# Why do people think the Hebrews were "Black"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 19, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-the-hebrews-were-black/260600 "2004-08-19T19:57:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-the-hebrews-were-black/260600/41 "2004-08-22T06:24:08Z")
- they were a Semitic people which means they were caucasian, along with the Egyptians, Persians and other middle-eastern races. \* [http://www.achievement.org/newsletter/images/2002-06.jpg](http://www.achievement.org/newsletter/images/2002-06.jpg) Like Saudi ambassador, Prince Bandar? (He’s the “Caucasian” guy on the right.) Or maybe you mean “Caucasian” like Anwar Sadat? [http://www.lpb.bwue.de/aktuell/bis/2\_3\_03/bilder/sadat.jpg](http://www.lpb.bwue.de/aktuell/bis/2_3_03/bilder/sadat.jpg) You could be talking about those “Cauacasians” from ancient history, like Egypt’s Mentuhotpe II: [http://www.egyptarchive.co.uk/images/cairo\_museum/22\_mentuhotep.jpg](http://www.egyptarchive.co.uk/images/cairo_museum/22_mentuhotep.jpg) Or Queen Tiye:[http://www.umb.edu/academics/departments/africana\_studies/images/queen\_tiye.jpg](http://www.umb.edu/academics/departments/africana_studies/images/queen_tiye.jpg) Or King Tutankahmen:[http://www.freemaninstitute.com/Gallery/Egyp059\_big\_copy.jpg](http://www.freemaninstitute.com/Gallery/Egyp059_big_copy.jpg) Would it be wasting my breath to point out that “Semitic” is a linguistic designation, and has little to do with “race,” whatever that difficult term has come to mean? Modern linguists recognize the Semitic languages as part of a larger family called Afro-Asiatic. Other languages in the Afro Asiatic family include Ancient Egyptian, Hausa, Somali, Amharic and other languages of Ethiopia. The ancestral home of proto Afro Asiatic is thought to be the highlands of East Africa, what is now Ethiopia and Kenya. The ancestors of Semitic languages migrated from East Africa into the Arabian peninusula where they may have mixed with speakers of languages related to the Indo European family. Other branches of Afro Asiatic speakers migrated into ancient Egypt, and what is now Nigeria and Chad. The greatest number of Afro Asiatic languages are found in Ethiopia. What we call “racial mixing” today was a fact of life in the ancient Middle East. There’s no “racially pure” past to hark back to. Some the ancient Hebrews were “black,” if we accept the popular definition of that term. ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-the-hebrews-were-black/260600/42 "2004-08-22T06:29:06Z")
In that case, I’m a regular soul brother. ---
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-the-hebrews-were-black/260600/43 "2004-08-22T14:16:58Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > We noticed that you are repeating yourself. And _I’ve_ noticed that you’ve been a bit cranky lately, which surprises me given the fact that you’re one of the most enlightened and thoughtful posters here. May I ask that you cut me a little slack, please? No one – including yourself – was giving the Afrocentrism explanation sufficient heed; I felt it needed to be re-emphasized. > [@tomndebb](#): > > However, while it is certainly true that the Afrocentrism that has incurred your (legitimate) scorn is _one_ source of these tales, it is also true that various White Supremacists have made similar or related claims regarding the Jews over the years. First, there was little if any scorn in my reports; on what grounds did you presume there was? I would say instead that my comments were reasonably sympathetic; certainly my first was, which laid the context for the second. Second, the OP wasn’t about Jews. The question raised is **best** answered by the mythology of Afrocentrism, whether you wish to account for every single possible additional explanation or not. > [@tomndebb](#): > > They are not the only nutacese in the world, however. Great, we’re back in harmony! ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-the-hebrews-were-black/260600/44 "2004-08-22T14:22:45Z")
> [@syncrolecyne](#): > > (What ever happened to Collounsbury? He was banned. Twice. But he has a webpage out there where he comments on the middle-east news. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-the-hebrews-were-black/260600.md?page=2)