Were the ancient Libyans white?

Question

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/0/0e/Lybian.jpg

http://www.britam.org/picrace/libyans2.jpg

Here above are ancient deptictions of Libyans; this serves as evidence the original inhabitants of Libya were white before the Islamic invasion and the slave trade influenced their genetics. If you disagree are there any depictions to rationalize your personal viewpoint?

Not one person here has evidence to refute my claims.

Most of the depictions of blacks on that site have captions such as, southerners bringing gifts to Egypt; Libya is not located South of Egypt. Those may have been depictions of the ancient Ethiopians or the Ancient Sudanese.

Also if you have light skin and are Caucasoid you are white period. White is not a social construct; it is a phenotype.

Ancient Egyptians were not white; however I am speaking of ancient Libyans.

African is not a race; it is a continent.

Answer 1

For those who claim that Libyans are from Africa so there fore they were black, that is a widespread misconception among Americans that what is African is black and what is black is African. That couldn't be further from the truth. Merely having olive skin and dark hair does not make one black, and classifying the hundreds of millions of people in the region as such disregards their unique cultural and ethno-linguistic traditions. Yes more then half of Africans in Africa are black BUT almost 40% of Africans are not, they are of Arab or Mediterranean or European descent. Africa is far more diverse than the Afrocentrists and Eurocentrics would have us believe. Also to the ancients the term "Africa" that most associate with meaning "black" today did not exist. Africa is a late Roman terminology used to describe the Northern regions of Africa and the term did not mean a person who was "black" to them. The ancient Greeks and Romans called people who were 'black' "Aithiopes" or "Burnt-Faced People" all people who lived South of Egypt and in the Southern fringes of Northwest Africa. The Northern African regions of Libya and Egypt were considered "Near East" in ancient times and the people who lived there were never referred to as "Ethiopians" the term used by the ancient Greeks or the Romans to describe "Burnt-Faced People" meaning "black people". Libya's coastal plain was inhabited by Neolithic people who were absorbed by the Berbers. The Berber tribes were as 'racially' diverse as any number of Africans today, the ones in Northern Africa appeared closer to Caucasian than ******* yet there also other Berber tribes who lived in the Southern regions who were a clear sub-Saharan black admixture. The Nile provided an easy road from the equator through the Sahara desert yet crossing the arid central Sahara to Carthage and Northern Africa was much harder, especially before the domestication of the camel. The area known in modern times as Libya was occupied by a series of people in ancient times who were as diversed as most groups of people are and came in all shapes, forms and colors, from the Berbers, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, the Byzantine and the Ottomans which explains the wide range of people found in modern Libya today. The ancient Libyans were not "white" Europeans but they sure as heck were not sub-Saharan "black" either and this is proven by both ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman writers who describe ancient Libyans lighter skinned then Southern African tribes and never use the term "Aithiopes" that they would apply to other black African people towards the Libyans.

And to those who claimed that "whites" can't live in hot climates; that must be one the stupidest things I've ever heard, and I've heard some stupid ones from Eurocentrics. It seems that ignorance of world history is a universal American trait, shared by many, regardless of their race and ethnicity. This coming from an American(me).

Answer 2

Ancient Libyans

Answer 3

Modern Egyptians are direct descendants of ancient Egyptians and they looked pretty much the same. Ancient Egyptians were speaking a language similar to Coptic, not Arabic, but similar. Arabic has been spoken in Egypt since 7th century AD, but Egyptians still have their own distinct dialect. Mitochondrial DNA of Egyptians shows that they are something between white and black race, perhaps closer to whites. You're right about Arabs, being an Arab is passed by language, not by one's actual race. I speak Arabic so I'm often claimed by Arabs and mostly I don't have problems with that, as long as they respect my culture.

Answer 4

The Libyans were Black without a shadow of a doubt. Trying to claim that they were white or anything other than black is a bald face lie. The word Libya is a Greek word meaning "the land of North Africa West of Egypt" ,but the Hebrews considered the people of this land to be Hamites (Black Africans). All Hamites are descendants of their progenitor Ham who was a Black African man. We find that the Hebrew word for Libya is Phut ,Ham's third son(Genesis 10:6 and I Chronicles 1:8).

Answer 5

Girl, you need to get off your soapbox and open your eyes to the REAL world.

Why are you so insecure about yourself? Are you ashamed of where you come from? Why does it matter what color the Libyan were . . a rather dumb question really.

Everyone on this Earth is a "Mix" to some point.
LOVE yourself and stop spewing this hateful filth.

(I love being a "Martini": I don't have to worry about getting a tan and I adore my heavy, thick hair.)

Look in the mirror and find somethiNg positive to say for a change!

Answer 6

They are certainly lighter than most sub-saharan africans, but notice the texture of the beards and the cornrow styling of the hair. Also, these are obviously depictions of royal figures. I suspect that even in ancient times, the lighter-skinned africans tended to be elevated to royal status in some cultures. I have not studied any archeological evidence, but I suspect that the ancient Libyans had a wide range of skin tone.

Answer 7

Your DNA says who you are. The people of Lybia were African. "White"s do not come from Africa though I belive they wish they did! The Grimaldi People were the first human population in Europe and came up and out of Africa. The notion that whites originated in Africa is misguided. First one would think that they'd be first in Europe at least. Review the history of human origins!

Answer 8

libyans are orginly a pure arabs who moved from what is called now ksa to libya before islam and many of them have a light skin 87% from libyans are pure arabs from bno salem and bno hilal tripes and 13% from libyan are betwen barbar and twareq and tuppo and greeks and turks and romans

Answer 9

That's b/c this is a pointless argument. Do you have a question or are you trying to prove to everyone who will listen that Africa was white?

Since you already know it ALL, then you don't need anyone to refute your claims do you.

Answer 10

Maybe they were white. Maybe they weren't white. And what's your point? Just because you seem to have a problem accepting your Mideastern identity doesn't mean you can pass off a lie on other people. Learn to love yourself as you are. You are a descendant of people of color. You are not a European descendant.

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Thanks to TICKME for that wonderful website. It's very interesting as well as informative.

Answer 11

You need some mental help. I've read your questions almost everyday for the past month. You always talk about how you want to be white and talk about how you hate being middle eastern......every day it is "am i white?" or "were they white?"