Call For Papers: The African Worldview in the Context of ciK

[imhotep06]

Call For Papers: The African Worldview in the Context of ciKam-cikùlù (Ancient Kemet),Vol. I

Editor: Asar Imhotep | Madu-Ndela Institute for the Advancement of Science and Culture

Contact Email: [e-mail]

Call: The African Worldview in the Context of ciKam-cikùlù (Ancient Kemet), Vol. I seeks submissions that explore new interpretations of existing data and/or presents new findings, theories, and methodologies in the field of Africana Studies in relation to ancient ciKam (km.t/Kemet). Volume I seeks to refine and expand an authentic African-centered framework for research, inquiry and analysis with the goal of developing action-oriented solutions to issues facing the global African community.

Summary: The African school of Egyptology has come a long ways since the days of Martin Delany (1879), Anténor Firmin (1885), Lilias Homburger (1949), Yosef ben Jochannan (1989), Cheikh Anta Diop (1977), Theophile Obenga (1993), and Jacob Carruthers (1995). The works of these pioneering researchers have opened a line of communication with inner Africa—this as a result of a critical engagement with primary texts—that has helped to resituate ancient ciKam back into its proper African context; this in spite of the aspirations of the colonial school of Egyptology to take Africans out of Egypt, Egypt out of Africa, and Africa out of world history.

Ancient ciKam has been the historical and conceptual grounding upon which African scholars have sought to better understand the historical and cultural development of modern African societies. But what can modern indigenous African cultures and languages possibly reveal about the ancient Kemetic worldview(s) as expressed through its literature and motifs, given the establishment of the deep cultural unity of Black Africa (Diop 1963, 1977, 1989; Obenga 1993; Chami 2006 )? With the assumption of a shared genetic, linguistic, and cultural unity in Africa, what epistemological strategies have been developed in the African school of Egyptology, and what new insights and theories have emerged as a result of these methodologies and perspectives?

The Work: We invite chapters that are historically based, current event inspired from a variety disciplines and methodological approaches. While we encourage submissions that address one of the following themes below, we also welcome other topics that speak explicitly to the concept of Kemet in its African Context.

Chapters/Themes (in their broader sense):

History/Political
Linguistics (typology, historical comparative, phonology, etc.)
Philosophy (Kemetic thought in relation to quantum field theory, cosmology and the shaping of culture, etc.)
Anthropology/Sociology (social dynamics, kingship, kinship relations, etc.)
Archeology (analysis of new finds, reinterpretations of old finds, etc.)
Philology (textual criticism, translation of texts, etc.)
Theology/religion (divinities, rituals, divination, etc.)
Science/technology (genetics, architecture, mathematics, astrophysics, medicine, etc.)
Comparative (important commonalities/distinctions between ciKam and the rest of Africa, etc.)
Submission Details:

Please submit your chapter abstract, C.V. and questions to Asar Imhotep ([e-mail]) by January 10, 2015. Please make sure that all abstracts and vitas are attached as a word document.

Initial abstracts will be reviewed by Asar Imhotep (Madu-Ndela Institute for the Advancement of Science and Culture)

Those selected will be notified by February 2015 and asked to submit a full chapter draft by April 2015.

cfp categories:

african-american

african

cultural_studies_and_historical_approaches

ethnicity_and_national_identity

film_and_television

interdisciplinary

journals_and_collections_of_essays

linguistics

anthropology

philology

egyptology

Asar Imhotep (Mujilu MuTapa)
[e-mail]
www.asarimhotep.com

[imhotep06]

Just a reminder that the date for abstract submission is coming up. I would hurry up and get it in.

[MorolongDithabeng]

Does ciKam-ciKulu  mean Ancient Keme-t? and is the 'Ci' prefix a feminine marker? . Is there a similar naming style or use of prefix within the Bantu languages? Allow me to show the inter-connectedness of the Bantu languages and that a naming style cannot happen in isolation within this language group.

© Using a simple and easy to understand approach so as to encourage participation, let us then begin with the word BANTU which serve as the morpheme(affix) for any tribe or sub-tribe name. Bantu languages are best known in English without their class prefix (Swahili, Zulu, Tswana, Ndebele), but are sometimes used with their (language-specific) prefix (Kiswahili, IsiZulu, Setswana, Sindebele). Other prefix are ‘Ci’, ‘Chi’, ‘Lu’, ‘Ru’, ‘Tshi’, ‘Xi’ etc... One would then say Kiswahili or Seswahili and Kitswana or Setswana and Cichewa or Chichewa and Xitsonga or Citsonga.©

The ‘Mu’ from Muntu or ‘Ba’ from Bantu becomes the grammatical element that is combined with a word, stem, or phrase to produce derived and inflected forms, unless a tribe uses an epithet to identify themselves which I will explain later on. This mean the Bantu-Tswana = Batswana, Bantu-Sotho = Basotho, Bantu-Rozwi = Barozwi, Batwa, Baganda, Bahutu, Batutsi, Banyankole, Bahima, Bahororo, Bakiga etc... This is also true with the most isolated groups like the Bantu-Nyoro = Banyoro, Munyoro = 1 person and Runyoro = language. Banyarwanda like Batswana is a name or term used to refer to a number of tribes, uMunyarwanda = 1 person, Kinyarwanda = language; it literally means "those who come from Rwanda" meaning the people of Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa.©


From the Book: Linguistic ties between ancient Egyptian and Bantu : uncovering symbiotic affinities and relationships in vocabulary by Fergus Sharman
Chapter 13, page: 181

Click image to enlarge

Ancient Egyptian: KHNT (KHU-NTA) In the front - the beginning - land south of Egypt

Note the following similarities from the Bantu-SothoTswana words

Ntlha = Point

Kontlha = At the edge/horn or ‘towards the place at the tip or point’

Kwantlha = The 1st or initial place/spot

Kontlheng = At the beginning

Kwantlhaneng = At the tip (the -ng is the locative suffix)



 Click image to enlarge

In the Sotho-Bantu languages the San-Khoi people of Southern Africa are called ‘Barwa’ and in Zulu and other Great Lakes area Bantu languages they are known as ‘Batwa’. The inflected form of a word often contains both a free morpheme (a unit of meaning which can stand by itself as a word), and a bound morpheme (a unit of meaning which cannot stand alone as a word). The word for (resting)place in Sesotho-Tswana is –felo(Lefelo) or –tulo(Bodulo). Felo la (place or territory of) Basotho is called Le-sotho and Tulo ya (place or territory of) Batswana is called ‘Bo-tswana’. So the place or territory of Barwa is Bo-rwa and it is how places or territory are named in most Bantu languages. This is more to do with referring a territory of a particular group than it is to do with a direction. Bakone is another tribe that came from the Northern lands, so Bokone has now become synonymous with a Western definition of North as a direction, Afrika Bokone = North Africa.©

But in reality the Bakone venerate the Drakensberg Siskin, a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is an endemic resident breeder in the eastern Cape Province Transkei and western Natal in South Africa, and in Lesotho. As you can see from the distribution map below, the bird is native to the Lesotho area which is nowhere near a Northerly direction but more of a Southern-Easterly one. This suggest the Bakone stayed for a significant number of years there before adopting the bird as their totem and were probably referred to as coming from Bo-kone by other local Bantu groups. This says to me the Batswana who interacted with Barwa referred to their place of origin as the ‘Territory of the Rwa’ (Borwa), and the Basotho who interacted with Bakone referred to their place of origin as the ‘Territory of the Kone’ (Bokone). And since we have Batwa of the Great lakes areas, Borwa could also be used to refer to North Africa (Africa Bokone) and vice versa, Bokone could also be used to refer to South Africa (Africa Borwa) because for Bantu people in eGapta, Sudan, Uganda, DRC and Zambia, the land of Bakone today is in a Southerly direction of their territories. ©


 

For example in Uganda, we have Baganda from Buganda(territory/kingdom), other similar type names are Bujumbura capitol of Burundi, Buyamba, Butambala, Bugesera and Burera etc... Again as explained earlier, we have Bunyoro(territory), Banyoro(people), Munyoro(person) and Runyoro(language), in Southern Africa we have Borwa(territory), Barwa(people), Morwa(person) and Sesarwa(language). Another naming trait is on Banyarwanda like Batswana is a name or term used to refer to a number of tribes, uMunyarwanda = 1 person, Kinyarwanda = language; it literally means "those who come from Rwanda" meaning the people of Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa.©



Click image to enlarge

Examples still in use today: Kwazulu, Kampala, Kabale, Katima (mulilo) etc... Katuna is a town in Kabale District of Uganda, in Kinyarwanda language the town is called Gatuna, this is the most common style of naming towns and homesteads in the Limpopo province of South Africa. We have Gaskhukhune, Gamokopane, Gamarishane etc... and in Sotho-Tswana language; 'Golgotha' the biblical place where Jesus was crucified is Galegata, literally meaning 'place of(ga) the skull (legata)' ©

However, the word ZULU unlike MAMA, cannot in its true sense be given as KUZULU in any different Bantu language because it as an epithet that is added to royal names: Shaka-Zulu, Dinu-Zulu, Bheku-Zulu and many others before them. In old Bantu tradition, royal names were followed or preceded by Epithets; a descriptive literary device that describes a place, a thing or a person in such a way that it helps in making the characteristics of a person, thing or place more prominent than they actually are. Also, it is known as a by-name or descriptive title as in Nebu-Maat-Re (meaning Ra, lord of truth) or a more contemporary one of the Prophet Muhammed followed by the phrase ‘peace be upon him’. Other ancient Egyptian examples are Amen-hotep, Ra-hotep, Ptah-hotep, Montu-hotep , Thut-mose, Ah-mose, Wadj-mose, Amen-mose etc. so one wouldn’t say KUHOTEP or KUMOSE because it doesn’t make any literal sense but KUMUNTU or KUBANTU makes more sense.©

That being said, ZULU is a rather mystical term which became simply understood as meaning ‘Heaven’ or a place of the stars. In true essence it is a Bantu scientific term if there’s such a thing, and it speaks of a place from whence all matter or things emanates, a place the western world would refer to as a “portal”. It is a metaphysical place believed to be where the masculine(male) forms come from, a place personified through man on earth, the image of God the first and last. The zulu on man is recorded in the Bible as the side where Eve came from as much as man come through woman, all things visible emanates from this dimension called iZulu.©

This belief is also extended by how the male person view themselves in the order of life. From the word Muntu-Bantu the following word cases are formed: uMuntu + ana (diminutive suffix) = uMntwana(child)-aBantwana and uMfazi (woman)-aBafazi but this class cannot be applied to male persons: instead iNdoda(man)-aMadoda singular and plural cases have a relation to the word Zulu which further help us understand how the male person viewed themselves in the creation hierarchy. We do not have aBazulu or aBadoda but rather aMazulu & aMadoda(plural) and iZulu & iNdoda(singular) and since this denotes a place of some kind, ‘eZulwini’ is in reference to this “place” meaning at ‘Heaven’ or at the place of the stars/lights. This could also be linked to the etymology of eGapta (Egypt) meaning the place or sanctuary of Ptah, eThiopia and eRitrea. (will explain in detail later on) ©

For example in Nguni languages (Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Swati) the city of Cape Town is called eKapa, Durban is called eThekwini, Port Elizabeth is called eBayi, the city of Johannesburg is called eGoli meaning 'the place of Gold and the town of Witbank is called eMalahleni meaning 'place of coals'. ©

uBaba Credo Mutwa’s name ‘Vusamazulu’ is simply understood as meaning ‘Awakener of the Zulus’ of which ‘zulu’ in this context refer to people, but the true meaning of this name is ‘Awakener of the places of the stars’ or ‘Awakener of the Heavens’ and depending on the type of ‘vine’, any person on earth is capable of having iZulu within themselves. In the Kikongo-Kituba languages, 'Mazulu' means Heavens and (di)Zulu means Sky or Heaven. Credo Mutwa has been tasked with reopening/awakening this aMazulu within each and every one of us. This helps explain why the ancient Africans had a deeper understanding of the celestial bodies. As we move from the Age of rest(Pisces) and enter fully into the 1st Age of the created(Aquarius), amazulu (the ‘Heavens’) or places of the stars/lights which remained dormant, will gradually be awoken on individual persons throughout the entire world. This was the dominant consciousness that existed more that 12 000 yrs ago and was behind the construction of that 1st civilization. ©

A person with an awakened iZulu becomes connected with the all including the speech that comes out of their mouth. One would then come to fully understand the words 'I love you' and the effects of telling a lie or bearing false witness. For example it would be impossible to say 'I love you' without truly meaning it.

[MorolongDithabeng]

Bukama in reference to place or territory and not Cikama which in essence expresses a way of life or way of conducting human affairs.

For example in Uganda, we have Baganda from Buganda(territory/kingdom), other similar type names are Bujumbura capitol of Burundi, Buyamba, Botswana,  Butambala, Bugesera and Burera etc... Again as explained earlier, we have Bunyoro(territory), Banyoro(people), Munyoro(person) and Runyoro(language), in Southern Africa we have Borwa(territory), Barwa(people), Morwa(person) and Sesarwa(language). Another naming trait is on Banyarwanda like Batswana is a name or term used to refer to a number of tribes, uMunyarwanda = 1 person, Kinyarwanda = language; it literally means "those who come from Rwanda" meaning the people of Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa.©

I take Prof. Bilolo Mubabinge to be the first person to demonstrate the "Cikam Cikulu" Egypt link, let us then go through his notes and see what he discovered (my inputs in red)

Theology of the "Holy Land" or Cikam BukAm

Written by Prof. Bilolo Mubabinge / Munich
(translated from French)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 0:00


Israel is called "The Holy Land". But do you know that CiKam or Egypt was called " The Holy Land "or ?? erotáth c è ra , at the heart, in the center of the world ( g Á ) [1] , and confirms this as Horapollo adding that CiKam is the " middle of the inhabited earth "( msh t Á okoumnh j ) [2] ? Do you know that this Pseudo-Apuleius Cikam as " the temple of the world "and as" a reflection of the sky " [3] . The Writings of Egypt are "most holy" and "very divine." They are not only the "words / writings of God," but "Words of God the Most Divine" ( N t rn t ry ).

Do you know that CiKam or BukAm was also called T3-Mry(Ta-Meri or Gameru) "Earth Beloved (God)," or to add semantic connotations Luba "Land of Righteousness, Justice, Truth" ( Dya-Malelela ; Cyamalela ) and "Land of Love, Friendship and Fraternity" ( Dya-Malela / Dya-Malanda )? Finally, do you know that Africa-Saharan Africa, called Ethiopia, name probably from Cypya , Cipye [4] , meaning name: (1) "The New, New Earth" (2) "What is ripe, Earth maturity (spiritual and human) "(3)" What is well cooked,  "and (4)" Rope Three son, Trinity Land, "was for the Greeks the" Land gods, "the" Divine Realm "? Don't you think these names are indicative of African Spiritual Identity and the relationship between God and Africa? I salute Bimwenyi Kweshi reminding him some ancient accounts of the "Holy Doctrines" Philosophical and Theological "La Most Holy Land, "extracts" Words and Writings Very Divine ", better Excerpts from the" Word of God "( Mdw-N t r ), we had presented in their current forms, still living in Central Africa or in the universe says Bantu. The Theology Bantu did not start today. It dates from the Antique-Earth Most Holy of ?? erotáth c è ra , or to speak ancient Egyptian, of CiKam CiKulu- or -Bukama Bukulu [5] . It is a theology Written . The fact that later generations recite from memory the writings of their ancestors is not theology and recited an oral theology.

This is the approach of the ahistorical Negro-African thought or Bantu thought that creates the illusion of orality. The African Religion is the Mother of the Book of Scripture. The phrase is almost synonymous Theology Scripture-Sacred, Sacred Book, for what the Egyptians ( Bakame, Ben-a-Bukama(sons of Bukama), Ben-a-Cikam ) call Mdw-N t r in Luba: Madw-a-Ndelu, Madw-a -Mfidi , is not only "Word", "Education", "Lehre", " Lwaku "or" Logos ", but also and above all" Scripture. " Therefore mdw-n t r is made ​​firstly with "Sacred Scripture," "Holy Scripture", " Writings of God "or" Hiero -Glyphes "and secondly , by "Word of God", "Gotteslehre" or "Theology". Thus the true historical foundations of Theological Discourse African Negro can not be reduced to the African Theology Non-Christian or Non-Islamic AD, but they are mainly rooted in Theology CiKam (Km..t ) cya Nkumu ( m ) cya CiKomo aka Pharaonic Egypt. Theology Bantu or Negro-African Theology is written from the beginning of the year 3000 BC . It is a theology of the Bible, in the sense of Biblos , so the Egyptian Papyrus.. We do not look at all Plutarch data on Egypt, but those on the theological significance of name "Amun" , that of the name "Neith" or epithets Sha-and-Ma-NTU "Father and Mother of Being " ..


[1] Cited by S. MORENZ, Egyptian religion. Interpretive essay. Translated by J. Jospin, Paris, 1962, 2nd ed. 1977, p. 73. The German version of 1960. The author refers to Stobaeus I, 49, 45 (= I, p. 412 WACHSMUTH).

[2] Cited by S. MORENZ, op.cit ., p. 73 with reference to Fr. Sbordone, Hori Apollinis Hieroglyphica, p. 64.

[3] Cited by S. MORENZ, op.cit., p. 73, with reference (note 4) T. HOPFNER, Fonts , p. 620. I frequently use this instrument work of ancient data (Greco-Roman) on Egypt. T. HOPFNER, Fontes historiae religionis Aegyptiacae . 5 volumes, Bonn, 1922-1925. For the years of the ancient Greek and Latin, the Ministries of Education in Africa should impose this collection of ancient texts on Africa. Pupils and students should study what the Greeks and Romans have left as testimonials on Africa.

[4] A variant of Ciluba side-Cabinda Manyema Tanganyika and Kivu, called Songe Language, and other variants such as Luganda, put an A-, E-, I- O- or at the beginning of the name. For example: Fidi / mFidi> E queue (Songye) Sanga> E sanga, Disu / Riso> E riso, Cupa> E cupa, mucinous / muti / mici> omuti / emiti, miBidi / miBiri> emiBiri (Luganda) . Ciluba of Luluwa retained in its rather archaic version, the i- : mbaadi> i-mbaadi. But the frequent use of i- is characteristic of Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, of Chewa, etc. Thus, we need not speculate on the Greek origin, to explain the words Ecyopie or E-Tshiopia. The word -Pia has the meaning of "new, new" and "mature well" in most Bantu languages. It is a term Proto-Bantu.

[5] Egypt is called Egyptian: CiKam (< Km.t ) or BukAm. I added -Kulu "Old" because CiKam and BukAm are names of villages and cities in Congo. Think of here CIKAMA in Mbuji-Mayi or city Bukama, Luba old capital, in Katanga.

[MorolongDithabeng]

©Possible origin and meaning of CIKAMA

Neighborhood and Ancestry: Variation in the Spoken Arabic of Maiduguri, Nigeria:
By Jonathan Owens

  Click on image


The Morrison, W. M. (2013). pp. 150-1. Grammar and Dictionary of the Buluba-Lulua Language As Spoken in the Upper Kasai and Congo Basin. London: Forgotten Books. (Original work published 1906)

Audacious, be, vi., ena ne bundu(6), di ne with cikama(7) or dikamakama(5) or diiitanta(5), dlsua, Ibldlla. Audacity, "., cikama, 7; dikama kama, 5; dintanta,

Aunt, ".(on the mother's side), an elder sister of the mother is inamu(i) mukulu, a younger sister of the mother ismamu(i) muakunyt.

(on the father's side), tatu(i) mukukxl(i), niankaxi(i).

Locative Suffixed construction.

CiLuba: Far, kule. Go, ya. SeTswana Far, Kgole. Go, Ya

Geoview Info: Tshikama is a stream and is located in Kasaï-Occidental, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The estimate terrain elevation above sea level is 605 metres.
Note that CiLuba is sometimes written Tshiluba, other names of streams are Tshidjambuji, Tshikasu, Tshingombe, Tshinkele, Tshitombe etc. 

Vernacular names of the fish in the Bangweulu Swamps. Commonly used: lubala.  Other vernacular: cikama, mukakabala

The evidence that supports Ci as a feminine marker within Bantu languages is difficult to proof if not impossible, unlike in French or English laguages (Man, Wo-man) a feminine marker in Bantu is never a prefix but rather a suffix: in siZulu: Nkomo (bull) Nkom-azi (cow) Setswana: Kgosi (King) Kgosi-gadi (Queen) Morwa (son) Morwa-di (daughter). In addition Bantu, like the Hebrews refer land as belonging to the (fore)fathers so a feminine marker in reference to land is not possible unless it can be proven otherwise. ©

There are about 9 noun classes in most Bantu languages and the Ci, Tshi, Chi, Xi, Si or Se can sometimes be used as a prefix to create words that changes or simplifies the meaning of a verb, adjective, other adverb, clause, or sentence expressing manner, place, time, or degree. For example the word 'Kgale' meaning 'Long ago' would come to mean  'Old fashioned' when 'Se' prefix is added: 'Sekgale' or 'Cikale'. To explain the Obama Administration or the Barrack Obama way of governance, one would say CiBaraka Obama or SeObama. One would then use a hybrid sentence in this following manner, 'treat it CiKulu' meaning 'treat it like an adult'. In the Kikongo-English lexicon Bukulu means: what concern the past, the seniors customs.©

The Bantu totems are also used to explain or express the way a particular tribe would conduct or carry out their customs. The people who venerate the crocodile are known as Bakwena hence their customs are referred to as 'Sekwena'. So if there were Bakama of which "Kama" would come to be a totem, their customs would then be referred to as Cikama. However, the attempts that seek to demonstrate what 'Kama' means are complicated. ©

to be continued

[MorolongDithabeng]

Prof. Bilolo Mubabinge stated the following:

"do you know that Africa-Saharan, called Ethiopia, came probably from Cypya, Cipye, meaning name: "The New, New Earth"

to explain the words Ecyopie or E-Tshiopia. The word -Pia has the meaning of "new" and "well mature" in most Bantu languages. It is a Proto-Bantu term

The above is true, remember 'Ci' can be pronounce 'Tshi' or 'Se' in the different Bantu languages

The Bantu-Setswana word for new or afresh is 'Sefya' (Cypya, Cipye, Tshi-Pia). When we say Ezulwini, Egoli, Ekapa or any other similar name, the 'E' serves as the locative prefix. A Bantu hybrid translation of Ethiopia would come to be Esefya or Esepia or Ecipia or Etshipia (Ethiopia) meaning the place of New beginnings, New Earth or Land of beginnings/fresh start. The Kikongo-Kituba word for Egypt is  Ezipte  (Ngipiti), so as Mubabinge said, "we need not speculate on a Greek origin" ©

The Greek name Αἰθιοπία (from Αἰθίοψ, Aithiops, 'an Ethiopian') appears twice in the Iliad and three times in the Odyssey. The Greek historian Herodotus specifically uses it for all the lands south of Egypt, including Sudan and modern Ethiopia. Pliny the Elder says the country's name comes from a son of Hephaestus (aka Vulcan) named Aethiops. The name is ascribed to a legendary individual called Ityopp'is, an extrabiblical son of Cush, son of Ham, said to have founded the city of Axum. In addition to this Cushite figure, two of the earliest Semitic kings are also said to have borne the name Ityopp'is according to traditional Ethiopian king lists. At least as early as c. 850, European scholars considered the name to be derived from the Greek words aitho "I burn" + ops "face"

The name Eritrea is thought to be derived from the ancient Greek name for Red Sea (Ἐρυθρὰ Θάλασσα Erythra Thalassa, based on the adjective ἐρυθρός erythros "red"). Eritrea is considered the most likely location of the land known to the Ancient Egyptians as Punt, whose first mention dates to the 25th century BC."


^ Histories, book 2, chapters 29 and 146; book 3 chapter 17 Odyssey, book 1, lines 22–23; book 4, line 84
^ Nat. Hist. 6.184–187; son of Hephaestus was also a general Greek epithet meaning "blacksmith".
^ Etymologicum Genuinum s.v. Αἰθιοπία; see also Aethiopia
^ "Aithiops, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', at Perseus". Perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
^ Anton L. Allahar (2001). "When Black First Became Worth Less". International Journal of Comparative Sociology 34 (1–2). ISBN 9781446224175.
^ Historical Dictionary of Eritrea

Again, your work is very much appreciated, it gives the necessary platform and a point of departure without which the above linguistic elements wouldn't be in context.