THE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF ANCIENT ISRAEL
THE HEBREWS &
THE SONS OF HAM
And the sons of Ham, Cush
& Mizraim & Phut & Canaan. "Genesis
10:6"
For years, scholars,
theologians and archaeologist have debated the answer to the question, "How
did the ancient Israelites look physically?" Although
the scriptures and other historical documents, have left a lot of evidence
that confirms the physical appearance of the 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 "Ashkenazi Jews" are the direct descendants of the
ancient Israelites. But, can this be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt?
The answer is NO.
The scriptures which will be used
here as the main source, supported by history and archaeology proves that these
Jews are not the physical descendants of the ancient Hebrew Israelite nation. In
addition it reveals who the true descendants are. The answer may leave you in
shock.
Israel is mentioned in scripture 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. Every thing we need to know about the ancient Hebrews is contained in Scripture. So, let's examine these facts, information that to this day remains unknown or hidden to many "bible" readers.
ISRAEL IN THE LAND OF EGYPT
The history of the Israelite nation began in Egypt, the land of Ham. They
entered 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 facts scripture 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), in physical appearance.
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.
Ham had four sons,
1. CUSH (Ethiopians /
Cushites & Nubians),
2. MIZRAIM (Egyptians / Khemet),
3. PHUT (Ancient Libyans or Somalia),
4. 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. Ham sons are the people of the African continent, the Ancient
Egyptians, Ethiopians, Somalia's, Canaanites etc.
The Israelites are
descendants of Noah son SHEM, through Abraham, he is the father of the Hebrew
Israelite Nation. Abraham is the father of Isaac, Isaac is the father of
Jacob, Jacob had twelve sons and these sons are the progenitors of the Israelite
nation. The Twelve tribes of Israel are as follows:
REUBEN
GAD
SIMEON
ASHER
LEVI
NAPHILTI
JUDAH
ISSACHAR
ZEBULON
JOSEPH
DAN
BENJAMIN
Each one of Jacob's sons became
a tribal nation, that made up the greater nation of Israel. EXAMPLE:
Reuben's descendants became known as the tribe of Reuben. Judah's
descendants became known as the tribe of Judah and so on and so forth. The
nation of Israel are the descendants of Jacob who had his name changed to Israel
by the Most High (Gen 28:32). That's the basics, lets move on to the meat of our
lesson.
We will 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 (Governor) 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, his brothers would have recognized him easily among the "black" Egyptians. His brothers thought Joseph was another Egyptian.
The ancient Egyptians of
Joseph time were indeed what we know today as "black", 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 Constatin 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 the less the imprint of it's 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 on
historical evidence on the origins of the people."
The fact that the
ancient Egyptians were black-skin prompted Volney to make the following
statement:
"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 scriptures, & many Egyptologists, along with archaeology confirms that the Egyptians during biblical times were a "BLACK" PEOPLE. This is important to know, as we continue, we'll see that the bible on multiple occasions describes the ancient Hebrews as looking like the Egyptians in physical appearance.
Next, in Genesis chapter 50 verses 7-11, scripture will 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).
But, remember this was a mixed multitude of Hebrews and Egyptians going to bury a HEBREW, and the Canaanite identified them both as Egyptians. WHY? Because, the Canaanite saw a great company of black-skinned people who all look like native (black) Egyptians.
If the Hebrews were a white skinned people, as we have been led to believe. The Canaanite who were familiar with both the Hebrews and Egyptians would have acknowledged them both by saying, "THIS IS A GRIEVOUS MOURNING TO THE EGYPTIANS AND HEBREWS." Without doubt white Hebrews would have stuck out like a sore thump among the black Egyptians. The Canaanites never Identified the Hebrews separately from the Egyptians. Since it was a Hebrew being buried you know the Israelites were the ones who were mourning the greatest. The Canaanites seen this and though those Israelites in mourning were Egyptians.
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 lets go to the
greatest and most famous story about the Israelites sojourn in the land of
Egypt. This would be the story of Moses (Moshe).
Many years after the death of Joseph, His brothers and all that generation that
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, the Egyptians now considered them hostile enemies and enslaved
them.
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 are killed at birth
(Exodus 1), this brings us directly to the story of Moses.
Moses was born a Hebrew - Israelite from the tribe of Levi (exodus 2:1-3). He
spent 40 years in the house of pharaoh (Acts 7:23) and was raised as the
Pharaoh's Grandson
(Exodus 2: 6, 10).
This was during the same time that Pharaoh ordered all Hebrew males to be killed
at birth. So, with Pharaoh, being a black-skinned descendant of
Khawm / Ham, it 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 Seti I. He was the father of Rameses II, the Pharaoh of the oppression, also known as Rameses the Great.
George Rawlinson, an English author wrote a book entitled History of Egypt. On page 252, he gives a 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 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, 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 (himself) 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 man just as the Egyptians were.
This is deep, Pharaoh looked into the eyes of Moses as a baby and thought this
was his own flesh and blood. He looked into the eyes of Moses as a
teenager and thought this was his own flesh and blood. He looked into the
eyes of Moses as a young man in his 20's and 30's and thought this was his own
flesh and blood. Pharaoh seen Moses grow into a man of 40 and he thought
this was his own flesh and blood grandson.
Just as the Canaanite couldn't tell the Hebrews from the Egyptians. Pharaoh couldn't either, 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 and sought to kill him (Exodus 2:12-15). Pharaoh was trying to kill Moses because he found out Moses was a Hebrew and not his flesh and blood grandson.
Moses fled to the land of Midian (located in Saudi Arabia) where he helped seven daughters of the priest of Midian water their flock, after chasing away some bully shepherds. The girls went home to their father, Reuel and told him what happened.
Exodus 2:16-19
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water,
and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
17 And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped
them, and watered their flock.
18 And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come
so soon to day?
19 And they said, An Egyptian
delivered us out of the hand
of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.
Notice they didn't say a Hebrew in Egyptian clothing saved us, they described
Moses as a black-skinned descendant of Ham (Egyptian).
Further proof that Moses was "black" can be found in Exodus
4:6-7, In this passage, Yah / YHWH, (The Creator's name in Hebrew) is showing
Moses miracles so that he can prove to the children of Israel who sent him. 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. If Moses was already white-skinned,
what would have been the miracle in turning the skin of 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 his hand (skin) 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 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, read Acts 10:28:) 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 WHITE in 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 the 2nd and 4th verse 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 skinned 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 of leprosy in the scriptures 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 ancient times, why does The scriptures
only speak of them as TURNING WHITE OR BECOMING WHITE WITH
LEPROSY (in reference to their skin color).
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)."
37 And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain,
May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?
38 Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar,
and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?
39 But Paul said, I am a man of Israel (Hebrew) of Tarsus, a city in
Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto
the people.
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. Paul had to tell the chief captain he was an Israelite.
Once again we see from scripture that it is hard to physically identify a Hebrew
from an Egyptian.
In the book of Matthew 2:13,
the angel of Yah told Joseph to arise and take the young child Yahshuah, (The
Messiah’s true Hebrew name is Yahshuah) 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.
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of Yah appeareth to Joseph
in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee
into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the
young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and
departed into Egypt:
Joseph, Miriam and Yahshuah were told to flee into Egypt, 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 Yahshuah would have been just another black-skinned family among
many. Remember, they fled into Egypt to HIDE from Herod who was seeking to kill
Yahshuah.
If Yahshuah 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 Yahshuah hiding in Egypt was attested to by a biblical scholar (DR. MARK GOODACRE) on a BBC produced program in 2001.
The Program was called 'THE COMPLETE JESUS'. Dr. Mark Goodacre (pictured) stated that it would have been hard for Yahshuah to hide among the Egyptians, if he didn’t look like the Egyptians, he was saying that Yahshuah could not have been white skinned. He admitted in the program that Yahshuah was a dark /black skinned man.
HERE IS HIS EXACT QUOTE
FROM THE PROGRAM ENTITLED THE COMPLETE JESUS.
“Now it’s very unlikely that Jesus would have been able to be HIDDEN in
Egypt, if he had a very different color of SKIN from the people in Egypt.”
He also made mention that the Israelites of the first to third centuries wore their hair in Afro's. this is only the tip of the iceberg, you can't hold down the truth.
Now back to our lesson.
Herod was put on
the throne of Israel by the Romans. Egypt was under Roman dominion. All
Herod had to do was check with the Roman officials in Egypt to find out if there
were any Hebrews with baby boys around. But, since the Hebrews and the Egyptians
looked the same physically, it would have been hard to single out a Hebrew
family among the native "black" ancient Egyptians.
As was mentioned, the ancient Egyptians were the descendants of Noah's son,
Khawm, or Ham in English. Khawm means black, hot and burnt. The ancient
Egyptians called their land and themselves Khemet, which in their tongue means
"THE LAND OF BLACKS." The word Khemet is nothing but a variation on
the word Khawm in the language of ancient Egypt.
In Psalm 78:51, Egypt is called "The House of ham (Khawm)."
"...AND SMOTE ALL THE FIRSTBORN IN EGYPT; THE TABERNACLES (HOUSE) OF HAM (KHAWM)."
Psalm 105:23,27 -- 23 "ISRAEL ALSO CAME INTO EGYPT; AND SOJOURNED IN THE LAND OF HAM (KHAWM)."
Verse 27 "THEY SHOWED HIS SIGNS AMONG THEM, AND WONDERS IN THE LAND OF HAM (KHAWM)."
The scriptures
calls Egypt the land of Khawm, and remember one of the meanings of Khawm is
black, the scriptures are calling Egypt "The Land of Black"
which is what Khemet means. Egypt is called the land of Khawm because the
Egyptians were descendants of Noah's son Khawm. This is more than likely the
reason they called themselves Khemet. Scripture supports the fact that the
Egyptians were a black-skinned people.
In the book of Amos chapter 9: we will now see Israel being compared to Ham (Khawm) first born son Cush / Ethiopians.
Verse 7 says "ARE YOU NOT AS CHILDREN OF THE ETHIOPIANS UNTO ME, O CHILDREN OF ISRAEL?"...
In this Verse, the
Israelites are being called children of the Ethiopians by the Most High. The
Ethiopians are a known black- skinned people, and the most high is calling
Israel their children. How much sense would it make to call a white skinned
people, CHILDREN OF THE ETHIOPIANS? The majority of Jews today are white-skin.
if ancient Israel were a white skinned people, wouldn't it make more sense to
compare them to a white skin nation. This verse does not say,
"ARE YOU NOT AS CHILDREN OF
THE ROMANS / GREEKS / GENTILES UNTO ME O CHILDREN OF ISRAEL?"
It clearly compares Israel with a black
skinned people. The reason for this is simple. Israel was and is a black skinned
people, and the majority of them still are.
That verse also coincides with Acts 8: 26-36. When the angel of Yah spoke to the apostle, Philip saying:
"Arise go toward the south."
Verse 27: "...And he arose and went: and behold, a man of ETHIOPIA an eunuch of great authority... who had come to Jerusalem for to WORSHIP."
In verse 29, The Spirit tells Phillip to go and JOIN HIMSELF TO THE CHARIOT OF THIS ETHIOPIAN.
Verse 30, tells us that Philip heard him reading SCRIPTURE (Hebrew Scripture) about Yahshuah, (erroneously called Jesus) which he didn't understand.
In verses 34-36, Philip explains the meaning of the scripture and then preaches Yahshuah to him,
and in verse 38, Phillip baptizes him.
Lets analyze these verses.
First, this
"Ethiopian" was coming to Jerusalem to worship.
In those days only the Hebrews came to Jerusalem for worship, because this is
where the Temple of Yah stood, making Jerusalem the spiritual home of all
Hebrews (2nd Chronicles 6:6 - 7:16).
Hebrews continued to come to Jerusalem to worship, up until the time of the Roman destruction in 70 C.E. As a matter of fact, Many Hebrews were worshiping at the temple while the Romans were breaking down the walls of Jerusalem about to lay siege to it.
Second, this
Ethiopian had Hebrew scriptures in his possession.
In those days the scriptures were still considered sacred, and remained in the
possession of the Hebrews, not everyone had access to scripture, as we do today.
Hebrews, whether abroad or in the land, were the primary owners of scripture in
those days.
Third, the Ethiopian was baptized by Phillip.
All these facts prove that this Ethiopian was a Hebrew, according to what Peter said in Acts 10:28:
"You know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Hebrew TO KEEP COMPANY OR COME UNTO ONE OF ANOTHER NATION."
If the Hebrews thought it was unlawful to keep company with those of another nation, why would Philip go and keep company with this Ethiopian, if indeed he was from a entirely different nation? Philip didn't even try to argue with the spirit, when he was told to go and teach this Ethiopian. The reason for that is:
The Ethiopian was a Hebrew who lived in Ethiopia. Making him what we know as a Ethiopian Hebrew.
As stated previously, it is a known fact that the Ethiopians are a black-skinned people. The name Ethiopian comes from the Greek word Aethiops which means burnt face. This was a title the ancient Greeks gave to the people who lived south of Egypt because they were closer to the equator than the Egyptians. Their hue on an average was a little darker than the Egyptians.
This Hebrew was not called Ethiopian just because he lived in Ethiopian, but because he also looked like a black-skinned Ethiopian. To this very day, there are many black-skinned Hebrews who live or have lived in Ethiopia in the past. Today many of them are known as the "Falasha" or Beta Yisrael. So far we have not seen where scripture likens Israel to any white-skinned nations as it relates to physical appearance. This is very important to understand because many of the people who are called Jews today are white- skinned and come from Europe.
These white
skinned Jews make up the majority of the Jews in Israel and in the world. This
is not a racist or "anti-Semitic" statement. It's only the truth
according to scripture.
For further proof of the color of the ancient Israelites lets look at Acts 13:1:
"Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain PROPHETS AND TEACHERS: as Barnabas, and SIMEON THAT WAS CALLED NIGER, AND LUCIUS OF CYRENE, and Manaen which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Shaul (Paul)".
The word Niger is a Latin word that means BLACK, and Cyrene is a city in Libya, which is located in North Africa. Historians and scholars both agree that the city of Cyrene was a black area, meaning it was heavily populated with black skin-people in biblical times. Cyrene is also the place where Simon, the man who helped Yahshuah carry the cross (stake) was from (Matt. 27:32, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26). Many acknowledge that Simon (the cross bearer) was a "black" man.
This man who was called Niger wasn't called black because he was the only black- skinned person there. He was called black because his hue was maybe darker than the rest of the prophets and teachers. Much like in the "African American" community, when one of our brothers or sisters have a skin tone that is darker than the rest, we sometimes give that person a nick name that describes his color. If the person's name is Michael we might call him Black Mike, or we might just call him Black, even though, we are all black-skinned. He's just been given a FRIENDLY nick name which describes him. This is why Simeon was called Niger or black.
Scripture confirms in Acts 13:1, that there were black-skinned men who were prophets and teachers at the church in Antioch. But, we must understand that the Hebrews were not dealing with any other people or racial group at this time, other than scattered Israel. It is written in Acts 11:19:
"Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, traveled As far as Phenice and Cyprus, and Antioch, PREACHING THE WORD TO NONE BUT THE HEBREWS ONLY".
This was before the apostles ministries to the Gentiles at large started, so why were these "black" men there, if the Hebrews were a white skinned people? Simple, they were Hebrews, just like Paul who was also there with them in the church in Antioch. Remember Paul was mistaken for a "black" Egyptian. Niger and LUCIUS were prophets and teachers, and as scripture shows us, all the prophets and teachers were Hebrews.
Now, I will refer to a few historical sources that are also in agreement with scripture about the physical appearance of the Hebrews. The Romans who knew the Hebrews well, had this to say about their physical appearance.
A Roman historian named
Tacitus who lived about C.E. 90 said, "Many assert that the Hebrews are an
RACE OF ETHIOPIAN ORIGINS."
Once again, we have the Hebrews compared to one of HAM’S black-skinned
descendants. Historian and scholar, J.A. Rogers commented, "For the Romans
to have considered them Ethiopians is a clear indication of their color, because
the Ethiopians are a known black people". Tacitus also said that the
Hebrews were Egyptians , who left Egypt during a disease outbreak.
The Roman Emperor, Justinian the Great, who ruled
basically from 527 - 564 C.E., 500 years after the time of Yahshuah, had
engraved on a coin, the image of Yahshuah with woolly / kinky hair and
"BLACK" features. On the obverse side of the coin there is an image of
Justinian but with straight hair.
The Cambridge Encyclopedia has this
particular listing about that image on the coin.
"Whatever the fact, this coin, with the straight haired Justinian on the obverse side, places beyond doubt the belief that "Jesus" was a Negro (black-skinned)."
Now, lets go back to the
scripture for more information that proves the Hebrews were a black-skinned
nation.
Lamentations 5:10 reads:
"OUR SKIN WAS BLACK LIKE AN OVEN BECAUSE OF THE TERRIBLE FAMINE."
Notice, it says here that the Hebrews' skin was black like an oven or charcoal black, because of the famine. When the Jews were in concentration camps in Europe during WWII, many of them were starved or in famine. Footage of them in the camps, show that their skin turned pale white. The same is true of the people in Kosov. They were in famine and their skin turned pale white, because they are also a white-skinned people. But pictures of starving people in Africa, show that their skin turns jet black or darker than its original hue.
When brown or black
skinned people don't eat for a long period of time or get sick, they get darker.
When white or lighter skinned people get sick or don't eat, they turn pale. In
this verse of Lamentations, the prophet, Jeremiah clearly was describing a black
skinned
In many places throughout
scriptures it mentions that the Israelites wore their hair in locks. Locks or
some call them dread locks is when the hair locks together and grows. The
Jamaicans known as Rastafarians wear their hair in long locks.
numbers 6:5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto Yah, he shall be holy, and shall let the LOCKS of the hair of his head grow.
Judges 16:13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven LOCKS of my head with the web.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven LOCKS of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
Our hair in it's natural state is like the wool of a lamb. If a "black" person doesn't cut or comb their hair it will eventually Lock together (This is why they are called "LOCKS"). When our hair naturally lock, the hair forms giant matt's at random all over the head. Most of the time you will only get 7 or eight locks just as it says Samson had. Samson NEVER CUT HIS HAIR, he let it grow and it was left "unkempt" and it grew into locks, just as the Jamaican brothers do their hair.
If Samson the Israelite was a white skin person with "White hair texture" his hair would have just grown straight and long, but not lock together. The scriptures says he had 7 locks, it is very rare for a white person to get locks naturally,. The scriptures are showing us that Samson the Israelite was a "black" man.
All the preceding
information is sufficient proof that the biblical Israelites were a black
skinned people / nation. Now, we must go one more step, and prove that they were
a black skinned people from the beginning of their history beginning with
Abraham. Abraham is the father of the Hebrew Israelite nation.
He was the first to be called Hebrew. (Genesis 14:13) He came from Ur of the Chaldeans, (Genesis 11:31) which is in the country of Iraq today.
Godfrey Higgins, a reliable English antiquary says, "The Chaldeans were originally Negroes".
Professor Rudolph Windsor is in total agreement with this, which he states in his very noteworthy book, FROM BABYLON TO TIMBUKTU. He writes, "The Chaldeans and the other People of that region were Jet black in their complexion."
The root word of Ur which is ORR means fire oven. The average temperatures in that region was 120 degrees. this is where the ancient Sumerian civilization began. The Sumerians called themselves "Saggig", which means "black headed ones", because they shaved their heads. The ancient Chaldeans were their cousins.
Abraham father Terah,
was a relative of Nimrod. He was a merchant who sold idols in the city of Ur.
It's a widely known fact that Nimrod was the son of Cush. Cush is the progenitor
of the Nubians / Ethiopians, and the Nubians are a black skinned people. So,
this means that Nimrod was also black. Abraham came from this part of the world,
which in his day was overwhelmingly populated with black skinned people. This is
not surprising because in that region the average temperature was 120 degrees.
This means that the people in that part of the world had to have large amounts
of melanin in their skin, which means they were very dark skinned.
Dr. Charles S. Finch III, M.D. says in his book Echoes of the Old Darkland, on
pgs 5, & 32,
"We know from the fate of albinos all
over Africa that unprotected skin (light skin) is subject to grotesque,
disfiguring cancers that are soon fatal." "Melanin, the substance that
gives the skin a dark brown or black pigment, by absorbing ultra violet
radiation and scattering the ions produced, protects the skin from cancer".
So, for Abraham to have come from that part of the world, he had to have been
very dark / black-skinned.
NOTE: I've recently got a revelation about the above fact. I have a 24
year old relative in the United States Army. He just fought in the Iraqi
war, he was in Iraq around the area where Abraham was from. I spoke with him
after he arrived home, he told me about the sights of the land. The first thing
he spoke about was the heat, he says it’s 125 degrees average, he mention that
some of the white soldiers were being burned so badly by the sun that they could
hardly walk. He said they had to have special covering sometimes. But the thing
that struck me, was he said "THE NATIVES OF THE LAND WERE SO BLACK THAT
THEY LOOKED LIKE US (“AFRICAN AMERICANS”)". In fact he went on to
say that He "THOUGHT THEY WERE US (African
Americans)." The people from the
Iraqi town of Basra are black skinned and look like "African
Americans".
It is a must that we fully identify Israel including their appearance, because so much have been written about these people, but at the same time, so little is actually known about them. I have just highlighted one particular fact about the biblical Israelites. And that fact is: THEY WERE A BLACK SKINNED PEOPLE, but this one fact alone does not fully identify who the true children of Israel are today. There are millions upon millions of black skinned people, and Many "black" nations the Hebrews were just one black skinned people among many black-skinned nations.
(NOTE: Whenever I make mention of black-skinned people I am referring to the people who are known as "Africans" and "Blacks", whose skin has the darkest pigmentation of all mankind. Their skin tones range from light brown to the darkest black hue, and this even includes some who are known as Indians.).
Some will try to make the argument that, "if the original Hebrews were "black" they didn't remain that way, because the Hebrews mixed with many different people".
True, the Hebrews did some mixing with other's, due to the many captivities they suffered. But that didn't change the racial make up of ancient Israel.
Because the Hebrews were black skinned people their Genes would have carried the dominate trait.
Black hair,+ dark eyes + dark skin = dominate traits.
Light hair,+ light eyes + light skin = recessive traits.
The recessive can come from the dominate, but the dominate cannot come from the recessive, or the Lighter one can come from the darker one, but the darker can not come from the lighter.
This is a scientific fact, so if the Hebrews mixed with other people of lighter hues, the offspring would have come out looking like Hebrews with a bit lighter hue, than the Hebrew parent. If they mixed with others of the same or darker hue, the offspring would have continue to look like the Hebrew Israelites.
This is why the Egyptians ordered the Hebrew males to be killed and not the female. Because, the Egyptian males could impregnate the Hebrew females, and produce offspring which were still black-skinned, and still possessing the physical characteristics of the Egyptians. Remember there were no physical differences between the Hebrews and the Egyptians.
"African Americans" have mixed seed with the various racial groups of the Americas for over 400 years. But we are still known as a black skinned people / race. We have mixed with various European, Indian, and Hispanic racial groups and yet, our racial make up has remained unchanged. One of the reasons for this is that our genes carry the dominate traits.
Consider, for a
moment the children of mixed parents, one black parent and one white. The child
will have more traits of the black skinned parent than of the white skinned one.
The hair texture of the offspring, skin color and facial features, will be
closer to that of the "Black" parent. Sometimes it's impossible to
even tell that the offspring is of mixed parentage, because the child looks like
he was conceived by two black parents.
A good example of this would be superstar golfer, TIGER WOODS. He is black and
Asian (Thai). The actress HALLE BERRY is also biracial. However, they look
no different from any other "black" person you might see walking down
the street. And this is how it was with ancient Israel.
Note: Israel didn't mix TOO MUCH because of their spiritual beliefs, which is evidenced in the story of Moses in Numbers 12 and also with Peter in Acts 10.
As previously shown, even the New Testament proves that Israel was a black- skinned people. The New Testament came about after Israel's first captivities, and before their last great captivity. The scriptures show without a doubt in both old and new testament times that Israel was a black-skinned people. But again, the fact that Israel was a "Black" people does not fully identify who they were and still are today. We must return to the scriptures for more information..
2nd Kings 5:27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
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