The Physical Appearance of Ancient Israel
The Hebrews & the Sons of Ham
And the sons of Ham (Cush/Ethiopians)and Mizraim (Egyptians) and Put (Ancient Somalians or Libyans) & Canaan. ~ Genesis 10:6
For years, scholars, theologians and archaeologists have debated the answer to the question, “How did the Israelites look physically?” Although The Bible and other historical documents have left much proof of the physical appearance of the biblical Israelites, much of this information is still unknown to the masses.
The popular belief today among Christians, scholars and theologians is that the people known as the "Ashkenazi Jews" are the direct descendants of the biblical Israelites. But can this be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? The answer to that is NO. The Bible, used here as the main information source, supported by history and archaeology, proves that these Jews are not the physical descendants of the biblical Hebrews. In addition it reveals who the true descendants are. The answer may leave you in shock.
Israel is mentioned in The Bible over 2,500 times. The scriptures contain the Hebrews' entire history. In fact, no other people on the face of the earth have such an extensive recorded history.Not even the ancient Egyptians. Everything we need to know about the ancient Hebrews is contained in scripture. So, let's examine these facts that to this day remain unknown or hidden to many bible readers.
The history of the Israelite nation began in Egypt, the land of Ham. The Israelitesentered Egypt 66 in number (not including Joseph, his wife and two sons who were already in Egypt), and left numbering over two million people. Ancient Israel spent 430 years in Egypt. For half that time, they enjoyed good favor with the Egyptians, but for the remainder of those years they were enslaved and horribly mistreated by them.
One of the first facts The Bible gives us about Israel (Ysrayl in the Hebrew tongue) is in regard to their physical appearance. Throughout scripture Israel is described as looking like the sons of Ham (Khawm in the Hebrew tongue).
Ham was one of Noah's three sons, Shem and Japheth were the other two. Noah's descendants repopulated the earth after the Great Flood. Ham's descendants are traced to the families of Africa. Ham (Khawm) in Hebrew means BLACK, HOT AND BURNT. He had four sons, CUSH (Ethiopians /Cushites), MIZRAIM(Egyptians/Khemets), PHUT (Ancient Libyans or Somalians), and CANAAN (Canaanite, the original inhabitants of the land of Israel) Genesis 10:6-19. All four of Ham's sons and their descendants settled in and around the continent of Africa. This includes the so-called Middle East, which is also a part of the continent of Africa.
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Let’s begin with the story of Jacob's second youngest son Joseph, and his time in Egypt. Joseph was one of the twelve sons of Jacob (Yaaqob in Hebrew). Jacob sired Joseph in his old age, and he was clearly his favorite son.
This caused Joseph's brothers to become jealous of him. Ultimately, their jealousy resulted in Joseph being sold by Arab merchants as a slave to Egyptians. Over the course of time Joseph became Viceroy of Egypt and was second in command to Pharaoh in authority. There was a famine in Canaan, where Jacob and his sons lived. (Pharaoh had a dream, which Joseph interpreted. His dream told of the forthcoming famine and gave Egypt an opportunity to prepare by storing food.) So, Jacob sent his ten sons to Egypt to buy bread. When Joseph's ten brothers came into Egypt they were brought before him. Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn't recognize him (Genesis 42:1-8).
Since the biblical Egyptians were a black-skinned people, Joseph had to be black-skinned also. If he were white skinned, as over half the world's Jews are today, his brothers would have recognized him easily among the black-skinned Egyptians, or they would have been very curious as to why this white-skinned Hebrew was ruling in Egypt. But his brothers just thought Joseph was another Egyptian. The ancient Egyptians of Joseph time were indeed what we know today as black skinned. This is a fact attested to by many.
Gerald Massey, English writer and author of the book, Egypt the Light of the World, wrote:
The dignity is so ancient that the insignia of the Pharaoh evidently belonged to the time when Egyptians wore nothing but the girdle of the Negro." (p 251)
Sir Richard Francis Burton, a 19th century English explorer, writer and linguist in 1883 wrote to Gerald Massey:
"You are quite right about the "AFRICAN" origin of the Egyptians. I have 100 human skulls to prove it."
Scientist, R. T. Prittchett, states in his book The Natural History of Man:
"In their complex and many of the complexions and in physical peculiarities the Egyptians were an "AFRICAN" race (p 124-125).
The Ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century B.C.E., saw the Egyptians face to face and described them as black-skinned with woolly hair. Anthropologist, Count Constantine de Volney (1727-1820), spoke about the race of the Egyptians that produced the Pharaohs. He later paid tribute to Herodotus’ discovery when he said:
”The ancient Egyptians were true negroes of the same type as all native born Africans. That being so, we can see how their blood mixed for several centuries with that of the Romans and Greeks, must have lost the intensity of it’s original color, while retaining none of the less, the imprint of its original mold. We can even state as a general principle that the face (referring to the Sphinx) is a kind of monument able, in many cases, to attest to or shed light onhistorical evidence on the origins of the people”
The fact that the ancient Egyptians were black-skinned prompted Volney to state the following:
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What a subject for meditation, just think that the race of black men today our slaves and the object of our scorn, is the very race to which we owe our arts, science and even the use of our speech."
The testimony of the ancients, The Bible, many Egyptologists, along with archaeology, confirms that the Egyptians during biblical times were a BLACK-SKINNED PEOPLE. This is important to know. As we continue, we will see that the bible on multiple occasions describes the ancient Hebrews as looking like the Egyptians. In Genesis chapter 50, verses 7-11, scripture describes ALL the Hebrews as looking like the ancient Egyptians.
After Jacob (who's name was changed to Ysrayl - Israel) died in the land of Egypt, all the Hebrews and Egyptians went down to the land of Canaan to bury him (He asked his son to bury him in the land of Canaan with his forefathers Genesis 49:29-30). Verses 7-8, states that all the elders of Pharaoh's house and all the elders of the land of Egypt along with all the Hebrews (except for their small children) went down.
VERSE 9 states: “It was a very great company.”
VERSE 11 statesthat the Canaanites saw the funeral procession and said:“THIS IS A GRIEVOUS MOURNING TO THE EGYPTIANS”.
But, remember this was a mixed multitude of Hebrews and Egyptians going to bury a HEBREW, yet the Canaanite identified them both as Egyptians. WHY? Because, the Canaanite saw a great company of black-skinned people who were all probably dressed according to the customs and fashions of Egypt, and they all looked liked native (black) Egyptians. If the Hebrews were a white skinned people, as we have been led to believe, the Canaanite who was familiar with both Hebrews and Egyptians would have acknowledged them both by saying, "THIS IS A GRIEVOUS MOURNING TO THE EGYPTIANS AND HEBREWS." The scripture goes on to say that the Canaanite named the place where they saw this great mourning for a HEBREW, Abel Mizraim, which means the meadow of Egypt / Mizraim or Mourning of the Egyptians.
Now, let us go to the most famous story of the Hebrews sojourn in Egypt. This would be the story of Moses. Many years after the death of Joseph, his brothers and all that generation who entered Egypt during the time he was Viceroy, the Hebrew population in Egypt grew tremendously. Because of this, they were no longer looked upon as friendly neighbors. In fact, The Egyptians considered them hostile enemies and enslaved them. (Other ethnic groups were enslaved by the Egyptians during this time also.) Because of the Hebrews’ population growth, the Egyptians decided they would impose upon them their own form of birth control. Pharaoh decreed that all Hebrew males were to be killed at birth (Exodus 1).
Moses was born a Hebrew Israelite from the tribe of Levi (Exodus2:1-3). He spent 40 years in the house of Pharaoh (Acts 7:23) and from the time he was an infant, passed as the Pharaoh’s grandson (Exodus 2: 6, 10). This was during the same time that Pharaoh ordered all Hebrew males under the age of two to be killed. So, if Pharaoh was a black-skinned descendant of Khawm/Ham, which he was, if would of course follow that Moses was black-skinned also.
Many Scholars say the Pharaoh who was on the throne of Egypt at the time of Moses’ birth, was Pharaoh SetiI. He was the father of RamesesII, the Pharaoh of the oppression, also know as Rameses the Great.
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George Rawlinson, an English author wrote in his book,History of Egypt, on page 252, the following description of Seti I. He states:
"SETI'S FACE WAS THOROUGHLY AFRICAN. HE HAD A STORMY FACE WITH A DEPRESSED FLAT NOSE, THICK LIPS AND A HEAVY CHIN."
Moses had to have the same physical characteristics because again, he was raised in the house of Pharaoh, as the grandson of Pharaoh, during the time when Pharaoh ordered all other Hebrew males to be killed at birth. If the Israelites were a white-skinned people, how could Moses the Hebrew survive (secretly) in the house of Pharaoh among black-skinned Egyptians for 40 years, and not be noticed. Furthermore, after giving the decree to kill all Hebrew males, how could Pharaoh face and rule over his people if he knowingly had one living in his house with all the rights and privileges of his own family?
Moses survived 40 years in the palace of Pharaoh because he was a black-skinned man. Just as the Canaanite couldn't tell the Hebrews from the Egyptians, neither could Pharaoh, or Moses would have been killed instantly.
Scripture tells us that Moses killed an Egyptian, after he saw him mistreating a Hebrew. So Moses had to flee from Egypt for his life, because Pharaoh found out what he had done and sought to kill him (Exodus 2:12-15). Moses fled to the land of Median where he helped seven daughters of the priest of Median water their flock, after chasing away some bully shepherds. The girls went home to their father, Reuel and told him what happened. They told him that an EGYPTIAN saved them and watered their flock.(Exodus 2:16-19). Notice, they didn't say a Hebrew in Egyptian clothing saved us.And they described Moses as a black descendant of Ham (Egyptian). Further proof that Moses was black-skinned can be found in Exodus 4:6-7. In this passage, YHWH (The Creator's name in Hebrew)is showing Moses miracles so that he can prove to the children of Israel who sent him. YHWH, or the abbreviated Yah, tells Moses to put his hand into his bosom, which he does. When he takes his hand out, it is LEPROUS, white as snow.
The question is: If Moses was already white-skinned, what would have been the miracle in turning his hand white? But, since Moses and the rest of the Hebrews were a black skinned people, this would have been a very powerful miracle, to turn the skin on his hand the opposite color of the rest of his flesh. Verse 7 says, Yah told Moses to put his hand back into his bosom, and it turned as his other flesh. Meaning that the rest of his body (skin) was a color other than white or the opposite of white, which is black.
In the book of Numbers, chapter 12, verse 1, Moses' sister and brother, Miriam and Aaron spoke out against him because he married an Ethiopian woman, (not because she was black skinned, but because she was of another culture/nation).Their behavior angered Yah. Verse 10 says, He TURNED MIRIAM LEPROUS, WHITE AS SNOW. Once again if Miriam, who was a Hebrew, was white to begin with, what would have been the curse of turning a white skinned person white? It is an established fact that The Bible always mentioned leprosy in the context of the skin turning white because of a disease or in relationship to some specific wrong doing.
Leviticus 13:2 states:
"When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or
Bright spot and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy. Then he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest, or to one of the sons of the priest".
Verse 4: If the bright spot be WHITEin the skin of his flesh, the priest
shall shut up him that has the plague seven days.
Verse 6: And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day: and
behold, if the plague be somewhat DARK, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is but a scab; and he shall wash his clothes and be clean".
In verse 2 and 4, a bright or white spot in the skin is mentioned. A bright spot means a spot that is lighter than the regular dark brown/black skin. Moses said in the sixth verse: "And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day, and behold if the plague be somewhat dark, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean..." This is because the skin is getting darker like his original skin tone. A black skin man or woman with these spots covering some part of their body is a partial leper. However, once the plague of the whiteness has covered his entire body from his head to his feet, the leper is clean. He has completely changed his color like the albino. The people who had this form ofleprosy in the bible can be classified as albino, and these albinos are the only white-skinned Hebrews that existed in ancient times. They were the minority. If Israel was a white skinned people in biblical times, why does The Bible only speak of them as TURNING WHITE OR BECOMING WHITE WITH LEPROSY (in reference to their skin color)? Read 2nd Kings 5:27.
Acts 21:37-38, states that Paul, (Shaul in Hebrew) the apostle, was being led into a castle by a chief captain. Paul spoke to the chief in Greek, asking permission to speak with him. The chief captain was surprised that Paul could speak Greek, and in verse 38, asks Paul, "Are not you that EGYPTIAN?" Paul responded, (Verse 39) "I am a man of Israel (Hebrew)."
In order for this chief captain to mistake Paul (the Hebrew) for a black-skinned Egyptian, Paul had to look like an Egyptian, as scripture tells us the whole nation of Israel did. This is why in the book of Matthew 2:13, the angel of Yah told Joseph to arise and take the young child Yahoshua, (The Messiah’s true Hebrew name is Yahoshua) and his mother Mary (Miriam in Hebrew) and FLEE INTO EGYPT. He was told to stay there until he received further instruction, because Herod would seek the young child to destroy him.
Joseph, Miriam and Yahoshua were told to flee into Egypt, (Africa) not for military protection, because during this time, Egypt was a Roman province under Roman control. They fled into Egypt because Egypt was still a "black" country, populated by a majority of black-skinned people (Egyptians). Joseph, Miriam and Yahoshua would have been just another black-skinned family among many. Remember, they fled into Egypt to HIDE from Herod who was seeking to kill Yahoshua. If Yahoshua and the rest of the Hebrews looked like those pictures of the "Christian Christ", it would have been hard for him to hide in Egypt and not be noticed.
NOTE: The above fact about Yahoshua hiding in Egypt was attested to by a biblical scholar on a program produced by the BBC last year (2001). The Program was called 'THE COMPLETE JESUS'. The scholar stated that it would have been hard for Yahoshua to hide among the Egyptians, if he didn’t*t look like the Egyptians. He was actually saying that Yahoshua could not have been white skinned. In fact, he admitted in the program that Yahoshua was a dark /black skinned man. He also mentioned that the Israelites of the first-third centuries wore their hair in Afros. This is only the tip of the iceberg, you can't hold down the truth.