A European Facebook user said:”The ancient Egyptians didn’t know where they came from. They had no records before 3,500 BCE.”

A European Facebook user said:”The ancient Egyptians didn’t know where they came from. They had no records before 3,500 BCE.”

A European Facebook user said:”The ancient Egyptians didn’t know where they came from. They had no records before 3,500 BCE.”

Let’s break this down, because the claim that the ancient Egyptians didn’t know where they came from is beyond absurd—it’s like saying Shakespeare didn’t know he wrote plays. The Egyptians were master chroniclers. They invented some of the earliest forms of writing, including hieroglyphics, specifically to record their history, mythology, and cultural heritage.

Here’s the airtight evidence:

1. Written Records of Origins: The Egyptians clearly documented their origins in the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and other inscriptions. These texts repeatedly mention regions in Africa, such as Ta-Neteru (the “Land of the Gods”), which corresponds to modern-day Eritrea and Somalia, and Ta-Akhet (the “Land of the Horizon”), located in Chad. They also referenced places like Punt (believed to be in the Horn of Africa) and Nubia, their southern neighbor. These were not mythical places but actual geographic regions that connected Egypt to its African heritage.
2. Egyptian Mythology Confirms African Origins: According to Egyptian mythology, their gods and ancestors came from the south, deep within Africa. For instance, the god Osiris, central to Egyptian religion, was said to have traveled from the south. This is not a culture lost in its own identity; these are people who were intimately aware of their roots.
3. Archaeological Evidence: Modern archaeology has confirmed that the flow of migration and cultural influence into Egypt came from Africa, not the so-called “Middle East.” The pre-dynastic cultures of Egypt, such as the Badarian and Naqada cultures, show clear African origins, with strong cultural and trade links to Nubia and the rest of Africa. So, not only did the Egyptians know their origins, but archaeology backs it up.
4. Modern Genetics: Genetic studies have further confirmed the African origins of the ancient Egyptians. The genetic markers of mummies trace their ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. Egyptians didn’t “pop up” out of nowhere; they emerged from the African continent, as both their records and modern science affirm. They trace back to the single nucleotide polymorphism M168, the Y-DNA Haplogroup subclade E-M35, and the mtDNA subclades L0-L7.
5. Egyptians Themselves Told Us: Let’s be very clear—the ancient Egyptians wrote down where they came from. They identified with Africa and referred to other African lands as part of their extended cultural sphere. For someone today to claim the Egyptians didn’t know their origins is essentially saying the Egyptians didn’t understand their own identity—an identity they preserved for thousands of years in texts, monuments, and religious beliefs.

Ancient Egyptian creation myths evolved over time, with each major city contributing its own interpretation. The earliest center, Nabta Playa (7500–3400 BCE), established rituals tied to the heavens, influencing later cosmologies. In Abydos (4000–3200 BCE), Osiris, the god of death and rebirth, linked human origins to divine regeneration. In Hermopolis (c. 3000 BCE), the Ogdoad stirred the primordial waters, bringing forth life. By the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BCE), Heliopolis introduced Atum, who self-created and birthed the gods who then populated the Earth. Meanwhile, in Memphis, Ptah used thought and speech to create the universe. In the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BCE), Khnum at Elephantine fashioned humans from Nile clay. Finally, in Thebes (c. 1550–1070 BCE), Amun created life through his hidden power, while Neith in Esna (c. 664–332 BCE) wove the universe into existence. These evolving myths showcase a growing complexity in understanding creation, yet all firmly tied to Africa. None of the cities or locations of creation of mankind they mentioned were outside Africa.

Other documents which point to even earlier times also kept the origins of humans to Africa. In the Pyramid Texts, they refer to Ta-Neteru, the “Land of the Gods,” which corresponds to the region now known as Eritrea and Somalia. They also mentioned Ta-Akhet, the “Land of the Horizon” or “Land of the Ancestors” located in Chad, according to the inscriptions at Gebel El Uweinat. Other texts point to Punt, which scholars now place in the Horn of Africa, Yam in modern-day Sudan, and Wawat, also in Nubia. Napata, located in present-day Sudan, was another important center tied to Egyptian ancestry. These places, each deep in the African continent, were venerated as their cultural and spiritual origin. Not a single one of these sacred cities or regions is outside Africa.

Secondly sources like Plato and Aristotle confirmed that the ancient Egyptians knew their own history.

So no, the ancient Egyptians were not clueless about their origins. They left detailed records, tied themselves to African lands, and have been backed by modern archaeology and genetics. The only ones confused about where the Egyptians came from are those who continue to ignore the overwhelming evidence in favor of their African heritage.