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Ancient Egyptian ethnographic "mural of the races" found in the tomb of Rameses III - Monuments from Egypt and Ethiopia by Karl Richard Lepsius (German: "Denkmaler aus Agypten und Athiopian").  French Egyptologist Champollion found similar murals in other royal tombs.

Egyptian                                               Semite                                             Other Africans                                    European

"One Picture is worth more than ten thousand words." - Chinese Proverb The hieroglyphics to the right of each figure labels each one: (Ref: The Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Vols 1&2, E.A. Budge, Dover.) Egyptian Ret (page 435a,b) = Men: We also have "ret na romé" or "We men above mankind." This ideology allows us to understand that there are actually only three races represented here; Black, White, and Semitic since the Egyptians considered themselves in a class of their own, while still showing that they belonged to the Black racial group.  Semite Namu (page 373b) =Travelers or wanderers: We also have "Namu Sho" or "People who travel the sands": Nomads or Bedu.  Other Africans Nahasu (pages 344a/386b) = Strangers or barbarians: In Wolof (Senegal), a language as close to the Ancient Egyptian language as modern Egyptian, "nahas" means "good for nothing; worthless."   European Tamhu (page 855a) = Red people: Tamh = hematite; reddish iron ore; ochre or pale yellow to red. The Black "Land" nonsense: Catechism: "The Egyptians called their country Kemet or Black after the color of the soil." Western Egyptology contrived this deception from Herodotus, “Egypt is a land of black soil…We know that Libya is a redder earth.” (Herodotus, The History, book 2:12); conveniently ignoring the fact that he also mentioned that the Egyptian people were black as well.  So, to anyone not familiar with the Ancient Egyptian language, this "Kemet = black soil" may seem plausible. It is not.  Here's what the Ancient Egyptian language has to say (Ref: EHD, page 787b.): Note: words inside brackets are the determinatives or word classifiers along with their English meanings. Kem, kame, kmi, kmem, kmom = to be black Kememu = Black people (Ancient Egyptians) in both Ancient and modern Egyptian (Kmemou). Kem [khet][wood] = extremely black, jet-black Kemet = any black thing. Note: "t" is silent - pronounced Kemé Kemet [nu][community, settlement, nation] = Black nation = Ancient Egypt.    Kemet [Romé][people] = Black people. Ancient Egyptians. Kemit [Shoit][books] = Black books, Ancient Egyptian literature.  Kem wer [miri][large body of water] = The Great Black sea (The Red sea). This sea is neither black nor red, this is in reference to which nation, Black or Red, at a particular time, controlled this body of water. Kemi fer = Black double house; seat of government. Note: by reference to Wolof again, we know that to make a plural of per or house, the "p" becomes an "f" or fer. Thus fero=great houses (double), it is not pero as Budge writes. In Ancient Egyptian, the ordinary adjective always follows the noun it modifies, whereas a sanctified adjective usually comes before its noun.  The sanctified adjectives are: Kem --  Black Suten -  Royal Nter ---  Holy, Sacred Examples: Kem ti = Black image, sacred image : ti oubash = white image  Kem ho = Black face/title of a god   : ho oubash = white face  Kem ta = Black land, holy land        : Ta deshret = Red land (also; Ta Sett) This rule does not apply when Black is used as a noun-adjective of nationality:  Hompt Kemet = copper of Black; Egyptian copper :  Hompt Sett = copper of the Red nations; Asiatic copper  Ro in Kemet (page 416a) = speech of Black; mute ro n Kemet = word of the mouth of Black; the Egyptian language    Kemet Deshret = Black and Red; good and evil; fertile and barren, etc.; Duality  Deshretu (page 554a,b) = red ones, red devils.  Used also to refer to the Namu and Tamhu; not a complimentary label. African Origins: The following Ancient Egyptian words acknowledge the origins of Pharaonic Egyptian civilization; Khentu Hon Nefer (page 554a) = founders of the Excellent Order. Budge: "peoples and tribes of Nubia and the Egyptian Sudan." For "Hon" see page 586b. Hon Nefer (page 1024b) = Excellent Order Kenus (page1024b) = mighty; brave (from Kenu, page 772a) Ta Khent (page 1051b/page 554b) = land of the beginning.  Eau (page 952b/page 17b) = the old country  Ancient Egyptian's Worldview:  The Egyptian's view of the world was the exact opposite of the current Western one. To the Egyptian, the top of the world was in the south (upper) towards the African interior, the bottom (lower) towards the north, hence upper and lower Egypt; upper and lower Syria.

How they looked in life                          "I see Black people..." Where did they come from?                 "Only ten commandments, Moses?" A Tutsi connection                                Rediscovering Ancient Egyptian Just who IS this chick Nefertiti?              Egyptian hues White folks' Egyptian madness              Cool new sites! The Story of Sinuhe                              The Origin of the Name, "Egypt" The Ancient Chronicles                         Authentic Egyptian names

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kem             (t) +  romé   Kemut    =   Black people   The Ancient Egyptians

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