In the 19th century, as an application of scientific racism, Europeans classified the "Hamitic race" as a sub-group of the Caucasian race, alongside the Semitic race, grouping the non-Semitic populations native to North Africa, the Horn of Africa and South Arabia, including the Ancient Egyptians. According to their Hamitic theory, this "Hamitic race" was superior to or more advanced than Negroid populations of Sub-Saharan Africa. In its most extreme form, in the writings of C. G. Seligman, it asserted that all significant achievements in African history were the work of "Hamites" who migrated into central Africa as pastoralists, bringing technologies and civilizing skills with them. In the early twentieth century, theoretical models of Hamitic languages and of Hamitic races were intertwined.


"Apart from relatively late Semitic influence...the civilizations of Africa are the civilizations of the Hamites, its history is the record of these peoples and of their interaction with the two other African stocks, the Negro and the Bushmen, whether this influence was exerted by highly civilized Egyptians or by such wider pastoralists as are represented at the present day by the Beja and Somali....The incoming Hamites were pastoral 'Europeans' - arriving wave after wave - better armed as well as quicker witted than the dark agricultural Negroes."[5][6]


The “Hamitic race” was regarded as being composed of all those native speakers of Afro-Asiatic languages (at the time called Hamito-Semitic languages) who were not Semitic. The Semitic languages area is shown in orange on this map. The other languages shown were collectively called the “Hamitic languages”. Sometimes other groups were regarded as “Hamitic” as well, as discussed in the article.

Born in London, Seligman studied medicine at St Thomas' Hospital. After several years as a physician and pathologist, he volunteered his services to the 1898 Cambridge University expedition to the Torres Strait.[3] He later joined expeditions to New Guinea (1904), Ceylon (1906-1908), and Sudan (1909-1912, again in 1921-1922).


Seligman is most remembered for his detailed ethnographical work Races of Africa[citation needed] (1930), which recognises four major distinct races of the African continent: Bushmanoids (Bushmen), Pygmies, Negroids, and Caucasoids (Hamites). The Hottentots, Seligman maintains are a mixture of Bushmanoid, Negroid and Hamitic.[4] As a staunch proponent of the Hamitic theory, in his work Seligman asserts that Caucasoid North and East African Hamites were responsible for introducing non-Semitic Afro-Asiatic languages (Berber-Cushitic-Egyptian) into Africa, as well as civilization, technology and all significant cultural developments. In his book, Seligman states his belief that:

"Apart from relatively late Semitic influence...the civilizations of Africa are the civilizations of the Hamites, its history is the record of these peoples and of their interaction with the two other African stocks, the Negro and the Bushmen, whether this influence was exerted by highly civilized Egyptians or by such wider pastoralists as are represented at the present day by the Beja and Somali....The incoming Hamites were pastoral 'Europeans' - arriving wave after wave - better armed as well as quicker witted than the dark agricultural Negroes."[5][6]



Following Giuseppe Sergi's (1901) classification of the Hamites, Seligman divides the Hamites into two groups: (a) "Eastern Hamites" and (b) "Northern Hamites". The former include the "ancient and modern Egyptians... the Beja, the Berberines (Barbara and Nubians), the Galla, the Somali, the Danakil and... Ethiopians". The latter branch includes the Berbers and the "Taureg and Tibu of the Sahara, the Fulbe of Western Sudan and the extinct Guanche of the Canary Islands".[7]

So by the logic of the negroids who call themselves black, because a scientist gave them that label, what do you say if that same scientist called Somalis Caucasian Hamites


Why is it ok that we throw away the label Caucasian which this white racist anthropologist gave us and take the label he gave you which is negroid/black?


Cant blame this old man for trying to take credit for somali beuty, bravery, history

Nonsense, Even with all the corruption and under development in nigeria, we are still better off, than your so called hamitic or cushitic somalia, im typing this from my apartment in my black country nigeria, while u the so called hamitic is a refugee in another man's country america, if somalis like let them claim to be whites, but one thing i know is that we black nigerians will still be better than them.

ebamma: Nonsense, Even with all the corruption and under development in nigeria, we are still better off, than your so called hamitic or cushitic somalia, im typing this from my apartment in my black country nigeria, while u the so called hamitic is a refugee in another man's country america, if somalis like let them claim to be whites, but one thing i know is that we black nigerians will still be better than them.

well i think history speaks for itself, somalis came to america in an airplane 15 years ago, and we are starting to go back as we have peace now


your people came to america in shackles and in boats, and have no identity

somalia5:
So by the logic of the negroids who call themselves black, because a scientist gave them that label, what do you say if that same scientist called Somalis Caucasian Hamites


Why is it ok that we throw away the label Caucasian which this white racist anthropologist gave us and take the label he gave you which is negroid/black?


Cant blame this old man for trying to take credit for somali beuty, bravery, history

so you'll be ok with whatever your are called right?

I believe that Pure Tutsis looks like a sub-group of the caucasians ( facial features).