Ethnic Makeup of the Ancient Egyptians, Israelites, and Hyksos Ethnic Makeup of the Ancient Egyptians, Israelites, and Hyksos A comparative look at the peoples of the Nile and the Levant in the New Kingdom period (18th–19th Dynasties). Ethnic Makeup of the Ancient Egyptians The Egyptians of the New Kingdom (ca. 1550–1189 BC) were primarily a Northeast African population rooted in the Nile Valley. Their features reflected a mixture of indigenous Saharan, Nubian, and Nile Delta ancestry. Genetic studies of royal mummies and skeletal remains reveal a population connected to both Sub-Saharan Africa and the ancient Near East, consistent with Egypt’s geographic position as a crossroads of Africa and Asia. Royal families often intermarried with foreign princesses to cement alliances. For example, Amenhotep III married women from Mitanni and later Ramesses II married Hittite royalty. This resulted in foreign admixture at the highest levels of society, though the g...
Where Are We on the Biblical Timeline? Where Are We on the Biblical Timeline? Understanding time, prophecy, and God’s big picture plan in light of Scripture and history. The Big Framework 2 Peter 3:8 says that “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” Many Bible students take this to mean that human history unfolds in a pattern of seven thousand-year “days” that parallel the seven days of creation. Six days of human labor and history, followed by a seventh “Sabbath day” of rest — the millennial reign of Christ. Where Are We Now? According to the Hebrew calendar, the year is currently 5785 (as of 2025). If the calendar is accurate, humanity is approaching the close of the sixth “day.” That would place us near the threshold of the seventh millennium, often associated with the reign of Christ on Earth. The Margin of Error Here’s where it gets interesting. Scholars and historians...