Did moses look like an Ethiopian?

Answer 1

Of course not. This kind of speculation crops up from time to time and is based upon wishful thinking and lack of research.

Tradition states that Moses was tall (Rashi commentary, Talmud Berakhot 54b), beautiful (Avoth d'Rabbi Nathan 9:2), and he wasn't skinny (Rashi commentary, Talmud Kidushin 33b).

He was born in Egypt, but that proves nothing concerning his skin color, since he had two Israelite parents. The Israelites did not "mix" (have sexual relations) with the Egyptians (Rashi commentary, Numbers ch.26).

Just as today, Israelites came in differing skin-tones, heights, and body-types. Our tradition is that the twelve sons of Jacob (the 12 Tribes) were not completely similar to each other in appearance, though none of them was really dark-skinned (Rashi commentary on Genesis 12:11).

Abraham and Sarah came from southern Iraq and their wider family from northern Iraq. Since DNA tests have shown that Jews intermarried infrequently throughout history, Abraham and his Israelite descendants, including Moses, looked like Jews today.

DNA testing of Jewish communities worldwide has shown that they are all interrelated and of Middle Eastern genetics, not African or Egyptian.

In 2000, the analysis of a report by Nicholas Wade "provided genetic witness that Jewish communities have, to a remarkable extent, retained their biological identity separate from their host populations, evidence of relatively little intermarriage or conversion into Judaism over the centuries. The results accord with Jewish history and tradition."

The only exception to this is the Ethiopian Jews, who show only a trace of DNA connection to other Jewish communities. Western ethnologists today hold the view that the Jews of Gondar (Ethiopia) either emerged from a Judaizing strain among Ethiopian Christians, or were converted by Yemeni Jews who crossed the Red Sea. A study by Professors Lucotte and Smets has shown that the genetic father of Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) was close to the Ethiopian non-Jewish populations.

Answer 2

No. He was an Israelite; and both his parents and all of his grandparents were Israelites. They were of Middle Eastern complexion, ranging from light to olive-skinned.