Todd: with a 3000+ year history you can't state facts that remained permanent. When Egypt was formed, there is good evidence that Upper Egypt was darker skinned, more related to the Afroid groups in Nubia and Ethiopia (NOT related in any way to the W African Negroid groups) and Lower Egypt was SEmitic, a bit lighter skinned.

But the differences were hardly so pronounced, not really so visible. And as the centuries passed, Egyptians intermingled so much it woudl be difficult to call them either. They then took in Berbers, Libyans, darker skinned Nubians, lighter skinned Hyksos (sEmitics), SEmitic Assyrians, Aryan Persians and part-ARyan Greeks and Romans before being conquered by the Semitic Arabs.

Deepak said:''BEcause at the end of the last ICE age people were separated by insurmountable regions -- Negroids were separated from Caucasoids by the SAhara''

Sopdet responds: What about the Sahara during the Neolithic period when it was once more lush than today? From all studies I have read most of the Sahara up to drying around 3200-2500 B.C. was mostly negriod.

People that are still negriod live in the Saharan Oasis like the Haratin. Any comments on this?

Ancient Egypt was NOT black OR white OR Semitic etc. It was Egypt, a separate, distinct culture and people.