The origins of the Balkan Egyptians are obscure, but some Balkan historians trace the origin of Balkan Egyptians to the
Iron Age, citing vague references in
Herodotus of the presence of
Khener, an
Ancient Egyptian dance group in the region. They also attribute archaeological structures in the area, notably in modern
Ohrid and
Bitola, as temples of the
Goddess Isis, but the
Mysteries of Isis was widespread in the
Greco-Roman world.; other versions are that after the
Ottoman–Egyptian invasion of Mani, Egyptian soldiers went to Albania. However, historians maintain that during the Ottoman era the Balkan Egyptians and other Balkan Roma were part of a single community that was called by the Ottomans
Kıbti (literally '
Copts'), reflecting the same group encompassed by the English ethnonym for the Roma ("Gypsies"). They see the alternate origins as part of a larger phenomenon whereby groups such as the Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians, as part of an effort to achieve greater civil emancipation and to escape anti-Roma prejudice, made an effort to separate themselves from other Roma and constructed a novel history for their peoples. A 14th-century reference to a placename (Агѹповы клѣти,
Agupovy klěti) in the
Rila Charter of
Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria was thought by some authors, such as
Konstantin Josef Jireček, to be related to the Balkan Egyptians. In 1990, an Egyptian association was formed in Ohrid, from which sprung the
Egyptian Liberal Party of North Macedonia, which was attended by representatives from different Balkan countries.{{cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/ibp/source/fs_1_10.5.pdf|title=History of the Balkan Egyptians|author=Rubin Zemon ==History of Ashkali==