledge,
Taylor and
27 Francis Group, 2015), 22.
Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian Language (New York: Barns and Noble Books, 1993), 32.
13
Egyptians as African in depiction would present a unique link to African and Israelite culture.
characteristics. The Pharaohs Mentuhotep and Senusret are representative of the ethnicity of the
While the Middle Kingdom offers many biblical links to the ancient Israelites, the New
Kingdom offers a significantly greater link to the Bible. The 18th Dynasty Pharaohs, according to
genocide. The Pharaohs and Egyptian people of this era will provide a very distinct viewpoint in
concerning the connection between them and the children of Israel. Pictured in Figure 4 is
Figure 5 Amenhotep III From the Tomb of three Egyptian women, dancing and playing
Amenhotep Valley of the Kings 18th Dynasty 1350
BC
instruments in a tomb relief. The features of the Egyptian
women are black African. The image depicts the women with
15
Figure 6 Tomb of Baqet III, Beni Hasan, Depiction of Middle Kingdom Egyptians,
braided or ’locked’ hair, dark skin and thick lips, prominent African features. The depictions
mystery when modern depiction, in Hollywood or elsewhere, presents images in stark contrast to
the ancient reality. Providing the benefit of the doubt is possible, seeing that Egyptian tomb
depictions are from deep antiquity and preceding Greco-Roman eras may have considerable
changed the racial dynamic of the Egyptian. A continued and careful study of Greek and Roman
Egypt is one of the first great civilizations in history. The philosophers and historians of
ancient Greece, of whom modern scholarship appoints the derivation of our modern governing
system, themselves travelled to Egypt to marvel at Egyptian knowledge. From these ancient
sources, we derive some of the best descriptions of Egypt’s ethnicity from the people who saw
17
them. Citing these Greek and Roman descriptions, an image of the Egyptian is further recognized
as African.
Herodotus, circa 450 BC, a Greek historian sometimes cited as “the father of history”
wrote several descriptions of his travels and the people groups he met. As a Greek and natural
admirer of the Egyptian culture, his casual depiction of the Egyptians takes this first precedence
people group with wooly hair, a description mirroring ancient Egyptian depiction of themselves.
It also is of note that Herodotus mentions a Pharaoh (or line of Pharonic names) that have
previously been mentioned from the 11th and 12th dynasties, Pharaoh Sesostris, whose Egyptian
name is the previously depicted Senusret, in Figure 1. Aeschylus, another 5th century BC
Grecian, a playwright sometimes referred to as ‘the father of tragedy’, also depicts the Egyptians
in scene, “The sailors too I marked, conspicuous in white robes and their sable limbs.”29 The
American Heritage Dictionary defines the term ‘sable’ as, “the color black or dark brown as the
fur of the sable.”30 We note that this black skinned depiction is consistent with ancient artwork
now stemming from 2000 BC in the Middle Kingdom to 400 BC, a full 1600 years without
change.
28
Charles William Eliot. The Harvard Classics. vol 33. (New York: P.F. Collier & Son 1909), 51.
29
James Cowles Pritchard, Physical Ethnography of the African Races (London: Sherbet, Gilbert and Piper:
1837), 228
30
American Heritage Dictionary, 1528
18
While the 5th century BC contains notable Greek references to the depiction of ancient
Egyptians, a later era of racial divide may be a factor. One hundred years later Alexander the
Great made it a point to conquer Egypt and crown himself a Pharaoh. It is possible the mixture of
Greek and Egyptian cultures would do much to alter the racial characterization of Egypt.
Accounts from after the Hellenized period take further priority in identifying Egypt. Diodorus
Siculus, respected Greek historian from the 1st century BC, describes the people of Egypt as
descending from the Ethiopians, just as the Bible and other aforementioned contemporaries have
mentioned:
Ethiopians were the first men that ever lived, the only truly
autochthonous race and the first to institute the worship of the gods
and the rites of sacrifice. Egypt itself was a colony of Ethiopia and
the laws and script of both lands were naturally the same; but the
hieroglyphic script was more widely known to the vulgar in
Ethiopia than in Egypt.31
Siculus goes on to mention the supposed ethnicity and racial make-up of the Ethiopians
But there are also a great many other tribes of the Ethiopians, some
of them dwelling in the land lying on both banks of the Nile and on
the islands in the river, others inhabiting the neighbouring country
of Arabia, and still others residing in the interior of Libya. The
majority of them, and especially those who dwell along the river,
are black in colour and have flat noses and woolly hair.32
Siculus casually assumes that the Ethiopians, the biblical Kushites, are the progenitors of the
ancient Egyptians, describing them as black skinned. Further still removed from the ancient
interpretation, the 2nd century AD Greek satirist Lucian Samosatensis describes an Egyptian boy
he meets, “besides being black he had thick lips, and was too slender in the legs, and that his
hair, and the curls bushed up behind marked him to be of servile rank.”33 The publication this
31
Diodorus Siculus and C.H. Oldfather, Book III. (Cambrigde: Harvard University Press 1967), 103
32
Ibid.105
33
John White Webster and Daniel Treadwell, The Boston Journal of Philosophy and the Arts: (Boston:
Cummings, Hilliard 1825), 283.
19
source emerges from contains an interesting footnote, attempting to explain the boy’s black skin
as an indicator of his status as a servant; however, the ancient text states that this servile rank
was designated by his hairstyle. The publication inexplicably attempts to provide an explanation
In final support for ancient evidence pertaining to the ethnicity of the Egyptians
according to the ancient Greeks and Romans, Roman soldier Ammanius Marcellius in around the
year 375 AD, testifies to the Egyptian depiction, “…the men of Egypt are mostly brown or black
with a skinny and desiccated look.”34 It is thus noted that the ancient Greek and Romans, who
were in direct contact with Egypt, are in agreement with what the Egyptian art and Rabbi
Eleazaar Hurcanus have testified. The Greco-Roman witness extends for nearly one thousand
years, from the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD, that Ancient Egyptians were an African race
of people. One should take careful note that this era includes the 1st century AD, the era of the
Messiah, thus the Egyptians of the Messiah’s time were indisputably black.
The accounts of the ancient Egyptian Negro by Greco-Roman authors are overwhelming,
causing many modern historians to testify likewise. James Prichard, 19th century historian,
described the Egyptians, “In their complexion and many of the physical peculiarities the
Egyptians were an African race.”35 Pritchard continues, “From comparing these accounts, some
of which by persons who had travelled in Egypt, and whose testimony is not likely to be biases
in any respect, we must conclude that the subjects of the Pharaohs had something in their
physical character approximating to that of the Negro.”36 French historian Marius Fontane, 19th
century French Archeologist, repeats this sentiment, “Besides, there is a scientific tendency to
34
G. Moghtar, Ancient Civilizations of Africa. (Paris: UNESCO, 1990), 26.
35
James Cowles Prichard. The Natural History of Man. (London: Bailliere, 1855).
36
James Cowles Prichard. Researches into The Physical Ethnography of the African Races. (London: Arch,
1837), 230.
20
find in Africa, after excluding foreign influences, from the Mediterranean to the Cape, from the
Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, nothing but Negroes or Negroids of various colors. The ancient
Egyptians were Negroes, but Negroes to the last degree.”37 Finally, Jean Francis Champollion,
19th century Egyptologist and co-translator of the Rosetta Stone, wrote, “We find there Egyptians
and Africans represented in the same way, which could not be otherwise.”38
In a closing thought to the evidence presented for the ethnicity of ancient Egypt, the
amount of testimony from the Egyptians themselves and from surrounding cultures, including
the biblical Hebrews, provides sufficient evidence to denote Egypt as a black African culture,
stemming from at least 2400 years of testimony. Starting from the depiction of themselves in the
Middle Kingdom (2000 BC) to the testimony of the Romans (375 AD), Egypt is proven to be a
black nation, despite their depiction in popular culture. The delineation between supra and sub
Saharan ancient Africa is a recent artifact that should be relinquished to antiquity. Many reasons
for why the falsehood of the European styled Egyptians persists, but the most poignant
explanation emerges from 18th century French Explorer Count Constantin De Volney:
…the ancient Egyptians were true Negroes of the same type as all
native-born Africans…. Just think, that this race of Black men,
today our slave and the object of our scorn, is the very race to
which we owe our arts, sciences, and even the use of speech! Just
imagine, finally, that it is in the midst of people who call
themselves the greatest friends of liberty and humanity that one has
approved the most barbarous slavery, and questioned whether
Black men have the same kind of intelligence as whites!39
While this explanation provides a substantial clue to the motivation behind the discrepancy
between the race of ancient Egyptians and their modern depiction, there is another reason why
37
Marius Fontanes, Les Egyptes (Paris: Ed. Lemerre, 1880), 44-45
38
Jean Francis Champollion, Egypte Ancienne. (Paris : Collection l'Univers, 1839)
39
M. Constantin de Volney, Travels through Syria and Egypt in the Years 1783, 1784, and 1785 (London:
Pater, Noston, Rowe, 1787), 80-83
21
the ancient interpretation has not been more forth coming. The true reason lies in the connection
Egypt and Israel share an ancient history that travels nearly back to the original inception
of Israel. The narrative of Jacob, whose name changed to Israel, begins the biblical tracking of a
single family of people, from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation. The Bible is wholly
dedicated to Yahuah’s interaction with one family. This family sojourns to Egypt and flourishes,
for a time:
And Elohim spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said,
Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am Elohim,
the Elohi of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will
there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into
Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall
put his hand upon thine eyes. And Jacob rose up from Beersheba:
and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little
ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to
carry him. And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they
had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and
all his seed with him: His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his
daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with
him into Egypt.40
The nation of Israel became in Egypt a great nation and a distinct people group, flourishing and
producing many offspring. It is here that the first recognition of the children of Israel as African
As depicted earlier, the Egyptians were a black African nation, defined as such by their
own testimony in relief, as well as by ancient and modern historians. This evidence dates back to
40
Gen 46:2-7 KJV
22
the earliest Pharaohs, but receives noteworthiness when Egypt and Israel come in contact with
one another in the 12th Dynasty of Egypt. Noting that the Senusret line of Pharaohs in this
Dynasty maintained clear African characteristics, along with their subjects, the narrative of
Joseph, son of Israel, builds to provide an ancient depiction of the Israelites. As Joseph’s capture
and subsequent promotion to vizier of Egypt unfolds in Genesis, Joseph’s brothers attempt to
purchase grain during a famine prior to their reuniting and sojourning in Egypt. In a test to show
the resolve of his brethren for their younger brother, Joseph pretends not to recognize his
brothers. It is then seen that Joseph’s brothers, however, truly did not recognize him in Egypt,
“And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and
spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land
of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.”41 Though this
seems like a casual overlook by the sons of Israel, the implication is clear. If Joseph was of
starkly different racial characteristics in Egypt, then his brethren would have recognized him
instantly. Instead, Joseph blended into the milieu of ancient Egyptians well enough for his
brethren to miss. Joseph must have appeared racially consistent with the surrounding Africans,
meaning Joseph too was black. Further biblical evidence confirms this line of thought in the
book of Genesis. Upon the death of Jacob, Joseph requests of Pharaoh to bury his father in
Canaan. In the funeral precession to bury his father, Joseph is accompanied by the adults of his
family and many nobles of Egypt. On looking Canaanites describe the large group as Egyptians,
“And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad,
they said, ‘This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians…’”42 These two instances in this first
book of the Bible begin a long series of history, spanning thousands of years, where Israelites are
41
Gen 42:7-8 KJV
42
Gen 50:11 KJV
23
consistently mistaken for Egyptians. The only way this is possible is if the Israelites too are a
black nation.
The second book of the Bible also goes a long way to identifying the ancient Israelites as
an African tribe. The book of Exodus describes the rapid multiplication of Israelites in Egypt as a
burden upon the Pharaoh, assuming that in the Israelite multitude an enemy nation may gain an
ally. The Pharaoh then decrees an act of genocide. The male infants born to Israelites are doomed
to death by throwing them into the river Nile. The infant Moses, rescued from an ark in the river
by the princess of Egypt, raises Moses as her own son in the palace. “And when she had opened
it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This
is one of the Hebrews' children...And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's
daughter, and he became her son.”43 The Bible explains the captivity in Egypt lasted for 430
years.44 Reversing from the 80 years Moses accomplishes before leading the children of Israel
out of captivity reckons Moses birth 350 years after the time of Joseph. This dating sets the time
of Moses in the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. Pharaoh Amenhotep III, previously depicted in Figure 3,
displays similar African characteristics as the Senusret Pharaoh line. Amenhotep belongs to a
family of Pharaohs in the 18th Dynasty also, a different line, signifying the African depiction has
maintained since the time of Joseph. Three Pharaohs, three different lines of kingship, all
presenting African characteristics, indicating a specific, African people group in power from the
The genocidal order by the Pharaoh for all Hebrew male newborns runs contrary to
Moses’ upbringing in the palace of the Pharaoh. Moses must then have been identical in
appearance to the other Egyptians in the household, which signifies that Moses was also black.
43
Ex 2: 6,10 KJV
44
Ex 12:40 KJV
24
This line of reasoning is validated by a second witness. As Moses fled from the Pharaoh after
murdering an Egyptian, he rescues the daughters of Jethro from local shepherds, “And when they
came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day? And they said, An
Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and
watered the flock.”45 Moses here is mistaken by the neighbors of the Egyptians, for an Egyptian,
four hundred years after the same mistake is made to Joseph by his brothers. Moses, Joseph and
the 11 other brothers of Israel were all black and all resembled the Egyptians, by biblical
testimony.
1500 years later, during the New Testament era in Jerusalem, the Apostle Paul of Tarsus
is also mistaken for an Egyptian. The previously documented testimony of ancient Greek and
Roman writers Diodorus Siculus and Ammenius Marcellius show even after this extended period
of time, Egypt remains a distinctively black nation. This information comes into play during
Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem, taken captive by a Roman soldier. Upon conversing with the soldier,
the he replies to Paul, “Canst thou speak Greek? Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these
days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were
murderers?”46 By Paul’s mere appearance, in 1st Century Jerusalem, a Roman soldier believes
Paul to be an Egyptian, even to the extent that he is surprised to learn he can speak Greek. The
implications of this information are conspicuous; Paul too can blend-in in an Egyptian society,
meaning he was black. In 2000 years of biblical history, the Israelites are consistently mistaken
for black Egyptians. The Bible conclusively indicates that the appearance of the Israelites was
historically identical to the Egyptians. For many, the evidence securing the ethnicity of both
45
Ex 2:16-18 KJV
46
Acts 21:37-38 KJV
25
Egypt and Israel could end here as definitively black, but more evidence is forthcoming. Outside
We firmly establish that ancient Egypt is a black African nation. We also establish that
according to the Bible, Israel and Egypt were very close in appearance one to the other, close
enough to fool relatives, neighbors and soldiers, spanning at least two thousand years, from
Jacob to Paul. If the Bible is accurate in this depiction, of Israel being mistaken for Egyptians,
then the secular world will also reflect this sentiment. Wallis Budge, 20th Century Egyptologist,
describes that ancient assessment of Ethiopia, the so-called land of the blacks:
It seems certain
that classical
historians and
geographers
called the
whole region
from India to
Egypt, both
countries
inclusive, by Figure 8 Tomb of Sobekhotep, Asiatics Paying Tribute 13th Dynasty 1700 BC
the name ‘Ethiopia’, and in consequence they regarded all the dark
Budge eludes to the classical nature of identifying African nations by the same title as the Asiatic
nations, Ethiopians. This includes the Canaanites, Israelites, Syrians, Libyans, Egyptians and
biblical Ethiopians, the Cushites. Further attestation occurs from author and historian Joyce
Tyldesley, upon describing how the enemies of Egypt are depicted in wall relief, “The third
group of enemies, the asiatics, are given the same red-brown skin as their Egyptian
contemporaries, but they display distinctive non Egyptian profiles and sport beards.”48 According
to Tyldesly, Asiatics (people deriving from the area of Canaan) and Egyptians are often depicted
the same shade of ‘red brown’, indicating a strong, common racial background.
Ancient historians also show a tendency to relate the Egyptians and the Israelites as one
people. Strabo, 1st century AD Greek geographer states, “…Amoung many things believed
respecting the temple and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, is that the Egyptians were the ancestors
of the present Jews.”49 Tacitus, a Roman historian, concurs on the assumed familial make-up of
the Jews, “Others assert that in the reign of Isis the overflowing population of Egypt, led by
Hierosolymus and Judas, discharged itself into the neighboring countries. Many, again, say that
they [the Jews] were a race of Ethiopian origin…” Josephus chooses in his history of the
Yahudiym to provide the genealogy of Jacob for the expressed purpose of showing a distinction
between the Egyptians, “Now they were in all seventy. I once, indeed, thought it best not to set
down the names of this family, especially because of their difficult pronunciation [by the
Greeks]; but, upon the whole, I think it necessary to mention those names, that I may disprove
47
Ernest A. Wallis Budge. A History of Ethiopia: Nubia & Abyssinia; According to the Hieroglyphic
Inscriptions of Egypt and Nubia, and the Ethiopian Chronicles; in 2 Vol. (Oosterhout, the Netherlands:
Anthropolog. Publ., 1966).
48
Joyce A. Tyldesley Joyce A. Ramesses. 1st ed. (London: Penguin, 2001), 61.
49
Strabo and H.C. Hamilton, The Geography of Strabo. (London: Bohn, 1917), 177.
27
such as believe that we came not originally from Mesopotamia, but are Egyptians.”50 This
ancient association in depiction and family descent could not be possible if the ancient Israelites
themselves were not an African nation in appearance. Just as the Israelites became a nation in
“For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all Parties to leave the past to
Modern examples of historical revisionism are everywhere. The depiction of the ancient
Egyptians as a Caucasian race is but one example. Publishers and commenters on the Bible can
make grave errors and allow their own presuppositions to interfere with actual interpretation.
This type of mistake can be easy, especially when the contemporary science corroborated one’s
own ego. Brugsch was obviously of great importance to Ellicott’s interpretation of the Bible
legitimacy and authority for both the ruler and the ruled. The Greek nations linked themselves to
50
Josephus and William Whiston. Complete Works. 1st ed. (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1960), 75.
51
Winston Churchill. Speech at the House of Commons. (Jan 1948)
52
Heinrich Brugsch, Henry Danby Seymour, and Philip Smith. A History of Egypt under the Pharaohs,
Derived Entirely from the Monuments, to Which Is Added a Discourse on the Exodus of the Israelites. (London: J.
Murray, 1881), 8.
28
the ancient knowledge of the Egyptians, just as the Romans tied themselves to the antiquity of
A danger exists when taking the associations of provided history at face value and not
performing the necessary investigation to solidify claims. The Bible is not just a book of lifestyle
or history; it is also a book that purports to tell the future. This future is completely dependent
upon one’s understanding of the past and the ability to link prophecy with reality. If the Bible
can be trusted to accurately predict future events and the people within them, then it is a critical
error to allow these persons to be defined outside of biblical understanding. The real possibility
Olaudah Equiano, 18th century Christian pastor and former slave, recognized himself in
Equiano, the African slave taken from his home on the Nigerian slave-coast in West Africa,
53
Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Or Gustavus Vassa, the
African. Written by Himself. 4th ed. (Dublin: Printed For, and Sold By, the Author. Sold Also at the Dublin
Chronicle Office, by W. Sleater, and the Other Booksellers in Dublin, 1791), 26
29
Equiano’s testimony on the peculiar similarities between the Igbo people of Nigeria, West Africa
and the ancient Israelites is markedly different from Brugsch’s representation of Caucasian
Egyptians. There were no cranial analyses performed, or elder schools established, only a
The promise given by Yahuah as prophecy concerning the Israelites directly concerns
Olaudah Equano, especially upon considering that the Israelites major point of escape was
always into Africa. Jeroboam fled into Egypt in order to escape the wrath of Solomon,55 Uriah
fled into Egypt concerning his prophecies against the kingdom of Yahudah,56 the children of
Israel are scolded repeatedly during the siege of Assyria for fleeing into Egypt,57 even the
Messiah, Yahusha58, escapes to Egypt from the wrath of Herod.59 Olaudah did not possess an
academic mechanism to generate press and publicity for his discoveries, nor the potential to
influence artistic representation. He only has prophesies concerning the remnant of Yahuah’s
people if they failed to keep his commandments, “Yahuah shall cause thee to be smitten before
thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and
54
Ibid p 28
55
1 Kings 11:40
56
YiramYahu 26:21
57
YishaYahu 30:2 KJV
58
Corrected Hebrew pronunciation of the Messiah’s name
59
Matt 2:13 KJV
30
shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.”60 The curse associated with Deuteronomy
28 may have echoed in his memory as well as the collective memories of his brethren, who were
not escaped from bonds, “Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and
thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might
in thine hand.”61 His voyage across the ocean must have reckoned familiar, “And Yahuah shall
bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it
no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and
no man shall buy you.” The finality of the prophecy, coming to bear before his eyes, may have
reminded him of an ancient warning, ancient curses, “…And they shall be upon thee for a sign
and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.”62 Indeed, there is no other group of people that fit
the biblical paradigm of Israelite prophesy, better that Equiano and his brethren.
The promise given that the children of Israel will always be a people63 and that the sons
of Jacob will never be consumed64 should be taken just as literally as the promise of salvation.
They are one in the same. The biblical identification of ancient cultures and people groups
proves to be of utmost significance, as the prophecies therein have a direct effect on the salvation
of the world. In order to find oneself on the right side of history, in the end of all history, one
may need to reject their personal worldview, especially if it is consistent with the world’s view.
The Egyptians understood as an African nation helps identify Israel as an African nation, in the
past, present and future. This is not reckoned to identify Israel and Egypt as the same group of
people, as did the ancient Greeks and Romans, rather that they appeared the same based on
specific racial characteristics, namely black skin and curly hair. This information also aids in
60
Deut 28:25 KJV
61
Deut 28:32 KJV
62
Deut 28:46 KJV
63
YiramYahu 31:37 KJV
64
Mal 3:6 KJV
31
identifying salvation Himself. The Messiah, Yahusha, prophesied also about coming false
Messiahs65 with the ability to fool the very elect. A rejection of an unfamiliar Messiah, one with
an unfamiliar name (Yahusha in the Hebrew) and an unfamiliar face, may result in a negative
fulfillment of prophecy, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they
also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so,
Amen.”66 The onus then is upon the believer to believe that the scriptures cannot be broken and
that the prophecy is true, “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from
generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom Elohim would make known what
is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Mashiach in you, the hope
of glory…”67 The Egyptians were true Africans which means the Israelites were also. The
Israelites were true Africans, which means the Messiah is also. An identification of the Messiah
is indeed life or death, as the mystery of His name, His appearance and His reappearance is
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