Ancient Egypt was a stunningly advanced culture. When we think of it, though, we may think of light-skinned people - maybe because that’s how Egyptians have been portrayed in media, like the 1963 film “Cleopatra.”
However, during the golden ages of Egyptian history, the civilization was ruled by dark-skinned Black folks, who were closely related to a group called the Nubians - a group that American history books try to ignore.
The Nubian civilization dates back thousands of years. Nubian king and queendoms, as impressive as the Egyptian ones we’re more familiar with, flourished for centuries.
Egypt and Nubia traded power in the Nile region back-and-forth for centuries, though they also sometimes cooperated and integrated their cultures.
The hieroglyphics and art styles that we tend to associate with Egypt likely originated in Nubia. Nubians were also brilliant astronomers, creating the “oldest known astronomical alignments” in the history of the world.
There’s also evidence that the ancient Nubians also discovered antibiotics - 2,000 years before penicillin was developed!
They created architectural marvels, like pyramids and massive artistic structures. Other innovations were agricultural, like sophisticated wells that made permanent settlement near the Nile river possible.
Let’s not let the mass media convince us that a light-skinned Egypt was the only example of a great ancient African civilization - the dark-skinned Nubians were just as, if not more, impressive, and deserve our recognition as well!