One clear and constant theme throughout most books on ancient Egypt is the overwhelming urge to prove they were not Black. This issue is an important one, for the ethnicity of the Egyptians provides us with greater insight into their culture. If Egyptologists acknowledged the true ethnicity of ancient Egypt, it would destroy the foundation of Western civilization and expose the myth of Greek greatness. Once it is fully accepted that the Egyptians were Black (hence, African), then this fact would drastically alter the course of Egyptology and the interpretation of world history.
The concept of the ancient Egyptians being anything other than Black Africans is certainly not a logical one, since they called themselves “Black.” The term, “Kmt”, means “black” and is the only term they used to designate themselves (see Diop). The “Kamau” also depicted themselves and their major gods with jet black or reddish-brown hues in their paintings. Additionally, the culture, religion, matriarchal structure, divine kingship, language, and practice of circumcision all reflect an African society. Let’s not forget that Egypt is part of the African continent.
It is highly incredulous that a non-African race of men would settle in Egypt, adopt a purely African culture, and proceed to create the greatest civilization known to mankind. If this did not occur (and there’s no evidence to suggest that it did), then a more plausible explanation is that indigenous Africans (i.e., Black people) created the ancient Egyptian civilization thousands of years prior to the influx of non-Africans into Egypt.
The ethnicity of the ancient Egyptian people is extremely important to people of African descent. It substantiates our claim as the undisputed progenitors of world civilization and accomplishment in virtually every human endeavor. Let us begin with what the Kamau say about themselves.
The Egyptians referred to the southern lands as, “Ta Neter”, or land of God. The Egyptian word for the people of the Sudan was “Khentiu” which also meant “first, foremost, beginning, and origin”. Many scholars assert that Ethiopia (Kush) was the original home of the Egyptians. In fact, the Ethiopians reported that Egypt was one of their colonies (see Diodorus). Nevertheless, whether the origin of the Egyptians was the Sudan, Uganda, Punt, Kush, or some other location in Africa’s interior, the racial composition of the people who still inhabit these regions is undeniable.
Herodotus, commenting on a legend about two black doves who founded oracles in Libya and Greece:
As to the bird being black, they merely signify by this that the woman was an Egyptian.
(Herodotus, Para. 57)
Dialogue between Lycinus and Timolaus:
Lycinus (describing an Egyptian): ‘this boy is not merely black; he has thick lips and his legs are too thin…his hair worn in a plait shows that he is not a freeman.’
Timolaus: ‘but that is a sign of really distinguished birth in Egypt, Lycinus. All freeborn children plait their hair until they reach manhood. (Lucian, Navigations, Paras 2-3)
“Those who are too black are cowards, like for instance, the Egyptians and Ethiopians.
(Aristotle, Physiognomy, 6)
In this final passage, Diodorus implies that Black people (i.e., Egyptians) colonized parts of the Middle East (Babylon, Syria, and Arabia) and Greece:
Now the Egyptians go on to relate that after this period a large number of colonies were sent forth from their land into all the civilized world. Belus, for example, acknowledged son of Poseidon and Libya, led colonists into Babylon; there, having settled on the banks of the Euphrates River, he appointed priests who were exempt from taxes and free of all civic obligations, just like those of Egypt. The Babylonians call them Chaldeans, and they make observations of the stars, imitating in this the practice of the priests and philosophers, not to mention the astrologers, among the Egyptians. In like manner, they continue, those who set out with Danaus colonized Argos, which is nearly the oldest city in Greece; and likewise the nations of the Colchians on the Pontus, and that of the Jews lying between Syria and Arabia, were also settled by certain expatriates from Egypt. This explains the traditional circumcision of male children practiced among the races, an age-old custom imported from Egypt. Even the Athenians, they claim, were colonists from Sais in Egypt, and they endeavor to show proof of this connection: for alone of all the Greeks the Athenians call their city “Astu,” adopting the name from the city of Astu in Egypt. What is more, their commonwealth was divided originally into three parts and had the same organization and class structure as that found in Egypt…They also say a number of Athenians rulers were from Egypt.
(Diodorus, Para. 28)
