Doug Wrote:
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> They are depicted as whites. However, there were
> two groups of "Libyans" identified by the ancient
> Egyptians. The first group was the Tjenehu, who
> were depicted by the Egyptians as brown like
> themselves. Only later, in the Middle Kingdom,
> around the 12th dynasty did they start depicting
> them as very pale, these are the Tjemehu.
> However, both groups still existed to the West of
> Egypt, with the Tjemehu in Northern Libya and the
> Tjenehu to the south, even though most Egyptian
> murals from later periods refer to the Tjemehu.

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Er, no. The term /TmHw/+A1*B1:Z2 + T14 as a term for "Libyans" as a people, and for the "land of the Libyans" (with a A1*B1:Z2 determinative, along with a T14 throwstick (foreign) determinative) is the term used for Libya and its inhabitants since the Old Kingdom (Wb V:368).

The term /THnw/ + N25 (sandy hill=desert/hill country) determinative + T14 refers to the lands west of Egypt, and thus to the Western deserts of Libya (Wb V: 394). This term is also known from the Old Kingdom as a designation for both Libyans and Libya, so your explanation of MK origin of the "Tjemehu" is incorrect.

Further, the term /mSwS/, "Meshwesh," is yet another name for the Libyans, which arose in Dynasties 19 and 20, and which lasted into the Greek period (Wb II: 157). There's no indication these people were anything but the same Libyans of the /TmHw/ and /THnw/ variety. Considering the time difference amongst the terms, /mSwS/ may have been a designation by the Libyans themselves for their own tribe, which the ancient Egyptians of the New Kingdom adopted into their language. Their representations certainly do not change over the millennia, however (open robes, feathers in their braided hair, wearing tattoos and penis sheaths - all clothing known to be worn by Libyans since the Old Kingdom).

It also appears the terms for Libyans were interchangeable in ancient Egyptian: for example, battle reliefs at Karnak from the reign of Seti I of the 19th Dynasty depict the king in combat with Libyan masses; however the text only describes the Libyans as being /THnw/, one of the generic terms for "Libyan" in the Egyptian language, rather than any specific tribal designation.

Thus, all of these terms refer to the same lands and the same people of Libya: it's not unusual in ancient Egyptian for several terms to be used as designations for the same people.

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Wb = Erman, A. and H. Grapow 1926. Wörterbuch der Aegyptischen Sprache. (7 Vols.) Leipzig: J. C. Hinrich.

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg

Doctoral Candidate
Oriental Institute
Doctoral Programme in Oriental Studies [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom