What Did Ancient Egyptians Look Like | Ancient Egyptians | African History | White and Black

ello in this episode I'd like to explore two questions: was ancient Egypt influenced by other parts of Africa and what did ancient Egypt actually look like Let's begin by taking a closer loo look at the origin of ancient Egypt—the ancient Egyptian civilization has been described in various ways by scholars and historians throughout history storians to have begun around 10 000 or 5 000 years ago—the jury is still out on attempting to figure out exactly when it began what's important to note here is that it is the earlies recorded civilization is said to have lasted more than 3 000 years and was divided into two gdoms spanning 30 dynasties it is believed to be the oldest of all civilizations now from the e earliest and most reliable records found in the Edfu text which I mentioned in an earlier episode e region was conquered by Horus who arrived from somewhere south of Egypt as I emphasized in that episode the Edfu text was carved in stone and discovered within the temple of Horus e oldest recorded ruler of Egypt in the region now known as ancient Egyp Horus conquered the people he encountered in the region just as he had defeated those he met along his journey from the south this king Horus became deified after his death the place Horus came from has originally been identified as somewhere around Uganda and Somaliland I won't dwell on whether Horus and his followers were Black Africans as I've already elaborated sufficiently on the origins of that debate in the last episode please take time to watch that episode if you haven't already done so I just want to add here that apart from the undeniable evidence found in the Edfu texts other archaeological findings and accounts from early historians such as Herodotus a Greek who wrote about the identity of the ancient Egyptians around 450 BC and other Greeks who They were contemporaries who all supported the idea that the ancient Egyptians were dark-skinned with woolly hair just like you and me so they must have been of African descent—reasonable academics agree that over generations the population of Egypt has continued to change due to waves of migration over several centuries even if were to go by the way Egyptians identified themselves They called their country Chemex meaning black land a nation culturally advanced in many aspects such as mathematics writing in the form of hieroglyphics and astronomy architecture the arts science technology and religion—now in describing the pyramids Herodotus writes that they were built from polished stones and he believed at the stones were lifted by machines fashioned from wooden planks the degree of sophisticated calculations required for building the sphinx as well as the grea The pyramids continue to amaze modern mathematicians scientists and astronomers it is believed the pyramids were positioned to precisely align with the sun's rays o the equinoxes and the solstices which were linked to agricultural events such as the timing o plant or harvest in the area of writing the ancient Egyptians developed hieroglyphics —combinations of images syllables and alphabetic signs consisting of approximately The cursive form of the hieroglyphics was used to write 1 000 characters religious inscriptions by priests who used it to write on papyrus—the very first kind of paper we used—papyrus was made from a plant that grew only around Egypt so the priests used hieroglyphics to write on papyrus and wood these priests were also the chroniclers and keepers of records they were healers of the sick and mourners when people died and they were sculptors musicians lawyers lawmakers and teachers—thus they were controlled not only the religious but also the intellectual life of ancient Egypt now at the height of ancient Egypt's glory in cities like Thebes they were magnificent mansions built by the wealthy some of which had as many as 50 rooms their mansions were decorated with elaborate paintings expensive furniture and sculptures made from bronze ebony and ivory which must have originated from the African continent—this also serves as further evidence of the interconnectedness between Egypt and the African interior as cities in ancient Egypt were well laid out ree-lined avenues of such immense scale have led some historians to speculate that the only way they could have been constructed was through slave labor and thus they concluded at slavery must have been widespread in Egypt however other historians who have studied this period such as Sir Flinders Petrie challenged this theory Flinders Petrie's position is that what was In Egypt a system of corvée labor existed making slavery unnecessary I believe what he means by corvée is similar to a system that prevailed in most parts of Africa until then In modern times let me illustrate how the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria practiced the iwofa system a system of servitude that nonetheless guaranteed certain rights and protections It was also quite different from slavery as iwo fa was a system of indenture used by the poor to alleviate poverty and sometimes gain apprenticeship for the wealthy wofa served as a source of labor at a time when there was no system of wage labor and it was ofte contractual in nature and did not prevent those who served as iwofa from attaining any level of power in ancient times even individuals who began as slaves had the potential to rise to the highest ranks prominent positions of authority even beyond the Yoruba and there are examples from other ethnic groups—another example is the story of Jaja of Opobo from southeastern Nigeria Jaja was an Igbo person who had been enslaved a term I use with considerable hesitation despite having bee enslaved Jaja was able to walk his way to becoming the ruler of Opobo which could would not have been possible under the kind of slavery system practiced in ancient Greece and which later became perfected by European descendants in the Americas where it was institutionalized by uh racism back to the pyramids—John Jackson proposes that the construction of the pyramids in Egypt was a highly organized project that lasted approximately ten years just to get the The project enlisted a hundred thousand men who worked in three-month shifts to transport stones to the site and the actual construction lasted another 20 years relying on information provided by Herodotus who is regarded as the father of history Philander's Petri also concludes that with the kind of organization that was in place e builders of the pyramids were highly organized and managed the project so effectively that all they needed to do was conscript men twice in their lifetime Work for three months at a time during which they earned a decent living and gained technical expertise although he doesn't um express it—doesn't actually mention women I think it is— safe to assume that some women would have been involved in this project as well given that we're talking about men being stationed there for about three months at a time with a hundred thousand men involved camped at the construction site for months at a time it is safe to conclude that women were part of the camps that built the pyramids during this period Priests who were highly educated dominated most intellectual and significant aspects of life in Egypt where they oversaw the production of linen which we know originated there e linen cloth and any other positions in the army that required knowledge of arithmetic they served as royal chroniclers keepers of records engravers of inscriptions physicians or healers pharmacists embalmers of the deceased lawmakers lawyers sculptors and musicians—in short they controlled most skilled labor Imhotep whom I mentioned in the last episode was held in extremely high regard as a vizier Imhotep a high official under Zosa who reigned between 5345 and 5307 BC is a notable example He was a highly knowledgeable and versatile priest—astronomer architect and chief physician to the king—later deified as the god of medicine with a temple erected in his honor honor of him in the ancient city of Memphis John Jackson another historian sheds further light on the status of slaves in ancient Egypt by suggesting that despite the fact tha um Egyptian priests wielded such immense power that they were generally fair and just he illustrates that under this system the punishment for killing a slave was death and the priests were in a position to impose this punishment society was so well organized that private citizens did not need to carry weapons and even soldiers were prohibited from carrying arms except whe They were on duty and during this period Egypt prospered Another researcher who examined artworks related to domestic life in Egypt during this time found significant insights He suggests that in the society women were held in high regard children were very well cared for and he was able to deduce this by reading the artworks of ancient Egypt we should also compare this to the status of women and children in Europe—as recently as the Victorian period—and you'll see the difference You know unlike the women ancient Egyptian European women and children were not highly regarded and all you have o reach the same conclusion you don't even need to study history—simply reading novels by writers like Charles Dickens who gave us the story of Oliver Twist based on the society of his time which he lived you'd know you'd also be able to reach the same conclusion that compared to women in ancient Egypt European women and children were not as well cared for and that society also did not value those who were not wealthy you know nor did it care for its poor to the same extent as societies in ancient Egypt where in ancient Egyp Civil laws were properly enforced during this time when both the poor and the rich could rely on a fair and effective system of justice—long before the Greek Roman or Arab conquests s described as Egypt's first golden age and we must also remember that this was thousands of years before any form of civilization was recorded in Europe let alone the Americas This golden age came to an end around 4163 BC when Egypt began to decline in the next episode we'll explore the reasons behind the fall of this remarkable civilization—be sure to tune in remember to subscribe if you haven't already like and share this video so more Africans and people of African descent—and really anyone else out there who's open-minded enough—can see You can access what we've shared here—thanks for watching and see you next time