Family resemblance

[Uiler]

History has many famous peoples e.g. Egyptians, Sumerians, Egyptians, Romans, Chinese. All of them have descendents or at least people living in the same geographic area. Looking around you today, which of these descendents do you think most closely resemble their famous ancestors e.g. looks, language, culture, religion and which ones do you think have changed so much that you find it difficult to see any sort of family resemblance.

 

[~Corsair#01~]

France, Belgium, Holland, Spain and Portugal (Romance) have completely abandoned their fanatical militant past. France especially.

Italy has abandoned it's military competence. Although extra marks for keeping the corruption.

The Germanic countries have of course been neutered by the European Union/WW2 etc., but retain some aspects of their original culture.

North Africa is completely different. South/Central Africa is exactly the same.

 

[Adso de Fimnu]

The Copts come to mind, tho' there is some debate over their claim of direct ancestry from ancient Egyptians...

 

[Plotinus]

I should think the answer would be best found in countries that have rarely been invaded/conquered or had mass immigration, allowing both racial and cultural characteristics to persist with more durability than elsewhere. Perhaps China and Japan in Asia, and Ethiopia in Africa. I suspect that nowhere in Europe or the Americas would qualify.

 

[Uiler]

Actually China was invaded many times. Not just the obvious examples like the Manchurians or the Mongolians. Many of the ruling families come from formerly border regions which a few hundred years ago would have been considered non-Chinese but were assimilated. However, non-Chinese invaders tended to be easily assimilated. Personally I think this is because the most efficient and easiest way to control many people at the time was by using a Chinese style bureaucracy with Chinese bureaucrats. Also, the constant pressure for more land due to the massive population meant that unlike the Romans, Han Chinese settlers were always eager to push into new territory, killing off or assimilating the original inhabitants in the process so most of the mass migration was on the Chinese side

Japan however I don't think was ever really invaded (except obviously for WWII) and was pretty isolated from the rest of the world except for cultural imports from China through Korea.

I should think the answer would be best found in countries that have rarely been invaded/conquered or had mass immigration, allowing both racial and cultural characteristics to persist with more durability than elsewhere. Perhaps China and Japan in Asia, and Ethiopia in Africa. I suspect that nowhere in Europe or the Americas would qualify.