Also, was there a racial hierarchy? Were the pharaohs a different race than common people and slaves?
Race is a very slippery concept. Keep in mind that in the ancient world people thought much less in terms of race or even skin color than they did of civilized vs. barbarian. I talked about this previously here: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1nv1aa/during_ancient_greek_and_roman_times_how_were/
The ancient Egyptians were certainly darker than the people of say, modern Sweden. On the other hand, portrayals of them as looking like the people of, say, modern Kenya are likewise inaccurate.
If you look at Egyptian art, it's easy to see in their depiction of Nubians (people from further south) people who look a lot like black Africans of today. The Egyptians saw themselves as looking different from Nubians, and portrayed themselves that way in art.
In all likelihood, the people of modern Egypt looked a lot like they do today: darker than the people of Western Europe, lighter than the people of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Also, was there a racial hierarchy? Were the pharaohs a different race than common people and slaves?
Well, firstly, what exactly do you mean by “Ancient Egyptians”? Since you mention the Pharaohs, I am assuming that you are referring to the Dynastic Period culture in the Nile Valley, (Pyramids, Sphinx, etc), and not the Pre-Dynastic period cultures which flourished in the Nile Valley beforehand. So, the period I’ll be talking about is from 3200 BC, or around the unification of the Upper and Lower Egypt, to 30 BC, when Egypt was finally overshadowed by Rome.
To deal with your question in the title, as to the reason why you see the appearance of the Ancient Egyptians differ in various media outlets, that’s more than likely because since the start of modern Egyptology (during Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt), there has been at least 1 attempt (and probably more) to attach the Ancient Egyptians to one culture or another. There’s the Caucasian Hypothesis, the Mesopotamian Hypothesis, The Asiatic Hypothesis, the Black Hypothesis, the Mixed Race Hypothesis, and so on. The reason for this is primarily the Dynastic Egyptians economic, architectural, and scientific achievements. Put bluntly, the Dynastic Egyptians built a bunch of really cool stuff, so everyone wants to claim them as their own.
The problem with this is that the concept of “Race” is a functionally useless term and has been pretty much abandoned by modern historical scholarship (with excellent reason, might I add). Cultures and ethno-linguistic groups are the common rule of the day now, so trying to attach any one “race” to the Dynastic Egyptians is a fruitless exercise.
The Ancient Egyptians were not a “race”; as Yurco, Zakrzewski, Massoulard, Wilkinson, and other modern Egyptologists point out; they were culturally and linguistically contiguous group that arose around the Nile from pre-existing Pre-Dynastic cultures. As the Pre-Dynastic culture populations increased, increasingly more sophisticated governing schemes and structures were called for; as their cultures, governments, and economies become more complex, you see the rise of what is today considered Upper and Lower Egypt, until their unification around 3150 BC, most probably by Narmer (although other possibilities exist.)
Now, since there was no real “race”, there was no real “racial hierarchy”.
EXCEPT….
Ancient Egypt sat on probably the most important trade line out of Africa: The Nile. As such, during weak points during the Dynastic Period, Egypt was a rich target for invading foreign cultures. There are several good examples of this, namely the invading Hyksos culture, who invaded Egypt and founded the 15th and 16th Dynastis, and Nubians, who invaded around the 25th Dynasty. In the case of the Hyksos Dynasties, there may well have been a cultural separation between the Hyksos overlords and their Native subjects. However, artifacts from the period indicate that the Hyksos Pharoahs attempted to “fit in” amongst their subjects but adopting large parts of the pre-existing culture. This wasn’t entirely effective, however, as the native Egyptian aristocracy would eventually mobilize and drive them out, thus starting the native run 17th Dynasty. The Nubians, however, were not driven out by native resistance, but instead were driven out by Assurbanipal of the Assyrians, who then took over most of what is now Egypt and then established a bunch of client Kings to govern Egypt with his approval. That lasted a short time, however, before the Assyrians finally crumbled before the might of Persia, and the petty native Assyrian client dynasties of Egypt followed suit. The Persians were firmly in control of Egypt until 332 B.C. In this case, there was definite instance of a wide social gulf between the natives and the Persian rulers; Herodotus and other Greek writers note in several instances that the ancient Egyptians were semi-notorious for being xenophobic; that combined with Persian economic policies towards that area meant that the native Egyptian aristocracy and lower social classes were very unhappy. Unhappy enough to greet the invading Greeks under Alexander the Great. The Greek Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt lasted until 30 BC, when it was finally smashed under Rome.
TL:DR: “Race” is a worthless term in terms of history. The Ancient Egyptians were a cultural and linguistic group that arose from pre-existing cultures in the Nile area. Their culture evolved and developed over the course of about 3000 years, until finally falling to Rome.
here are a bunch of previous related posts (in no particular order)
Were black people the ruling class in ancient Egypt?
What skin color did Ancient Egyptians have?
Did Ancient Egyptians have black skin?
What was the racial composition of Ancient Egypt?
What was the primary ethnic or racial group in Ancient Egypt?