What race or ethnic background were the ancient Egyptians?
Click to view imageAn Egyptian priest A: This is a very popular question, and unfortunately, there is no simple answer. However, it is an important one to address due to the racial divide the exists in many countries today, especially the United States. An ancient history professor once related the anecdote of how in one of his classes, a student wanted to know why Africa didn’t have any civilizations in ancient times. When asked where he was when the class covered ancient Egypt, the student became visibly exasperated and said, “Yah… but they don’t count!” His explanation for this statement was that the Egyptians were not negroes, and thus not really “African”. In a way, the student was right. The ancient Egyptians were not “black”. However, they were not “white” or any other so-called “race.” This does not mean that they were not African though. A simple matter of geography forces them into that classification. Ancient Egypt was the most successful and longest lasting civilization o
An Egyptian priest A: This is a very popular question, and unfortunately, there is no simple answer. However, it is an important one to address due to the racial divide the exists in many countries today, especially the United States. An ancient history professor once related the anecdote of how in one of his classes, a student wanted to know why Africa didn’t have any civilizations in ancient times. When asked where he was when the class covered ancient Egypt, the student became visibly exasperated and said, “Yah… but they don’t count!” His explanation for this statement was that the Egyptians were not negroes, and thus not really “African”. In a way, the student was right. The ancient Egyptians were not “black”. However, they were not “white” or any other so-called “race.” This does not mean that they were not African though. A simple matter of geography forces them into that classification. Ancient Egypt was the most successful and longest lasting civilization on Earth, and it was
