Black Complexity along the Nile:

Skin Color & the Egyptian/Nubian dichotomy in the New Kingdom

Work Plan








Tristan Samuels
TA: Robert Martin
NMC 344H
February 25 2014

Samuels 1

Race is a controversial topic in Egyptology (Shaw 2004, Smith 2005), but the concept of
race has not been critically engaged in Egyptological discussions. This paper uses a nuanced
approach to race in ancient Egypt. More specifically, this paper discusses the connotations of
skin color in ancient Egyptian self-representation vis--vis Nubians during the New Kingdom.
This paper argues that the Egyptian/Nubian polarity was interracial, but the function of skin
colour was intraracial.
Egyptological assumptions regarding this dichotomy are challenged in this study. For
example, it is often assumed that the Egyptian/Nubian dichotomy was non-Black/Black (Bianchi
2004, OConnor 2003, Redford 2004) this overlooks contrary evidence (Ashton 2011,
Grantham 2003, Vercoutter 2010). Moreover, there is no awareness of the complexity of Black
identity in these discussions. This study uses critical race theory to properly contextualize race
and Black identity in ancient Egypt. The following definition of race is used:
Race is first and foremost an unequal relationship between social aggregates,
characterized by dominant and subordinate forms of social interaction, and reinforced by
the intricate patterns of public discourse, power, ownership and privilege within the
economic, social and political institutions of society. (Marable 1995: 186)
Racism is the perpetuation of this hegemonic subordination which is justified by presumed
differences in physical and biological characteristics, or in theories of cultural deprivation or
intellectual inferiority (1995: 186). Textual sources in translation will be used to locate ancient
Egyptian racial discourse. The concept of colorism (Banks 2009, Hunter 2007) is used to explain
the complexity of Black identity in ancient Egyptian context. Visual portrayals of Egyptians and
Nubians in New Kingdom art depict both groups in various shades of brown which can be seen
in modern Black communities. They also reveal the intraracial colorism, a skin color bias within
a racial group (Banks 2009: 214), in this dichotomy. Thus, the Egyptian/Nubian dichotomy was
a racial opposition between two distinct Black racial groups.
Samuels 2

Bibliography
Ashton, Sally-Ann. "Curating Kemet, Fear of a Black Land?" Egypt in Its African Context:
Proceedings of the Conference Held at the Manchester Museum, University of
Manchester, 2-4 October 2009. Ed. Karen Exell. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2011. 105-14.
Print. Ashton argues that Kemet (ancient Egypt) should be accepted as a part of Black
history. This research expands on some of her observations.
Banks, Taunya Lovell. "Multilayered Racism: Courts' Continued Resistance to Colorism."
Shades of Difference: Why Skin Color Matters. Ed. Evelyn Nakano. Glenn. Stanford, CA:
Stanford UP, 2009. 213-22. Print. Banks defines colorism as a skin tone hierarchy within
a racial group, hence intraracial. This study argues that Egyptian/Nubian dichotomy fits
this definition of colorism.
Bianchi, Robert Steven. Daily Life of the Nubians. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2004. Print.
Bianchi provides a decent overview of Nubian history. However, Bianchis discussion of
Black identity is contradictory.
Grantham, Charles A. The Battle for Kemet: Critical Essays on Ancient Egypt. Chicago: Kemetic
Institute, 2003. Print. Grantham has original images of a Rameses III tomb scene where
both Egyptians and Nubians are depicted with black skin in the same context. This scene
shows that Black skin color was not exclusive to Nubians in ancient Egyptian art.
Hunter, Margaret. "The Persistent Problem of Colorism: Skin Tone, Status, and Inequality."
Sociology Compass 1.1 (2007): 237-54. Print. Hunter argues that colorism is distinct
from racism, but the two forms of discrimination are linked. This study argues that the
Egyptian/Nubian dichotomy does not fit this definition of colorism.
Samuels 3

Marable, Manning. Beyond Black and White: Transforming African-American Politics. London:
Verso, 1995. Print. This study uses Marables definition of race because it does not
oversimplify the concept as an issue of skin color. This approach, in turn, allows us to
explore the complexity of race and racism.
O'Connor, David. "Egypt's Views of Others." 'Never Had the like Occurred': Egypt's View of Its
past. Ed. W. J. Tait. London: UCL, Institute of Archaeology, 2003. 155-85. Print.
O'Connor provides a basic outline of Egyptians views of foreigners. However, he does
not engage the issue of race or ethnicity.
Redford, Donald B. From Slave to Pharaoh: The Black Experience of Ancient Egypt. Baltimore,
MD: Johns Hopkins UP, 2004. Print. Redford provides a good overview of Egyptian-
Nubian relations. However, his approach to Black identity is oversimplistic.
Shaw, Ian. "Identity: Issues of Ethnicity, Race, and Gender." Ancient Egypt: A Very Short
Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. 101-12. Print. Shaw handles the issue of race
and Black identity poorly. His approach is outdated and contradictory.
Smith, Stuart Tyson. "Race." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Ed. Donald B.
Redford. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. N. pag. 2005. Web. Smith situates race within the
context of ancient Egypt. However, his approach to race is contradictory.
Vercoutter, Jean. "The Iconography of the Black in Ancient Egypt: From Beginnings to the
Twenty-fifth Dynasty." 1976. The Image of the Black in Western Art. Ed. David
Bindman, Henry Louis Gates, and Karen C. C. Dalton. Vol. 1. Cambridge, MA: Belknap,
2010. 41-94. Print. Vercoutter assumes that Blackness was exclusive to Nubians.
However, the images in his essay show the varied depictions of Nubians in ancient
Egyptian art.