Doug, I noted this idea that somehow blacks in Egypt don't qualify as blacks just because they are within the boundary of Egypt already on this thread. Black means and has always meant brown skinned person like those from Africa, not culture, not language, not nationality or religion. If Egyptians around Luxor have medium to dark brown skin and are mostly of African ancestry and have features in common with other Africans along the Nile Valley and in the Sahara, then they are black. Being within the boundaries of Egypt does not change black from what it has always meant. And yes there are very dark brown people in Egypt around Luxor and elsewhere in Egypt, with features found among Africans elsewhere on the continent. The point being that there never was "special" set of characteristics for the indigenous population of Egypt that made them biologically distinct from the other indigenous populations of the African continent that would make their features and phenotype so distinct that they should be categorized as some special form of "other". Many Egyptians to this day are indeed black in every sense of the word. However, many modern Egyptians are not black and are very light and some have more foreign ancestry than other Egyptians. That reflects the history of Egypt as a crossroads of cultures, especially those that came after the dynastic period. That does not change the fact that the original indigenous population and phenotype of the Nile Valley was always black and still is black, even if many more people of mixed ancestry now occupy parts of the Nile in Egypt and elsewhere.

Quibbling over whether a dark brown Egyptian is black is only a way for justifying separating Egypt from its place in Africa. The original inhabitants of the Nile Valley had medium to dark brown skin just like other populations along the Nile and in the Sahara. The original populations of the Nile descended from populations in Africa. Therefore, there never was a separation between the original population of Egypt and the populations in other parts of the Nile or Sahara from a biological perspective, that would make the Egyptians some "other" species of people separate from other Africans. Biology does not support this, archeology does not support this and genetics do not support this. The fact that many Egyptians have features like pale skin and features in common with Europeans and some Arabs is a reflection of the fact of the mixed ancestry of some populations in various parts of Egypt. There is no mystery here. There is no need to pretend that these features appeared magically along the Nile because of some special "elements" in the environment of Egypt. No such magic existed. The features of the modern Egyptian population are easily explained by the migrations and influence of various populations along the Nile, starting with the indigenous aboriginal black African population of the Nile followed by other populations from Europe, the Levant and Arabia. Egypt has elements of all these populations in its veins and trying to separate Egypt from its place in history as a cross roads and melting pot of cultures is to deny reality.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2007 07:36AM by Doug M.