Tutankhamun was not black: Egypt antiquities chief (middle east, activist, racism)
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I don't understand what all the controversy is about. Why is it so important to some people to insist King Tut was Black? The only people who could possibly be concerned with this issue seem to me to be Black Supremacists; otherwise, what's the big deal with admitting that King Tut wasn't Black according to all the latest anthropological evidence? And, why are the "black activists" mentioned in the story never condemned by the media as being hateful?
Quote:
CAIRO (AFP) — Egyptian antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass insisted Tuesday that Tutankhamun was not black despite calls by US black activists to recognise the boy king's dark skin colour.
"Tutankhamun was not black, and the portrayal of ancient Egyptian civilisation as black has no element of truth to it," Hawass told reporters.
"Egyptians are not Arabs and are not Africans despite the fact that Egypt is in Africa," he said, quoted by the official MENA news agency.
Hawass said he was responding to several demonstrations in Philadelphia after a lecture he gave there on September 6 where he defended his theory.
Black activists in America tend to use Egypt as an "empowering" example for American and blacks across the diaspora. It's also a key piece of "Afrocentrism." I've always thought it was silly and bad history. Nevertheless, it is a bit interesting watching people try to use modern labels for ancient socieities.
Egyptians weren't a wholesale "black" people as we think of them today, though "Upper Egypt" was ruled for a time by dynasties from modern-day Sudan (Nubia). I think to call Egyptians a "black race" is to rob the Egyptians of their own identities, which appears to be very mixed society, given its location at the cross roads of civilizations. As far as I know, the Egyptians just had a "brown" color for themselves in art depictions:
(Far right = Egyptian, Nubian is the really black one, Lybian is second to last, and Syrian is first).
Regardless, it is intellectually dishonest for American blacks, who are descended from Western Africa primarily, to co-opt the cultural history of Northeastern Africans of any color. That would be like British people co-opting the achievements of Russians.
In contradistinction, many Egyptians stress their roots as Caucasians rather than Nubians, despite appearances to the contrary. Was Anwar Sadat black? Nasser called him "my little black poodle" and he sure looked like Lou Gossett. But Sadat did not claim blackness and was somewhat confused when asked the question. He did not consider it an issue. Maybe we could all adopt that view.
Presently in the US we have more immigrants from Africa than arrived here during the slave trade, ie more Africans by jet than by boat. Not all the immigrants are from sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopians and Somalians, to name just two. These Africans are kind of dusky-skinned so I guess it is ok for them to make common cause with US black folks.
Myself, instead of stressing any intellectual imprecision in claiming a race for a figure in antiquity, I am glad to see that some US blacks are finding a link with other non-European civilizations, however tenuous the link.
In contradistinction, many Egyptians stress their roots as Caucasians rather than Nubians, despite appearances to the contrary. Was Anwar Sadat black? Nasser called him "my little black poodle" and he sure looked like Lou Gossett. But Sadat did not claim blackness and was somewhat confused when asked the question. He did not consider it an issue. Maybe we could all adopt that view.
Well, East Africans, specifically Ethiopians and Somalians, are often very different, physically, from West and Sub-Saharan Africans, including having typical "caucasion" features (smaller nose, etc.) with black skin. I can usually tell an Ethiopian from a West African if I encounter one on the street based on these feature differences.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Manigault
Myself, instead of stressing any intellectual imprecision in claiming a race for a figure in antiquity, I am glad to see that some US blacks are finding a link with other non-European civilizations, however tenuous the link.
I'm all for black empowerment through the highlighting of ACTUAL ancestral achievements and cultural study of African ancestry. There are plenty of African cultural achievements for black people in America to look to for self-esteem boosting without having to make very tenuous links to Egyptian culture.
I'm all for black empowerment through the highlighting of ACTUAL ancestral achievements and cultural study of African ancestry. There are plenty of African cultural achievements for black people in America to look to for self-esteem boosting without having to make very tenuous links to Egyptian culture.
I think it comes down to wanting a history that started before the White man arrived in Africa and brought the natives the wheel, written language, etc.
You have to realize though that much Arab culture looks down on "black" groups. Arabs were black slave traders. Racism is not exclusive to Caucasians. Djibouti was invaded by Arab tribes and those of Arab descent are still seen as superior to those descended from the black tribes that lived there before.
The assumption that Ancient Egyptians were black has little to base itself on, but there are other factors at work here.
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