[elcid1970]

Thanks for the clarification of names. I knew they were Hebrews in Egypt, Israelites in the kingdom, but I thought Jews were native to the Land of Judah. But it was Joseph’s brother Judah from whom Jews are descended? Interesting.

That’s right, the ancient Egyptians wouldn’t have survived seven years of famine without Joseph’s providence. Of course it is argued that the only inhabitants of modern Egypt who can claim direct lineage to Pharaonic Egypt are the Copts.

The rest are descended from Arabian Muslim invaders.

[Verginius Rufus]

After the Israelites conquered the Land of Canaan, the 12 tribes had specific areas, with Judah in the south (including Jerusalem). After Solomon's death the Kingdom of Israel split, with the 10 Northern tribes refusing to accept Solomon's son Rehoboam and having a series of dynasties until their kingdom was ended by the Assyrians. The southern kingdom consisted of Judah and Benjamin.

Later the land that had been the territory of Judah became known as Judaea. The Latin name Judaeus for an inhabitant of Judaea becomes "Jew" in English, but is applied to people of the Jewish faith living elsewhere (there were many Jews in Alexandria and elsewhere--the Diaspora).

The Samaritans of New Testament times were descended from the 10 Northern tribes, although it seems that the Jews assimilated members of the 10 Northern tribes as well. Luke 2.36 identifies a woman as being of the tribe of Asher. St. Paul tells us that he was a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

The Levites were scattered among the other tribes and modern DNA studies suggest that Jews who have a family tradition that their ancestors were priests do in fact share a common ancestry, presumably that of the tribe of Levi.

I think modern Jews are primarily descended from the tribe of Judah but some could be descended from the other tribes of Israel, but there may be others here who are better informed.

Long after the Arab conquest, much of the Egyptian population remained Christian. Even though the Arab language eventually replaced the Coptic language, there probably weren't that many Arabs who settled in Egypt, so even Muslim Egyptians of today may be mainly descended from the ancient Egyptians.

Of course in ancient times there were a number of invaders of Egypt--Nubians, Macedonians, etc. There were Greek-speaking towns in Egypt in the Roman period. Alexandria for a long time was off-limits to the native Egyptians and inhabited by Greek speakers (Greeks, Macedonians, and Jews). Some of these other groups may have contributed something to the ancestry of modern Egyptians.