Did European historians whiten the Ancient Egyptians?

Question

I heard a song with this lyric:

"I'm black as the ancient Egyptians,

Before European historians went and changed the description"

Did they really do that? I mean i've seen Ancient Egyptian paintings and the people appear quite light skinned in them.

Answer 1

No.  

Ancient Egypt was cosmopolitan, with people from many different places.  Read what the ancient Greeks had to say about them to get a definitive answer.

It wasn't historians that "whitened" the Egyptians, it was the artists who depicted them.  Even their own art & statuary shows them sometimes having white skin, other times golden or brown.

Answer 2

Ok I've been interested in Egyptology for a long time and the race thing is stupid because it doesn't matter. They're dead.

In all there were thirty four Egyptian dynasties. Some were black some were white but most were somewhere in the middle because the Egyptians didn't like foreigners and they especially didn't like foreign rulers.

I find it amusing that the most famed Ancient Egyptians are the ones who are 'claimed' to be black such as Tutankhamun, Nefertiti, Akhenaten, Kiya, Tiye, and Hatshepsut. These are some of the greatest Egyptians and Afro-centrists wish to claim said people as their heritage in order to make their race appear superior to whites.  In reality the history belongs to no one.

It's also noted that royal Egyptians were lighter in skin color than peasants.

If anything I'd say the Afro-centrists are changing history. I'll show you.

This is America's version of King Tut. Skin color is such an issue that they decided to leave it out.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/vi...

This is England's version.

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2002/10/0...

This is Egypt's version.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/vi...

This is Egypt's version of Nefertiti.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44124324682...

This is Afro-Centrists and the media's version of Nefertiti.

http://www.dahifamily.com/pages/nevertet...

Imagine this, either Ramesis I or Seti I (sorry can't remember which) had RED HAIR.

It just goes to show exactly how diverse they were and how the Egyptian history belongs to no race.

edit: their color now cannot be attributed to the Ancient Egyptians because of the Assyrian invasion which changed the color of their race.

edit: sorry about the incomplete links. They should work now.

edit: they didn't wander down the Nile. They came from the East. (so far as I read) Also, it's not possible they could all be black because they enslaved blacks and made fun of blacks. Rameses I is fameous for this.

Answer 3

There seemed to be a mixture of races in ancient Egypt-this is evident just by looking at the carvings on the temples.

Ramesis I was red headed and his mtdna was type H--which is European,so he had caucasian ancestry at least on the maternal side.

Nefertari certainly looks to be a white woman as depicted by the bust. Even the 'doctored' version from the Afrocentrist group, she still appears more caucasian than anything else. the narrow face,pointed nose and cheekbones especially.

Answer 4

Egypt was located right in between the Nubian, Babylonian, and later, Persian, Greek and Roman civilizations, so the background of the people there would have become very mixed over their 5000 year history. However, the early dynasties like Imhotep (who built the great pyramids) would have looked much more like the Nubians, or what we typically would consider African. Some European historians of the past tried to discredit the fact that they discovered and contributed much of the science and knowledge that was later adopted by Western civilizations. Which included differentiating Egyptians from other Africans, and trying to classify them as dark skinned Caucasians.

btw, what song is that from?

Answer 5

well lets face it, if the Bible can depict Jesus as having golden hair blue eyes they can say anything about anyone.

Answer 6

The Egyptians were not black like the Nubians, they were more like the Persians, very dark...

Answer 7

i dont think the lyric is suppose to be literal

maybe its suppose to be symbolic of how europeans like romans were trying to conquer egypt?

Answer 8

The depictions of ancient egyptians  in the tombs of the pharaohs show clearly the a egs were reddish skinned with pointed chins, projecting narrow sometimes aquiline noses, of european ( referred to by anthropologists as aethiopid ) stock.  The only black ******* people in ancient egypt were imported slaves.

Answer 9

I prefer to answer questions myself but this time it's a link because they have very informative article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_of_anc...

Answer 10

The Ancient Egyptians were BLACK - They wandered down the Nile from about the area of the southern Sudan.

Do not confuse them with modern Egyptians - These are Arabs; a Semitic Caucasian people.  (The country's official name is United Arab Republic.)  Don't confuse them with pale Cleopatra, either - She was of Greek descent, descended from one of Alexander the Great's generals.

Answer 11

Eh no. Have a look at the modern Egyptians.

Answer 12

Historians didnt need to change anything.  Northern Africa is much different geographically then southern Africa.   As such, it is not uncommon to see "lighter skinned" Africans (more resembling peoples of the middle east) in Egypt, and who have families dating back to the roots of Egypt.   Its also completely possible they could have been "darker skinned".   Many shades are depicted on egyptian paintings from dark to light.  It is really impossible to tell since there was no photography.   We must depend on reconstructing ancient cultures from their current relatives, and from descriptions, writings and artwork (which really, are no more then personal observations by the creator of the piece) to tell us how people looked and behaved.

I think the lyrics of the song are simply trying to instill a message of black power by twisting actual history to fit their needs (which almost every history book on the globe can probably be found guilty of).   In fact many ancient historians must make educated guesses about history to fill large gaps they have no concrete descriptions for.

Answer 13

Yes. There were many black Pharaohs and it was the black population that revived the glory of Egypt.