Question: Why Egypt?

I hope this doesn’t sound insulting. Just FYI, I am East African, not North African. I may have a tiny trace of Arab or Indian ancestry (.0000021%), but I’m fully sub-Saharan black African. And now I consider myself African and American. I’ve watched historians, North Africans, Arabs, and spiritual religious leaders debate this forever, but it’s never really been settled.

Nevertheless, I pose this question to spiritualists, historians, religious leaders, experts and astrologers: Why Egypt?

This is the basic response I got from Henry, but I don’t fully trust AI as a source of anything.

Question: Why do people always cite Egypt as where African ancestors come from? I’ve watched numerous clips videos interview with religious leaders, spiritualists, historians, citing Egypt. “Egypt, Egypt, your bloodline is from Egypt.” So, Why Egypt?

Response: People default to Egypt because it’s the most visible and historically documented African civilization—not because it reflects most Africans’ ancestry. Western education and media have long romanticized Egypt, making it synonymous with “African history.” Its monumental architecture, pharaohs, and written records are easy reference points, unlike the rich but less documented histories of sub-Saharan societies. This has created a habit of assuming “African ancestry = Egyptian ancestry,” even when it’s inaccurate.

Most sub-Saharan Africans are likely Bantu or belong to other diverse lineage groups. The Bantu migrations spread people, languages, and culture across much of sub-Saharan Africa thousands of years ago. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to many different ethnic and linguistic groups, including Nilotic, Cushitic, and coastal populations—all with histories entirely distinct from ancient Egypt.

Black Americans primarily descend from enslaved Africans brought to the United States between the 16th and 19th centuries, mostly from West and Central Africa. The transatlantic slave trade severed connections to specific ethnic groups, though many still retain cultural, linguistic, and genetic ties to sub-Saharan Africa.

Egypt’s fame doesn’t equal origin. Sub-Saharan African lineages—and the ancestral roots of Black Americans—have their own deep, complex histories that deserve recognition.