Race in ancient history

The question what significance specific races had in ancient history has been answered from completely different perspective. Historically, theories on the Aryan race and the Nordic race have emphasised the importance of white people, but there is also the movement of Afrocentrism that emphasis the importance of black people. Currently this article focuses in particular on the views concerning ancient Egypt, but views on 'race' have been voiced for all major ancient civilizations.

The controversy about Tutankhamun

The controversy about race in ancient history is apparent from the debate about the reconstruction of the face of Tutankhamun that was done in 2005. Three teams of scientists (Egyptian, French and American), in partnership with the National Geographic Society, developed a facial reconstruction of Tutankhamun from 1,700 three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) scans of the pharaoh's skull. The French and American teams worked plastic molds created from these – but the Americans were never told "whom" they were reconstructing.cite news
first=Brian
last=Handwerk
url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/05/0511_050511_kingtutface.html
title=King Tut's New Face: Behind the Forensic Reconstruction
publisher=National Geographic News
date=May 11, 2005
accessdate = 2006-08-05 ] All three teams created silicone busts of their interpretation of what the young monarch looked like. In the end, Zahi Hawass, head of Cairo's Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced that the skull as "that of a male, 18 to 20 years old, with Caucasoid features."

The researchers said, the three likenesses closely resembled one another and largely validated the scientific processes used in their construction.

The French team's reconstruction specifically however, has sparked considerable controversy. In 2005 when a King Tut exhibition was shown in Los Angeles, it was met by black activist demonstrators who protested the exhibition on the grounds that the statues shown portrayed Tutankhamun as "white" and demanded that they be removed. Afrocentrists criticize the French team's claim that they selected the skin tone by taking a color from the middle of the range of skin tones found in the population of Egypt today. [ [http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=24634a08ac06c9ae96400ee0728de9a0 King Tut: African or European] ] They claim that these features do not reflect the prevalent eye or skin color of either ancient dynastic Egypt or present-day Egyptians. They further argue that many representations of Tutankhamun portray him with red-brown to dark-brown skin and dark eyes, and that the teams should have used these as references in assigning eye and skin color. [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13992421 King Tut Exhibit Prompts Debate on His Skin Color] ] In comparison to the 2005 reconstruction, some have commented that the earlier 2002 Discovery Channel reconstruction showed a darker skin tone, among other differences. [ cite web|url=http://www.blackpressusa.com/news/Article.asp?SID=4&Title=Departments&NewsID=5745 |title=Whitewashing King Tut |accessdate=2007-10-03 |last=Galiana |first=Sonia Morgan |publisher=National Newspaper Publishers Association, Inc. ]

Terry Garcia, National Geographic's executive vice president for mission programs, said, in response to criticism of the Tutankhamun reconstructions that "The big variable is skin tone." and "North Africans, we know today, had a range of skin tones, from light to dark. In this case, we selected a medium skin tone, and we say, quite up front, 'This is midrange.'" [cite news
first=Evan
last=Henerson
url=http://u.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,211~23523~2921859,00.html
title=King Tut's skin color a topic of controversy
publisher=U-Daily News - L.A. Life
date=June 15, 2005
accessdate = 2006-08-05 ] Nevertheless, this complexion is quite different from the images of King Tutankhamun and other royals and non royals from the late 18th dynasty, such as Horemheb, Aye, Akhenaten and Amenhotep III. [ [http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/sites/browse_tomb_876.html Tomb of Tutankhamun KV 62] Weeks, Kent. The Theban Mapping Project.] [ [http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/sites/browse_tomb_871.html Tomb of Horemheb KV 57 ] Weeks, Kent. The Theban Mapping Project. ] [ [http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/sites/browse_tomb_837.html Tomb of Ay, KV 23.] Weeks, Kent. The Theban Mapping Project. ] [ [http://www.osirisnet.net/docu/akhenat/e_akhen4.htm Images of Akhenaten from his time at the Luxor Museum.] Benderitter, Thierry. www.osirisnet.net. ] [ [http://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/pharaons/amenhotep3/e_amenhotep3.htm Tomb of Amenhotep III. KV 22] Hirst, John J. www.osirisnet.net. ]

Some forensic anthropologists assert that attempts to apply criteria from craniofacial anthropometry sometimes can yield seemingly counterintuitive results, depending upon the weight given to each feature. For example, some contend that their application can result in finding some East and South Indians to have "Negroid" cranial/facial features and others to have "Caucasoid" cranial/facial features. While many East Africans for instance, have "Caucasoid" skulls, [Jean Hiernaux, "The People of Africa", 1975 p.147] and many of the Khoisan who inhabit southwestern Africa have cranial/facial traits that are distinct from many other sub-Saharan Africans and resemble "Mongoloid" characteristics. [Department of Anatomy, University of the Witwatersrand, Medical School, Johannesburg, South Africa 2001 [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/110489524/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0] ] A recent study of ancient Nubian crania was critical of assigning the traditional racial labels to skeletal remains. The study concluded that the assignment of racial origins to skeletons can sometimes misrepresent fundamental patterns in human biological diversity.cite journal
author = Williams, F.L.
coauthors = Belcher, R.L.; Armelagos, G.J.
year = 2005
title = Forensic Misclassification of Ancient Nubian Crania: Implications for Assumptions about Human Variation
journal = Current Anthropology
volume = 46
issue = 2
pages = 340–346
doi = 10.1086/428792]

Zahi Hawass statement

Zahi Hawass has stated that: "Tutankhamun was not black, and the portrayal of ancient Egyptian civilisation as black has no element of truth to it". Hawass made this statement in light of calls from U.S. black activists demanding egyptologists to recognize that Tutankhamun was black. Hawass also stated that "Egyptians are not Arabs and are not Africans despite the fact that Egypt is in Africa,". Hawass was responding to several demonstrations in Philadelphia where protesters demanded a bust of Tutankhamun be removed because it portrayed him as white.cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Tutankhamun was not black: Egypt antiquities chief | date= | publisher= | url =http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iB6u3XEMp9IrJfl-kH6FHNgZCg_A | work =AFP | pages = | accessdate = 2007-09-27 | language = ] Hawass, in a 2007 publication of "Ancient Egypt Magazine", also asserted that none of the facial reconstructions resemble Tutankhamun, claiming for example that the French reconstruction ended up with a person that looked French, whose features do not resemble any known Egyptians. He asserts that in his opinion, the most accurate representation of the boy king is the mask from his tomb. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Meeting Tutankhamun | date= | publisher= Ancient Egypt Magazine | url =http://www.ancientegyptmagazine.com/ Ancient Egypt Magazine, Issue 44, October / November 2007] | work =AFP | pages = | accessdate = 2007-10-22 |]

According to the LA Times, the archaeological inspector for the Supreme Council of antiquities, Ahmed Saleh, disagrees with some of Hawass' statements, stating that the procedures used in the facial re-creation made Tutankhamun look Caucasian, "disrespecting the nation's African roots". [Mike Boehm. [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:k9mkTxwELpoJ:guardians.net/hawass/articles/Eternal_Egypt_Is_His_Business.htm+Zahi+Hawass+-+Eternal+Egypt+Is+His+Business&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us Eternal Egypt is his business] , Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif.: Jun 20, 2005]

"Race" in ideology and science

Partly as a reaction to the atrocities committed in World War II, ["The myth 'race' has created an enormous amount of human and social damage. In recent years it has taken a heavy toll in human lives and caused untold suffering." UNESCO statement, 14.] the UNESCO statement on the race question was written in 1950. [UNESCO statement- The Race Question, UNESCO, 1950.] It aimed, among other, at a distinction between scientific theories in biology and anthropology and racist ideologies.

The Nordicist view

Before he UNESCO statement on the race question, theories of scientific racism frequently alleged a relation between race and historic cultures. The most extreme example were the Nordicist, whose theory received some support as a science in Nazi Germany, but has since been dismissed as ideology. The Nordic theory took the migrations of the Proto-Indo-Europeans as evidence that "the "Nordic race" had formed the Indo-Germanic (Aryan) languages and cultures," [Fritz Lenz, quoted after Lutzhöft 1971: 118] Consequently they alleged e.g. that the Nordic race had formed the ruling class in the Roman Empire, which sparked a considerable controversy; Notably they were countered by the Italian author Giuseppe Sergi who made the Mediterranean race the "greatest race of the world". A. James Gregor has commented on this "catechism" of the Nordicists: "Thus ... the Hellenes, the Kelts and the Italici (Romans!?) are all classified as "Nordics" despite the fact that all anthropological evidence indicates that the Hellenes were a compost of ethnic strains, as were the Kelts and that the Italici were predominantly Alpine." [A. James Gregor, “Nordicism Revisited”, available online: [http://dienekes.110mb.com/texts/nordicism_revisited.pdf] , in Phylon ( [http://www.jstor.org/journals/00318906.html JSTOR] , year ?), p. 352]

Some of the Nordicists even had tendency to declare the presence of the Nordic race the necessary condition for "any" culture. This was already reminiscent in the work of Georges Vacher de Lapouge and reached its climax at Alfred Rosenberg.Hans Jürgen Lutzhöft (1971):"Der Nordische Gedanke in Deutschland 1920-1940". de icon Stuttgart. Ernst Klett Verlag., p. 121.] The Norwegian-German eugenicist Alfred Mjöen went as far as to allege that the Nordic race had formed the ruling class in ancient Egypt and ancient Peru, claims which, according to the German historian Lutzhöft, "judge themselves."

The Hamitic hypothesis

The classification of a Nordic race, as put forward by those authors, was much narrower than that of the Aryan race by Arthur de Gobineau. Whereas Gobineau considered most Europeans as Aryan, only a minority of Europeans fell under the classification of Nordic. His "Essai sur l'inégalite des races humaines" distinguished within the white race between three groups: The Aryan, the Semites and the Hamites; the Hamites are said to have decayed due to miscegenation with the 'black race'. [cp.Lutzhöft 1971:83]

This "Hamitic race" is a vague grouping thought to exclude 'Negroes', but accommodating a large variety of dark skinned North and East Africans into a broad-based 'Caucasoid' grouping. Certain writers such as Carleton Coon [Coon, Carleton S. (1962). The Origins of Races. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ] credited it with the introduction of more advanced culture, such as certain plant cultivation and particularly the domestication of cattle into Egypt.

This theory has been discredited by the work of post-WWII archaeologists such as A. J. Arkell, who demonstrated that predynastic and Sudanic 'Negroid' elements already possessed cattle and plant domestication, thousands of years before the supposed influx of 'Caucasoid' or 'Hamitic' settlers into the Nile Valley, Nubia and adjoining areas. [Encyclopedia Britannica, Macropedia, 1984 ed, Vol 13, "Nilotic Sudan, History Of", p. 108]

Language controversy

Older linguistic classifications of "race" were linked to this notion of a "Hamitic race". The famous "Hamitic Hypothesis" purported to show that certain African languages around the Nile area could be associated with "Caucasoid" peoples. It (and similar schemes?) fell into demise, when it could be shown that the so-called 'Negroid' tribes far distant also spoke similar languages, tongues that were supposedly a reserved marker of 'Caucasoid' presence or influence. [Greenberg, Joseph H. (1963) The Languages of Africa. International journal of American linguistics, 29, 1, part 2]

The Ancient Egyptian language (a language most closely related to Berber, Semitic, and Beja) is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family proposed by Joseph Greenberg (formerly known as Hamito-Semitic languages). Initially, it was believed that Semitic languages originated in the Near East, however, linguists soon began to reveal a connection between them and several African Languages, it was found that they were more related to languages in Africa than to languages in most parts of Asia and Europe.

Modern scholarship has thus moved away from earlier notions of a "Hamitic" race speaking Hamito-Semitic languages, and places the Egyptian language in a more localized context, centered around its general Saharan and Nilotic roots."(F. Yurco "An Egyptological Review", 1996)" [Yurco, op. cit. ] Linguistic analysis (Diakanoff 1998) has led most scholars to place the origin of the Afro-Asiatic languages in northeast Africa, while some still lean towards Southwest Asia, with older strands south of Egypt, and newer elements straddling the Nile Delta and Sinai. [M.Diakonoff, Journal of Semitic Studies, 43,209 (1998)] [Christopher Ehret, S. O. Y. Keita, Paul Newman;, and Peter Bellwood. [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/citation/306/5702/1680c The Origins of Afroasiatic] - Sciencemag (2004)] The Semitic languages form the only Afro-Asiatic subfamily extant outside of Africa, whereas five of the six Afro-Asiatic subfamilies are spoken on the African continent. Some scholars believe that, in historical or near-historical times, Semitic speakers crossed from South Arabia back into Ethiopia and Eritrea. Others, such as A. Murtonen, dispute this view, and suggest that the Semitic branch may have originated in Ethiopia, [Fleming, Harold C. (1968), "Ethiopic Language History: Testing Linguistic Hypotheses in an Archaeological and Documentary Context" in Ethnohistory, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Autumn), pp. 353-388] which is considered by them to be the origin of the Proto-Afro-Asiatic languages. Ethiopia includes the majority of the diversity of the Afro-Asiatic language family and has very diverse groups in close geographic proximity, often considered a telltale sign for a linguistic geographic origin. Hence, many scholars cite this as evidence of a primarily African origin for the Ancient Egyptians as opposed to a near eastern origin. [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0011-3204(199802)39%3A1%3C139%3ATALPAI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J&size=LARG The Afroasiatic Language Phylum: African in Origin, or Asian?] ]

Dynastic race theory

The Dynastic Race Theory was the earliest thesis to attempt to explain how predynastic Egypt developed into the Pharaonic monarchy. It argued that the presence of many Mesopotamian influences in Egypt during the late predynastic period and the apparently foreign graves in the Naqada II burials indicated an invasion of Mesopotamians into Upper Egypt, who then conquered both Upper and Lower Egypt and founded the First Dynasty

The Dynastic Race Theory is no longer the dominant thesis in the field of Predynastic Archaeology, and has been largely replaced by the theory that Egypt was a Hydraulic empire, on the grounds that such contacts are much older than the Naqada II period, [Redford, Donald B., "Egypt, Israel, and Canaan in Ancient Times" (Princeton: University Press, 1992), p. 13.] the Naqada II period had a large degree of continuity with the Naqada I period, [Gardiner, Alan. "Egypt of the Pharaohs" (Oxford: University Press, 1961), p. 392.] and the changes which did happen during the Naqada periods happened over significant amounts of time. [Shaw, Ian. and Nicholson, Paul, "The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt" (London: British Museum Press, 1995), p. 228.] Some scholars still note that while the Dynastic Race Theory is probably fallacious, the evidence upon which it was based does still indicate significant predynastic Mesopotamian influence; [Redford, "Egypt, Israel," p. 17.] however, recent anthropological studies have also reported biological continuity from the early predynastic, into the dynastic era, suggesting that state formation was a predominantly indigenous process.cite journal
author = Zakrzewski, S.R.
year = 2007
title = Population continuity or population change: Formation of the ancient Egyptian state
journal = AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
volume = 132
pages = 501–509
url = http://wysinger.homestead.com/zakrzewski_2007.pdf
doi = 10.1002/ajpa.20569]

Contemporary academic view

For contemporary science, claims of a 'white' Egypt and supporting hypotheses like the Hamitic hypotheses and the works of Carleton S. Coon have been discredited. [UNESCO General History of Africa, Abridged Edition. Volume II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa by G. Mokhtar, p. 3-41] However some contemporary Eguptologists still maintain that advanced Egyptian civilization was due to the arrival of European races. [The Ancient Egyptians: Beliefs and Practices, by Rosalie David, Sussex Academic Press: 1998, pp. 19-27] Such claims illustrate why the topic remains an issue in modern society.

In the academia, the ancient Egyptian society, located in the extreme corner of Northeast Africa, is consider at a crossroads between African and Near Eastern regions. During the Naqada phase, the predynastic Egyptians of Upper Egypt shared an almost identical culture with A-group peoples of the Lower Sudan. [ [http://www.archaeology.org/interactive/hierakonpolis/nubian.html Hunting for the Elusive Nubian A-Group People] - by Maria Gatto, archaeology.org] In fact, the cultures were so similar, as indicated by royal tombs at Qustul, along with the earliest examples of what was thought to have been distinct Egyptian iconography, some scholars have even proposed an Egyptian origin in Nubia among the A-group. [ [http://www.homestead.com/wysinger/sub-saharan.html Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa: Their Interaction] - Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa, by Joseph O. Vogel, AltaMira Press, (1997), pp. 465-472] [Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Jan., 1987), pp. 15-26] Indeed, in 1996, Lovell and Prowse published a paper in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology citing evidence for endogamy. They reported the presence of individual rulers buried at Naqada in what was designated as elite, high status tombs, showing them to be related morphologically to populations in Northern Nubia, more so than those in Southern Egypt. [Tracy L. Prowse, Nancy C. Lovell. [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/57896/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 Concordance of cranial and dental morphological traits and evidence for endogamy in ancient Egypt] , American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Vol. 101, Issue 2, October 1996, Pages: 237-246] While others find this prospect intriguing, however, many scholars are not swayed by the evidence and cite the presence of royal tombs that are contemporary with that of Qustul and just as elaborate, while also addressing what they see as difficulty with the dating techniques. [Wegner, J. W. 1996. Interaction between the Nubian A-Group and Predynastic Egypt: The Significance of the Qustul Incense Burner. In T. Celenko, Ed., Egypt in Africa: 98-100. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art/Indiana University Press.]

Excavations from Nabta Playa, located about 100km west of Abu Simbel, suggest that the Neolithic inhabitants of the region were migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa. There is some speculation that this culture is likely to be the predecessor of the Egyptians, based on cultural similarities and social complexity which is thought to be reflective of Egypt's Old Kingdom. [ [http://hej3.as.utexas.edu/~www/wheel/africa/nabta_01.htm Ancient Astronomy in Africa] ] [cite book |title=Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Sahara | first=Fred |last=Wendorf| isbn=0306466120|Publisher=Springer|date=2001|pages=525|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=qUk0GyDJRCoC&pg=PA525&dq=nabta+playa+sub-saharan&sig=I0g-2CzdwuyL0YG5NJCT0drbHOM ]

Toby Wilkinson, in his book "Genesis of the Pharaohs", proposes an origin for the Egyptians somewhere in the Eastern Desert. [ [http://www.homestead.com/wysinger/crown.html Genesis of the Pharaohs: Genesis of the ‘Ka’ and Crowns?] - Review by Timothy Kendall, American Archaeologist] He presents evidence that much of predynastic Egypt was representative of the traditional African cattle-culture, typical of Southern Sudanese and East African pastoralists of today. In addition, Wilkonson cites the iconography on rock art in the region as depicting what he suggests to be the first examples of the royal crowns, even pointing to Qustul in Nubia as a likely candidate for the origins of the white crown, being that the earliest example of it was discovered in this area.

However, these continued debates about "Origin of the Nilotic peoples" are different from the Ancient Egyptian race controversy. For a historic account of Tutankhamun's life his skin colour is largely irrelevant. After all, the idea of "races" is a modern one. The writers of the antiquity had noted the different physical attributes of different populations, but they did not draw any conclusions from it that are similar to the modern concept of race. citation In ancient Egyptian society physical characteristics like skin colour did not have the social or racial significance they achieved in the early 20th century. As one Egyptologist has remarked: "Like most of us, it had never occurred to me that the ancient Egyptians were any color in particular." cite web|url=http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/afrocent_roth.html |title=Building Bridges to Afrocentrism |accessdate=2008-05-14 |last=Macy Roth |first=Ann |work=UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ]

To combat the claim of Egyptian backwardness and that "that no one from Africa or with a dark skin has ever achieved anything worthwhile," Ann Macy Roth designates "combating the racist argument that no one from Africa or with a dark skin has ever achieved anything worthwhile" as the goal of a "properly pursuit" afrocentric Egyptology; cite web|url=http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/afrocent_roth.html |title=Building Bridges to Afrocentrism |accessdate=2008-05-14 |last=Macy Roth |first=Ann |work=UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ] some writers argue that many blacks feel the need to emphasize 'their own' historic achievements. Other writers maintain that race should be taken out of the picture, and the ancient Egyptians seen as a mix of many different peoples over their long history, in their own historical setting. They would not understand modern racism, race classifications, or debates. [Snowden, Jr., Frank M. (1996). in Mary R. Lefkowitz and Guy MacLean Rogers (eds.): Black Athena Revisited. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 113-14.]

Afrocentric views

Afrocentric scholars and authors assert that Egyptians were "black" and contend that modern perceptions of ancient Egyptians are due to racial prejudice on the part of early egyptologists. [Cheikh Anta Diop, "Nations Nègres et Culture. De l'antiquité nègre égyptienne aux problèmes culturels de l'Afrique Noire d'aujourd'hui", Tome I, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1979, pp. 62, 70.] For example, Cheikh Anta Diop wrote that life for the ancient Egyptians was oriented to the south in the direction of Sub-Saharan Africa. [Edouard Naville, "L'origine africaine de la civilisation égyptienne", in "Revue archéologique", Paris, 1913, quoted by Cheikh Anta Diop, "Nations Nègres et Culture. De l'antiquité nègre égyptienne aux problèmes culturels de l'Afrique Noire d'aujourd'hui", Paris: Présence Africaine, 1979, p. 151.]

Cleopatra

Some Afrocentric academicsFact|date=August 2008 even have espoused the claim that Cleopatra VII, the last pharaoh, was of Black African origin, [
* [http://goliath.ecnext.com/premium/0199/0199-1352591.html "Was Cleopatra Black"] , from "Ebony" magazine, February 1 2002. In support of this, she cites a few examples, one of which she supplies is a chapter entitled "Black Warrior Queens" published in 1984 in "Black Women in Antiquity", part of the "Journal of African Civilization" series. It draws heavily on the work of J.A. Rogers.
* [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB04E771E692744&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "Afrocentric View Distorts History and Achievement by Blacks"] , from the "St. Louis Dispatch", February 14 1994.
* [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-777264.html "A Professor's Collision Course"] , from "The Washington Post", June 11 1996.] whereas she was in fact of Hellenistic origin. Mary Lefkowitz argues that Afrocentric scholars are to blame for the proliferation of the myth of African origin. According to Professor of African American Studies at Temple University, Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, the idea that Cleopatra was black is not a major aspect of Afrocentrists' arguments, and he asserts that Afrocentricists do not spend a lot of time arguing such. [ [http://www.asante.net/scholarly/raceinantiquity.html Race in Antiquity: Truly Out of Africa] By Molefi Kete Asante]

Alleged racism in Egyptology

Senegalese historian and activist Cheikh Anta Diop, in his book "Nations Nègres et Culture", denounced colonial Egyptology as prejudiced against black historical accomplishments. Diop himself has come under criticism by mainstream scholars for having distorted some of his sources and as a result falsifying history. [Snowden, p.119] [Schuh, Russell G. [http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/schuh/Papers/language_and_history.pdf "The Use and Misuse of Language in the Study of African History."] (1997), in: Ufahamu 25(1):36-81.] Diop claims that Egyptologists "knew" that ancient Egyptians were "black", But the fact that Africans were colonized, he argued, made it difficult to admit that they were the creators of the Egyptian civilization. He quoted, for example, Champollion-Figeac who said that "black skin and wholly hair don’t make someone to belong to the Black race". [Cheikh Anta Diop, "Nations Nègres et Culture. De l'antiquité nègre égyptienne aux problèmes culturels de l'Afrique Noire d'aujourd'hui", Tome I, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1979, pp. 62, 70.] In his book, "Egitto e Nubia", Maurizio Damiano-Appia wrote that for many Egyptologists of the past, and even of today, Egypt was the creation of a "white race." Appia alleges that Eurocentrism, mainly of Anglo Saxon orientation, was at the base of this false idea. [Maurizio Damiano-Appia, "Egitto e Nubia", Con la collaborazione di Francesco L. Nera, Milano: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1995, p. 8.] Aboubacry Moussa Lam, in his book "L’affaire des momies royales. La vérité sur la reine Ahmès-Nefertari", argued that Egyptian mummies were falsely described as being caucasian. [Aboubacry Moussa Lam, "L'affaire des momies royales. La vérité sur la reine Ahmès-Nefertari", Paris: Khepera / Présence Africaine, 2000.]

Some other more controversial methods have been used to determine the racial characteristics of Ancient Egyptians. Cheikh Anta Diop performed a series of the tests on Egyptian mummies to determine melanin levels and concluded that Egyptians were dark-skinned and part of the "Negro race". Diop, C. A. 1973. "Pigmentation des anciens Egyptiens. Test par la Mélanine," "Bulletin de l’IFAN", XXXV, B: 515-531 ] Diop noted criticisms of these results that argue that the skin of most Egyptian mummies, tainted by the embalming material, are no longer susceptible of any analysis. Diop contended the position that although the epidermis is the main site of the melanin, the melanocytes penetrating the dermis at the boundary between it and the epidermis, even where the latter has mostly been destroyed by the embalming materials, show a melanin level which is non-existent in the "white-skinned races". However, Diop did not describe any tests that verify his claims that melanin is "non-existent" among the "white-skinned races", nor provide evidence supporting his assertion that the absence of melanin in the epidermis is due to embalming techniques. Diop innovated the development of the melanin dosage test which was later adopted by forensic investigators to determine the "racial identity" of badly burnt accident victims. [ cite web|url=http://www.webzinemaker.com/admi/m7/page.php3?num_web=27310&rubr=3&id=290477 |title=The Pharaoh of Knowledge |accessdate=2007-10-23 |last=Diop |first=Cheikh Anta ]

J. D. Walker wrote an article for the "Journal of Black Studies" in 1995 suggesting that Diop's views had been widely misinterpreted by his critics and that Diop's understanding of race and blackness went beyond the "stereotyped caricatured West African physiognomy described in some literature as the True Negro'" Walker writes that his definition of "black" was sometimes all encompassing those with dark complexions, and at times, even non-Africans.cite journal
author = Walker, J.D.
year = 1995
title = The Misrepresentation of Diop's Views
journal = Journal of Black Studies
volume = 26
issue = 1
pages = 77–85
url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-9347(199509)26%3A1%3C77%3ATMODV%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A
accessdate = 2007-10-23
doi = 10.1177/002193479502600106]

Kmt

Afrocentrist frequently use the word Kemit for ancient Egypt, a usage that goes back to Cheikh Anta Diop. [cp.: Regina Jennigs, Cheikh Anta Diop, Malcom X, and Haki Madhubuti, in: Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 33, No. 2, 13th, pp. 126-144, [http://www.jstor.org/pss/3180930 JSTOR] ; p. 127] One of the many names for Egypt in ancient Egyptian is "km.t" (read "Kemet"), meaning "black land". More literally, the word means "something black". The use of "km.t" in terms of a place is thought generally to be in contrast to the "desert" or "red land", e.g. the desert west of the Nile valley. Egypt for millennia depended on the flooding of the Nile to bring fertility to the land, and the resulting soil was very black. [cite book | last = Kemp | first = Barry J. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Ancient Egypt: Anatomy Of A Civilization | publisher = Routledge | date = | location = | pages = 21 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=l-t5vWHAVN0C&pg=PA21&ots=Whio1cbGsZ&dq=egypt+black+soil&sig=jmy3OWcilcwPoYZYgfbO2LU5_B8#PPA21,M1 | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-0415063463 ] Likewise, the word "kmt" could also refer to the people when followed by the people determinatives, as shown on the far right. Raymond Faulkner's "Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian" translates it into "Egyptians", as do most sources. [Raymond Faulkner, "A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian", Oxford: Griffith Institute, 2002, p. 286.] However, scholar Aboubacry Moussa Lam prefers what he considers to be a more literal translation and suggests that "km.t" should be translated as meaning, "land of the black/s" or "black nation" when it applies to the country, [Aboubacry Moussa Lam, "L'Égypte ancienne et l'Afrique", in Maria R. Turano et Paul Vandepitte, "Pour une histoire de l'Afrique", 2003, p. 50.] and as meaning "the Blacks" when it applies to the population, [Aboubacry Moussa Lam, "L'Égypte ancienne et l'Afrique", in Maria R. Turano et Paul Vandepitte, "Pour une histoire de l'Afrique", 2003, p. 51; Aboubacry Moussa Lam, "De l'origine égyptienne des Peuls", Paris: Présence Africaine / Khepera, 1993, p. 181.] a view rejected by most Egyptologists. [Bard, Kathryn A. "Ancient Egyptians and the Issue of Race". in Lefkowitz and MacLean rogers, p. 114] The origin of the association between soil and the color black in the minds of modern scholars, in reference to the name of ancient Egypt may have come from the Greeks. Plutarch, in the ancient work Isis and Osiris, notes that the Egyptian soil is "very black", like the skin of Osiris and that "Osiris was black-colored because all water blackens earth". [ [http://thriceholy.net/Texts/Isis.html Plutarch On Isis and Osiris] ]

Historic accounts

Accounts by ancient writers

Many ancient writers commented of the 'racial affinities' of ancient Egyptians. While some held them to be people with 'black skins and woolly hair' similar to 'Kushites', others described them as 'medium toned' or similar to that of northern Indians. Greek historian Herodotus commented on a perceived relationship between the Colchians (from the modern Republic of Georgia in the Caucasus) and the Egyptians. He states that he was told by several Egyptians that the Colchians were descended from the Egyptian soldier Sesostris and further states "For my part I believe the Colchi to be a colony of Egyptians, because like them they have black ("melanchros") skins and frizzled hair." ["Herodotus, Book II, 104] He also points to the Colchians' practice of circumcision as evidence for his view. Some scholars, such as Yaacov Shavit are of the opinion that since Egyptians were not described as "Aethiopes", they were in fact distinguished from "black" Africans. [Shavit, pp. 154-55] According to Classicist Frank M. Snowden, Jr., Herodotus seems to have been following a Graeco-Roman practice of describing people darker than themselves as "melanchros", which did not mean that the people they described were black. ["Bernal's 'Blacks' and the Afrocentrists" in Lefkowitz and MacLean Rogers. 1996, pp. 113-114] Other interpretations have pointed out that Herodotus could have been speaking in relative terms, since the Colchians were noted as residing near the Black Sea, close to modern day Russia where there are virtually no dark skinned, woolly haired people today; there are also others who question whether or not Herodotus ever visited the Black Sea region in the first place.cite journal
author = Armayor, O.K.
year = 1978
title = Did Herodotus Ever Go to the Black Sea?
journal = Harvard Studies in Classical Philology
volume = 82
pages = 45–62
url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0073-0688(1978)82%3C45%3ADHEGTT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8
accessdate = 2007-10-23
doi = 10.2307/311020] Professor of African Studies at Temple University, Molefi Kete Asante however, cites other examples from Herodotus, one where he asserts that "the flooding of the Nile could not be caused by snow, because the natives of the country (Egypt) are black from the heat". [Molefi Kete Asante. Egypt in Africa, (1996), pp. 116-117]

Other ancient writers testify that there indeed was an ancient population of dark skinned, woolly haired people residing in Colchis, giving at least some support to Herodotus' claim that they were left there by the armies of the legendary Sesostris after initial campaigns in the region. Indeed, there is further description from ancient writers describing the populations of Colchis in this fashion. A Greek poet named Pindar described the Colchians, whom Jason and the Argonauts fought, as being "dark skinned". Also around 350 to 400 AD, Church father Saint Jerome and Sophronius referred to Colchis as the "second Ethiopia" because of its 'black-skinned' population.cite journal
author = English, P.T.
year = 1959
title = Cushites, Colchians, and Khazars
journal = Journal of Near Eastern Studies
volume = 18
issue = 1
pages = 49–53
url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-2968(195901)18%3A1%3C49%3ACCAK%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F
accessdate = 2007-10-23
doi = 10.1086/371491]

In the work "physiognomika" (attributed to Aristotle but written by his students) we also find information on the physical traits of the Egyptians and Ethiopians. It is asserted that skin color is somehow correlated to courage, and also gives his impression on why the Egyptians and Ethiopians are bowlegged and 'curly haired' by contending that "too black a hue marks the coward" as well as "too white a complexion" and that courage rests between the two. It is also asserted that the Egyptians are "bandy legged" and asks if this is due to the fact that their bodies became "distorted by heat, like logs of wood when they become dry", he contends that the hair of the Ancient Egyptians supports the theory as it is curlier than that of other nations. ["Physiognomics", Vol. VI, 812a - Book XIV, p. 317]

Ammianus Marcellinus (325/330-after 391) was a Greco-Roman historian who also gave his own brief observations. Marcellinus stated that the Egyptians were "mostly brown and black" with a "skinny and desiccated look". [Ammianus Marcellinus, Book XXII, para 16 (23)] [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/3chapter5.shtml The Peoples of the Nile Valley] - BBC World Service] Marcus Manilius though described the Egyptians as lighter than the Moors, saying "the land of Egypt, flooded by the Nile, darkens bodies more mildly owing to the inundation of its fields." ["Astronomica", 4.722-30] Ancient writers have also made comparisons between ancient Egyptians and northern Indians of the time. Greek historian, geographer and philosopher Strabo stated that "As for the people of India, those in the south are like the Aethiopians in colour, although they are like the rest in respect to countenance and hair (for on account of the humidity of the air their hair does not curl), whereas those in the north are like the Aegyptians." [ [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/15A1*.html Strabo Book XV, Chapter 1] ] Greek historian Arrian also drew a similarity between northern Indians and ancient Egyptians stating that the appearance of the inhabitants of ancient Egypt was not very different from those in northern India. Arrian further stated that "the northern Indians are most like the Egyptians physically". [Indica 6.9] The writings of Strabo and Arrian were drawn from the earlier accounts of Nearchus, Megasthenes and Eratosthenes. [Radhakumud Mookerji (1988). "Chandragupta Maurya and His Times" (p. 4). Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 8120804058.]

According to Yaacov Shavit of Tel Aviv University, " [t] he evidence clearly shows that those Graeco-Roman authors who refer to the skin color and other physical traits distinguish sharply between Ethiopians (Nubians) and Egyptians, and rarely do they refer to the Egyptians as black, even though they were described as darker than themselves.... [in addition,] Egyptians and Nubians were both clearly distinguished from the black Africans." [ Shavit, p. 154] However, late professor of classics, Frank Snowden has not made note of any distinction between Nubians, Ethiopians, or modern conceptions of "black African". He concedes that "both Egyptians and Ethiopians were described as black, but only Ethiopians were described as having exceedingly woolly hair".Snowden, Frank. Egypt in Africa, (1996), pp. 106-108]

According to the hippocratic text the Egyptians were not unlike the Scythians, though the Scythians were reddened because of cold the Egyptians were reddened due to sun exposure, Also in Hesiod Works and Days it states that black people reside not in the nile valley but in a far off land, by the fountains of the sun, or where it goes to and fro [Shavit p154-155]

Difficulties of evaluation

Classical scholar Frank Snowden cautions that terms used by ancient Greek and Roman writers to describe the physical characteristics of other ancient peoples were different in meaning from modern-day racial terms in the West. Snowden writes:

....the Afrocentrists are mistaken in assuming that the term "Afri" (Africans) and various color adjectives for dark pigmentation as used by Greeks and Romans are always the classical equivalents of Negroes or blacks in modern usage.... Not all the peoples described by such color terms were blacks or Negroes in the modern sense, but "only" the inhabitants of the Nile Valley south of Egypt and of the southern fringes of northwestern Africa.... That the pigmentation of the Egyptians was seen as lighter than that of Ethiopians is also attested by the adjective "subfusucli" {"somewhat dark") which Ammianus Marcellinus (22.16.23) chose to describe the Egyptians.... There was also a mixed Egyptian-Nubian element in the population of Egypt at least a early as the middle of the third millennium B.C.E.... ["Bernal's 'Blacks' and the Afrocentrists" in Lefkowitz and MacLean Rogers. 1996, pp. 113-114]

Keita and Boyce confront this issue in a 1996 article entitled, "The Geographical Origins and Population Relationships of Early Ancient Egyptians". As anthropologists, they point out the danger in relying on ancient interpretation to reveal for us the biological make up of a population. They contend that the relevant data indicates greater similarity between Egyptians and Ethiopians than the former group with the ancient Greeks. They also state that relying on ancient interpretations are problematic since the ancient writers were not doing population biology, even though the Greeks called all groups south of Egypt "Ethiopians".S.O.Y. Keita & A. J. Boyce. Egypt in Africa, (1996), pp. 25-27 "The descriptions and terms of ancient Greek writers have sometimes been used to comment on Egyptian origins. This is problematic since the ancient writers were not doing population biology. However, we can examine one issue. The Greeks called all groups south of Egypt "Ethiopians." Were the Egyptians more related to any of these "Ethiopians" than to the Greeks? As noted, cranial and limb studies have indicated greater similarity to Somalis, Kushites and Nubians, all "Ethiopians" in ancient Greek terms."]

Egyptian self-view

The ancient Egyptians considered themselves part of a distinct group, separate from their neighbors, and viewed themselves simply as Egyptians. cite web|url=http://homelink.cps-k12.org/teachers/filiopa/files/AC383EB269C648AAAA659593B9FC358C.pdf |title="Were the Ancient Egyptians Black or White?" |accessdate=2007-10-03 |last=Yurco |first=Frank |publisher=BAR magazine ] In their wall paintings, they distinguished themselves from Nubian, Libyan, Semitic, Berber, and Eurasian peoples. The Egyptians saw themselves as darker than the Asiatics and Libyans but lighter than the Nubians, and with different facial features and body types from the other groups. The Egyptians viewed the Land of Punt in the south as their ancestral homeland. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=Jsq5tr9Aw1IC&pg=PA210&dq=punt+egyptians+ancestral&ei=m7ImR5DpBqTSpgLs7uDdAg&sig=U8cH_N4W9eHoQP-R6VAqmRqBIyA A Short History of the Egyptian People] ] White, Jon Manchip., [http://books.google.com/books?id=jR3dpacViAYC&pg=PP1&dq=Ancient+Egypt:+Its+Culture+and+History&sig=z_ug-t5DSX-7hvkAEpULLP6-ymM Ancient Egypt: Its Culture and History] (Dover Publications; New Ed edition, June 1, 1970), p. 141. "It may be noted that the ancient Egyptians themselves appear to have been convinced that their place of origin was African rather than Asian. They made continued reference to the land of Punt as their homeland"."] [ [http://www.mariner.org/exploration/index.php?type=explorersection&id=309 Queen Hatshepsut and The Land of Punt] - The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, VA, 2004]

Today Egyptians have occasionally voiced their opinion regarding some of the controversies that have erupted over the origins of the ancient Egyptians. A 1993 anthropological study on Egyptian skeletal remains made reference to an incident in 1989 when the Dallas Museum of Natural History sponsored an Egyptian exhibit showcasing Egyptian culture at the time of Ramesses II. When the local Blackology Speaking Committee threatened to boycott the exhibit because Ramesses II was not depicted as "black", the Director of the Cultural Office in the Egyptian Embassy, Latif Aboul-Ela, complained that the event was being distorted by an "American form of 'racial politics'". [Brace et al. 1993.] In an Associated Press release, Aboul-Ela said, "Ramesses II was neither black nor white but Egyptian.... This is an Egyptian heritage and an Egyptian culture 100 percent.... We cannot say by any means we are black or white. We are Egyptians." [qtd. in Brace et al. 1993.]

Some Egyptians also embrace what they describe as their African heritage, while criticizing some of their fellow compatriots for not doing the same. Egyptian film-maker Yusry Nasrallah claims in a recent publication by "AfricaNews", that he likes his African share and that Egypt owes much to Africa, especially because of the Nile river. [ [http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/12180 Egyptian film-maker claims his "Africanness"] ]

Ancient Egyptian art

From about 3,000 B.C. the ancient Egyptians put a lot of effort in documenting themselves, their gods and their kings on almost every surface available in tombs, temples and royal residences. [ [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/artoverview.htm Egypt: An Introduction to Egyptian Art ] ] A great many of these images survive in full color, within the various temples and tombs of the various dynasties of ancient Egypt. Some controversy exists over how the colors in Egyptian art should be interpereted, but in the main, these images speak for themselves and provide a great deal of understanding to the viewer. Also, due to the great antiquity of these images, some are damaged and decayed, which means some of the colors, while present are not indicative of their original vibrancy. Unfortunately, most of the imagery from these tombs and temples are not widely available to the public outside of expensive scholarly journals or research institutions. These images are the most definitive statement on how the Ancient Egyptians viewed themselves and the world around them. [ [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/colors.htm Egypt: Abu Simbel in Nubia, A Feature Tour Egypt Story ] ] However, in this day and age of digital photography and the internet, more and more of these images are being made available on the web and to the public. [ [http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/sites/ thebanmappingproject.com] ] [ [http://www.osirisnet.net OsirisNet.net] ] [ [http://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/sets/ Albums photos de kairoinfo4u sur Flickr ] ] [ [http://www.flickr.com/groups/443927@N22/pool/ Ancient Egyptian Art Pool on Flickr] ]

ee also

* Archaeogenetics of the Near East
* Historiography and nationalism
* Egyptians
* Demographics of modern Egypt
* Origin of the Nilotic peoples
* List of DNA tested mummies
* Races of Craniofacial Anthropology

References

Further reading

* Dominique Valbelle , Charles Bonnet [http://www.amazon.com/dp/977416010X The Nubian Pharaohs: Black Kings on the Nile] ISBN 977416010X
* James P. Allen. "Middle Egyptian : An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs". Cambridge University Press (November 4, 1999). ISBN 0521774837
* Borgognini-Tarli, S. M., and G. Paoli, 1982. Survey on Paleoserological studies. Homo 33(2), 69-85
* Bosch, E. et al. 1997. Population history of North Africa: evidence from classical genetic markers. Human Biology. 69(3):295-311.
* Brace, C. L., D. P. Tracer, L. A. Yaroch, J. Robb, K. Brandt, and A. R. Nelson. 1993. Clines and Clusters Versus "Race": A Test in Ancient Egypt and the Case of a Death on the Nile. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 36:1-31. Also appears in Lefkowitz and Rogers, 129-164.
* Brothwell, D. R. and B. A. Chiarelli, B. A., eds. 1973. Population Biology of the Ancient Egyptians. New York.
* Cavalli-Sforza, L.L., P. Menozzi, and A. Piazza. 1994. The History and Geography of Human Genes. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
* Raymond Faulkner. "Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian". Griffith Institute; Rep edition (January 1, 1970) ISBN 0900416327
* Froment, A. 1992. Origines du Peuplement de l'Egypte Ancienne: l'Apport de l'anthropobiologie. Archéo-Nil 2:79-98.
* Froment, A. 1994. Race et Histoire: La recomposition ideologique de l'image des Egyptiens anciens. Journal des Africanistes 64:37-64.
* Howells, W. W. 1989. Skull Shapes and the Map. Craniometric Analyses in the Dispersion of Modern Homo. Cambridge: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.
* Howells, W. W. 1995. Who's Who in Skulls. Ethnic Identification of Crania from Measurements. Cambridge: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.
* Howe, Stephen 1998. Afrocentrism: Mythical Pasts and Imagined Homes. London: Verso.
* Hrdy, D. B. 1978. Analysis of hair samples of mummies from Semma South (Sudanese Nubia). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 49(2):277-82.
* Irish, J. D. 1997. Characteristic high- and low-frequency dental traits in sub-Saharan African populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 102(4):455-67.
* Irish, J. D. 1998a. Ancestral Dental Traits in Recent Sub-Saharan Africans and the Origin of Modern Humans, Journal of Human Evolution 34:81-98.
* Irish J. D. 1998b. Diachronic and synchronic dental trait affinities of late and post-Pleistocene peoples from North Africa. Homo. 49(2) 138-155.
* Krings M, et al. 1999. mtDNA Analysis of Nile River Valley Populations: A Genetic Corridor or a Barrier to Migration? American Journal of Human Genetics 64(4):1166-1176
* Lefkowitz, Mary, and G. M. Rogers, eds. 1996. Black Athena Revisited. Chapel Hill, NC.
* Lame, Abobocry Moussa, "Les chemins du Nil. Les relations entre l’Egypte ancienne et l’Afrique Noire", Paris : Présence Africaine / Khepera, 1997
* Noguera, Anthony (1976). "How African Was Egypt?: A Comparative Study of Ancient Egyptian and Black African Cultures". Illustrations by Joelle Noguera. New York: Vantage Press.
* Parks, Lisa. 2000. Ancient Egyptians Wore Wigs. Egypt Revealed Magazine (www.egyptrevealed.com), May 29.
* Shavit, Yaacov (2001). History in Black: African-Americans in Search of an Ancient Past. London: Frank Cass Publishers.
* Snowden, Jr., F. Bernal's "Blacks," Herodotus and Other Classical Evidence. Arethusa, Special Issue: The Challenge of Black Athena. Fall, 1989: 97-109.
* Titlbachova, S., and Z. Titlbach. 1977. Hair of Egyptian mummies. Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, 104:79-85
* Vercoutter, Jean. 1976. The Iconography of the Black in Ancient Egypt. In J. Vercoutter, J. Leclant, F. Snowden and J. Desanges (eds.) The Image of the Black in Western Art, vol. 1. Cambridge, MA.
* Yurco, F. J. 1996. Two Tomb-Wall painted reliefs of Ramesses III and Seti I and Ancient Nile Valley Population diversity. In Theodore Celenko (ed.) Egypt in Africa , Indiana University Press.