Is @jsalvage a descendant of the pharaohs?

▲ Two blcak princes? 😄

My young and handsome friend @jsalvage is resembles a prince!😄
That's why I like photo of two young black princes!
I was surprised that black people were beautiful.😲

@jsalvage's articles were easy to read even for a non-English speaker like me.
I felt @jsalvage's wisdom and writing skills were excellent!
I suddenly became curious about @jsalvage's country, ethnicity and lineage.

▲ A Yoruba children's cultural troupe from the 1990s

The Yoruba people (Yoruba: Ọmọ Káàárọ̀-oòjíire, Ọmọ Oòduà[13][14][15]) are an ethnic group that inhabits western Africa, mainly the countries of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The Yoruba constitute around 35 million people in Africa. The vast majority of the Yoruba population is from Nigeria, where the Yoruba make up 15.5% of the country's population,[16] making them one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. Most Yoruba people speak the Yoruba language, which is the Niger-Congo language with the largest number of native speakers.[17]

The Yoruba share borders with the very closely related Itsekiri to the south-east in the North West Niger delta (who are ancestrally related to the Yoruba, choose to maintain a distinct cultural identity), Bariba to the north in Benin and Nigeria, the Nupe also to the north and the Ebira to the northeast in central Nigeria. To the east are the Edo, Ẹsan and the Afemai groups in mid-western Nigeria. Adjacent to the Ebira and Edo groups are the related Igala people found in the northeast, on the left bank of the Niger River. To the southwest are the Gbe speaking Mahi, Gun, Fon and Ewe who border Yoruba communities in Benin and Togo. Significant Yoruba populations in other West African countries can be found in Ghana,[18][19][20] Benin,[18] Ivory Coast,[21] and Sierra Leone.[22]

The Yoruba diaspora consists of two main groupings; first were Yorubas dispersed through the Atlantic slave trade mainly to the western hemisphere and the second wave includes relatively recent migrants, the majority of whom moved to the United Kingdom and the United States after major economic and political changes in the 1960s to 1980s.[23]

I guessed @jsalvage belongs to the The Yoruba people.
The Yoruba people have brown skin and beautiful appearance.
In particular, many of them were Christians.
From the 16th century, european men who arrived in West Africa married Yoruba women and had many children of mixed race.

Watching the videos of the black pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt, I imagined that James and Stephan might be descendants of the pharaohs.😄

▲ Kushite heartland, and Kushite Empire of the 25th dynasty of Egypt, circa 700 BC

The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXV, alternatively 25th Dynasty or Dynasty 25), also known as the Nubian Dynasty, the Kushite Empire and the Black Pharaohs,[1][3] was the last dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt that occurred after the Nubian invasion.

The 25th dynasty was a line of pharaohs who originated in the Kingdom of Kush, located in present-day northern Sudan and Upper Egypt. Most of this dynasty's kings saw Napata as their spiritual homeland. They reigned in part or all of Ancient Egypt from 747–656 BC.[4][5][6][7]

The 25th Dynasty's reunification of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and Kush created the largest Egyptian empire since the New Kingdom. They assimilated into society by reaffirming Ancient Egyptian religious traditions, temples, and artistic forms, while introducing some unique aspects of Kushite culture.[8] It was during the 25th dynasty that the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids (many in what is now Sudan) since the Middle Kingdom.[9][10][11]

After the emperors Sargon II and Sennacherib defeated attempts by the Nubian kings to gain a foothold in the Near East, their successors Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal invaded, defeated and drove out the Nubians. War with Assyria resulted in the end of Kushite power in Northern Egypt and the conquest of Egypt by the Neo-Assyrian Empire. They were succeeded by the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, initially a puppet dynasty installed by and vassals of the Assyrians, the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Achaemenid Empire invaded them. The fall of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty also marks the beginning of the Late Period of ancient Egypt.

Stefan's handsome appearance and elegance are similar to those of the black pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt.

▲ Sphinx head of Shabaka, on display at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Neferkare Shabaka, or Shabako (Egyptian: 𓆷𓃞𓂓 šꜣ bꜣ kꜣ, Assyrian: Rassam cylinder Shabakuu.jpg Sha-ba-ku-u) was the third Kushite pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, who reigned from 705 to 690 BC.[3]

▲ Portrait of Taharqa, Kerma Museum

Taharqa, also spelled Taharka or Taharqo (Egyptian: 𓇿𓉔𓃭𓈎 tꜣ-h-rw-k, Neo-Assyrian: Rassam cylinder Tar-qu-u2.jpg Tar-qu-u2, Hebrew: תִּרְהָקָה‎, Modern: Tirhaqa, Tiberian: Tirehāqā, Manetho's Tarakos, Strabo's Tearco), was a pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and qore (king) of the Kingdom of Kush (present day Sudan), from 690 to 664 BC. He was one of the "Kushite Pharaohs" who ruled over Egypt for nearly a century.[4][5]

Taharqa began cultivating alliances with elements in Phoenicia and Philistia who were prepared to take a more independent position against Assyria.[29] Taharqa's army undertook successful military campaigns, as attested by the "list of conquered Asiatic principalities" from the Mut temple at Karnak and "conquered peoples and countries (Libyans, Shasu nomads, Phoenicians?, Khor in Palestine)" from Sanam temple inscriptions.[17] Torok mentions the military success was due to Taharqa's efforts to strengthen the army through daily training in long-distance running, as well as Assyria's preoccupation with Babylon and Elam.[17] Taharqa also built military settlements at the Semna and Buhen forts and the fortified site of Qasr Ibrim.[17]

Imperial ambitions of the Mesopotamian based Assyrian Empire made war with the 25th dynasty inevitable. In 701 BC, Taharqa and his army aided Judah and King Hezekiah in withstanding a siege by King Sennacherib of the Assyrians (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9).[30] There are various theories (Taharqa's army,[31] disease, divine intervention, Hezekiah's surrender, Herodotus' mice theory) as to why the Assyrians failed to take Jerusalem and withdrew to Assyria.[32] Many historians claim that Sennacherib was the overlord of Khor following the siege in 701 BC. Sennacherib's annals record Judah was forced into tribute after the siege.[33] However, this is contradicted by Khor's frequent utilization of an Egyptian system of weights for trade,[34] the 20 year cessation in Assyria's pattern (before 701 and after Sennacherib's death) of repeatedly invading Khor,[35] Khor paying tribute to Amun of Karnak in the first half of Taharqa's reign,[17] and Taharqa flouting Assyria's ban on Lebanese cedar exports to Egypt, while Taharqa was building his temple to Amun at Kawa

In 679 BC, Sennacherib's successor, King Esarhaddon, campaigned into Khor and took a town loyal to Egypt. After destroying Sidon and forcing Tyre into tribute in 677-676 BC, Esarhaddon invaded Egypt proper in 674 BC. Taharqa and his army defeated the Assyrians outright in 674 BC, according to Babylonian records.[37] This invasion, which only a few Assyrian sources discuss, ended in what some scholars have assumed was possibly one of Assyria's worst defeats.[38] In 672 BC, Taharqa brought reserve troops from Kush, as mentioned in rock inscriptions.[17] Taharqa's Egypt still held sway in Khor during this period as evidenced by Esarhaddon's 671 BC annal mentioning that Tyre's King Ba'lu had "put his trust upon his friend Taharqa", Ashkelon's alliance with Egypt, and Esarhaddon's inscription asking "if the Kushite-Egyptian forces 'plan and strive to wage war in any way' and if the Egyptian forces will defeat Esarhaddon at Ashkelon."[39] However, Taharqa was defeated in Egypt in 671 BC when Esarhaddon conquered Northern Egypt, captured Memphis, imposed tribute, and then withdrew.[16] Although the Pharaoh Taharqa had escaped to the south, Esarhaddon captured the Pharaoh's family, including "Prince Nes-Anhuret, royal wives,"[17] and most of the royal court[citation needed], which were sent to Assyria as hostages. Cuneiform tablets mention numerous horses and gold headdresses were taken back to Assyria.[17] In 669 BC, Taharqa reoccupied Memphis, as well as the Delta, and recommenced intrigues with the king of Tyre.[16] Taharqa intrigued in the affairs of Lower Egypt, and fanned numerous revolts.[40] Esarhaddon again led his army to Egypt and on his death in 668 BC, the command passed to Ashurbanipal. Ashurbanipal and the Assyrians again defeated Taharqa and advanced as far south as Thebes, but direct Assyrian control was not established."[16] The rebellion was stopped and Ashurbanipal appointed as his vassal ruler in Egypt Necho I, who had been king of the city Sais. Necho's son, Psamtik I was educated at the Assyrian capital of Nineveh during Esarhaddon's reign.[41] As late as 665 BC, the vassal rulers of Sais, Mendes, and Pelusium were still making overtures to Taharqa in Kush.[17] The vassal's plot was uncovered by Ashurbanipal and all rebels but Necho of Sais were executed.[17]

Mainstream scholars agree that Taharqa is the Biblical "Tirhakah", king of Ethiopia (Kush), who waged war against Sennacherib during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9).[44][31]

The events in the biblical account are believed to have taken place in 701 BC, whereas Taharqa came to the throne some ten years later. If the title of king in the biblical text refers to his future royal title, he still may have been too young to be a military commander.[45]

Aubin mentions that the biblical account in Genesis 10:6-7 (Table of Nations) lists Taharqa's predecessors, Shebitku and Shabako (סַבְתְּכָ֑א and סַבְתָּ֥ה).[46] Concerning Taharqa's successor, the sack of Thebes was a momentous event that reverberated throughout the Ancient Near East. It is mentioned in the Book of Nahum chapter 3:8-10:

Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea? Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers. Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains

It is assumed that the black pharaohs in biblical history prevented the destruction of Judah by the Assyrians.
The black pharaohs, who ruled Egypt for 100 years, were attacked by Assyrians and pushed back to Kush.

Taharqa, under the name "Tearco the Aethiopian", was described by the Ancient Greek historian Strabo. Strabo mentioned Taharqa in a list of other notable conquerors (Cyrus the Great, Xerxes, Sesotris) and mentioned that these princes had undertaken "expeditions to lands far remote."[47] Strabo mentions Taharqa as having "Advanced as far as Europe",[48] and (citing Megasthenes), even as far as the Pillars of Hercules in Spain:[49] Similarly, in 1534 the Muslim scholar Ibn-l-Khattib al-Makkary wrote an account of Taharqa's "establishment of a garrison in the south of Spain in approximately 702 BC."[50]

However, Sesostris, the Aegyptian, he adds, and Tearco the Aethiopian advanced as far as Europe; and Nabocodrosor, who enjoyed greater repute among the Chaldaeans than Heracles, led an army even as far as the Pillars. Thus far, he says, also Tearco went

— Strabo, Geographia, XV.1.6.[51]

The two snakes in the crown of pharaoh Taharqa show that he was the king of both the lands of Egypt and Nubia.

Greek historians recorded that the black pharaohs were great conquerors.

Psamtik II, the third ruler of the following dynasty, the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, deliberately destroyed monuments belonging to the 25th Dynasty of Kushite kings in Egypt, erasing their names and their emblems of royalty from statues and reliefs in Egypt. He then sent an army to Nubia in 592 BCE to erase all traces of their rule, during the reign of the Kushite King Aspelta. This expedition and its destructions are recorded on several victory stelae, especially the Victory Stela of Kalabsha. The Egyptian army "may have gone on to sack Napata, although there is no good evidence to indicate that they actually did so."[22]:65 This led to the transfer of the Kushite capital farther south at Meroë.[43][44]1

The Egyptians destroyed all historical records and symbols of the past when past when black pharaohs ruled Egypt.

However, in biblical history, the black pharaohs prevented the fall of Judah, and the kingdom of Judah survived for 120 years until it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
The kingdom of Judah was able to preserve the foundations of present-day Western Christian civilization by preserving the biblical records and the beliefs and traditions of Judaism until its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar.

Thus, the black pharaohs are newly recognized as heroes who defended the foundations of Western Christian civilization against Assyria.

I had an interesting imagination that my friends James and Stefan were descended from the black pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt.😄