Egypt and the Egyptian Ethnicity
Some of my thoughts on misinformation about my country as an actual Egyptian and not someone who fetishizes, exoticizes, or appropriates Egyptian history and heritage to convince themselves how great they were while stealing somebody else's identity.
A quick summary since most people don't know anything about Egypt past Pyramids, Sphinx and Cleopatra.
Egypt is transcontinental, located at the farthest, northernmost edge of the African continent. Egypt is also a part of Asia. And Egypt is a Mediterranean country with one of the longest coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea.
Egypt has always been a trade hub, connecting the countries surrounding it whether they're people from the Levant, Mesopotamia, Southern Europe, Arabian Peninsula, and more. Egypt was invaded by a number of nations, who always came in thousands while ancient Egyptians were in millions.
The invaders looked down on Egyptian civilians, and Egyptians themselves despised living under foreign rule. So the invaders only mixed with the ruling class, as evidenced by European DNA being present in samples taken from Egyptian mummies. European here doesn't mean blonde hair/blue eyes germanic features. It means dark hair, dark eyes, olive to light skin tones found in Mediterranean Europeans (Roman and Macedonian aka Greek).
It's important to note that before, during and after these invasions (which all eventually failed), the trade between Egypt and these nations continued.
A popular claim by ignorant people is that current Egyptians are Arabs because of their majority religion as well as language. To start, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula are less than a day away from each other by land, so it's not far-fetched that we would share similar skin tones - but that's about where similarities end. North Africans including Egyptians are visibly very different from Arabs, they do not share any of the same cultural aspects or traditions, and dialects.
Modern Egyptians still speak some words that carried over from our ancient languages. We still practice many of our ancient traditions/celebrations such as Sham El Nessim, Seboua (سبوع), 40 of the dead (اربعين الميت) and more. We still eat a lot of the same foods as our ancestors, such as Renga and Fesikh, etc.
Regarding language, Arabic took a period of about 7 centuries since it's entry into our society to become Egypt's official language. It started to become mainstream when it was mandated by a caliphate that Egyptians need to speak Arabic for work. Prior to that we spoke Coptic (this word in ancient times just meant "Egyptian" and was not religious, but is now linked to Christianity since it's still in use in the texts of some Egyptian churches) and the Coptic language was derived from Greek. As for religion, a good example is Latin countries - they were invaded by Spaniards, adopted their language and religion. Does that make Latin people European? Nope, the vast majority of them remain the same indigenous community, just like we as Egyptians are.
Secondly, there actually are ethnically Arab Egyptians in modern Egypt whose Bedouin ancestors migrated from the Arabian Peninsula to Egypt. They make up less than 17% of the population and by simply looking at them, hearing their dialect and getting to know their traditions/lifestyle you're able to see how different they are from the majority of Egyptians. There are also Amazigh Egyptians who are one of the indigenous communities from the Maghreb region of North Africa.
Thirdly, Arabs travelled across a number of African countries, why would they only mix with ancient North Africans and not the rest of Africa? And how does it make sense that a few thousand Arabs would be able to mix with millions upon millions of ancient Egyptians and North Africans and replace the majority ethnicity? This has all been debunked by scientific research and is not backed by any historical recollection from ancient Egyptians or Arabs or any of their surrounding countries.
The way ancient Egyptians portrayed themselves was very distinguishable from how they portrayed other people they interacted with. Egyptian men were portrayed in red ochre or light brown colors since their work was usually in the sun and as Mediterraneans most of them tanned red. The women were portrayed in yellow, beige and white due to them working inside.
Nubians in ancient times belonged to a separate kingdom known as Kush which neighbored Kemet (Egypt) - Nubians were portrayed using dark brown and black hues, Assyrians were portrayed white or yellowish, and so on. Each group also had noticeably different facial features.
The geography of Egypt means the more North you go, the lighter people's features are. And the more South you go - closer to Subsaharan Africa - the darker people's features get. It has always been this way, whether in ancient or modern times. And we're all Egyptian.
Skin color is based on proximity to the equator and phenotype, not on climate or the man-made concept of a continent.
You never see the people that Americans/Europeans stereotypically perceive as "Asian" call Levantines, Arabs, etc (who are also Asian) invaders because they understand that continents do not dictate race nor skin color. Africa and Asia are scientifically proven to be the most diverse continents on Earth - and Egypt is a part of both.
African American people have a rich history; whether it's art, theatre, music, activism, etc. And they also have ancestral history, as the Subsaharan African countries that they originate from are also rich in ancient empires and prominent historical figures. If I were in their place I'd be excited to learn about my country and ancestry and reconnect with my identity. I would not look at the continent I came from and pick out the oldest, most well known civilization and claim these are my people while discarding my actual homeland.
But what I've come to learn about Americans is that no matter the race or skin color, they love a good performance. Performative activism for example, where they'll see an African American appropriating Egyptian heritage - whether mimicking a pose, a hair/wig style, a cultural practice, clothing etc - and those who claim to care about appropriation but are completely ignorant of Egyptian ethnicity, history and geography cheer them on.
The issue is Egyptian Americans are a small minority, and Egyptians have their plates full navigating life under a corrupt government as well as a tumultuous economic and political climate. So you're unlikely to see them on these posts to educate or fact check the people spreading misinformation about their identity and stealing it.
It's 2022, Afrocentric people who spread their hatred and misinformation about North Africans in general and Egyptians specifically for not being black, only drive us further and further from having respect for others and their identities and cultures. Centrism in all forms is counterproductive and leads to hatred of what is different from you which should never be okay in our time.
Activism and inclusivity mean you've done your research and you've heard from actual Egyptians about their land/heritage and can educate deluded people and put effort into stopping cultural appropriation and bigotry towards others because of their skin color. Praising someone who isn't Egyptian appropriating Egyptian identity, solely because you're trying to appear woke instead makes you look ignorant and performative.
Egyptian history, land, culture, heritage, identity, practices, symbolism from any point in time belong only to Egyptians.
