Post by truthteacher2007 on Nov 16, 2010 11:28:06 GMT -5
board=hist thread=254 post=1897
time=1273762147]Recently I've been
encountering Afrocentrics on youtube
advancing the theory that all African
civilizations and sciences have their
origins in Ancient Egypt. The basic
theory is that the Ancient Egyptian fled
Egypt and migrated throughout Africa
bringing their knowledge with them.
What do you all think about this? I have
my opinions, but I'd like to hear what
others think.
I know of few credible scholars who
regard themselves as 'Afrocentric"
or serious students of African history
espousing any such view that all
"all African civilizations and sciences
have their origins in Ancient Egypt"
or of some mass Egyptian exodus. Who
are these people? Diop or Van
Sertima certainly advance no such
notions of "all African civilizations and
sciences have their origins in Ancient
Egypt."
Such theories certainly appear in the
works of certain white writers
such as influential diffusionist Grafton
Elliot Smith, assorted white
Freemason types. And bogus
'Afrocentrics" are a dime a dozen on
the web, generally white people creating
bogus strawmen to attack.
As the Bass notes, it is much more
accurate to ask about AFRICAN
influences ont he formation of Nile
Valley civilization, such as the
influence of the Saharan/Sudanic peoples
in peopling, culture, religion
etc.. Any radical "diffusionist" thing
seems a red herring to divert attention
from the much more relevant issue of
Africa being the source and genesis.
Some of this genesis for the Nile Valley
is well documented and includes:
* Specific central African tool designs
found at the well known Naqada, Badari
and Fayum archaeological sites in Egypt
(de Heinzelin 1962, Arkell and Ucko,
1956 et al). Shaw (1976) states that "the
early cultures of Merimde, the Fayum,
Badari Naqada I and II are essentially
African and early African social customs
and religious beliefs were the root and
foundation of the ancient Egyptian way
of life."
* Pottery evidence first seen in the
Saharan Highlands then spreading to the
Nile Valley (Flight 1973).
* Art motifs of Saharan rock paintings
showing similarities to those in pharaonic
art. A number of scholars suggest that
these earlier artistic styles influenced
later pharaonic art via Saharans leaving
drier areas and moving into the Nile
Valley taking their art styles with them
(Mori 1964, Blanc 1964, et al)
* Earlier pioneering mummification
outside Egypt. The oldest mummy in
Africa is of a black Saharan child
(Donadoni 1964, Blanc 1964) Frankfort
(1956) suggests that it is thus possible to
understand the pharaonic worldview by
reference to the religious beliefs of these
earlier African precursors. Attempts to
suggest the root of such practices are
due to Caucasoid civilizers from
elsewhere are thus contradicted by the
data on the ground.
* Several cultural practices of Egypt
show strong similarities to an African
totemic clan base. Childe (1969, 1978),
Aldred (1978) and Strouhal (1971)
demonstrate linkages with several
African practices such as divine kingship
and the king as divine rainmaker.
* Physical similarities of the early Nile
valley populations with that of tropical
Africans. Such connections are
demonstrated in the work of numerous
scholars such as Thompson and Randall
Mclver 1905, Falkenburger 1947, and
Strouhal 1971. The distance diagrams of
Mukherjee, Rao and Trevor (1955) place
the ancient Badarians genetically near
'black' tribes such as the Ashanti and the
Taita. See also the "Issues of lumping
under Mediterranean clusters" section
above for similar older analyses.
* Serological (blood) evidence of
genetic linkages. Paoli 1972 for example
found a significant resemblance between
ABO frequencies of dynastic Egyptians
and the black northern Haratin who are
held to be the probable descendants of
the original Saharans (Hiernaux, 1975).
* Language similarities which include
several hundred roots ascribable to
African elements (UNESCO 1974)
* Ancient Egyptian origin stories
ascribing origins of the gods and their
ancestors to African locations to the
south and west of Egypt (Davidson
1959)
* Advanced state building and political
unity in Nubia, including writing,
administrative apparatus and insignia
some 300 years before dynastic Egypt,
and the long demonstrated interchange
between Nubia and Egypt (Williams
1980)
*Newer studies (Wendorf 2001,
Wilkinson 1999, et al.) confirm these
older analyses. Excavations from Nabta
Playa, located about 100km west of Abu
Simbel for example, suggest that the
Neolithic inhabitants of the region were
migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa, based
on cultural similarities and social
complexity which is thought to be
reflective of Egypt's Old
Kingdom[166]Other scholars (Wilkinson
1999) present similar material and
cultural evidence- including similarities
between predynastic Egypt and
traditional African cattle-culture, typical
of Southern Sudanese and East African
pastoralists of today, and various cultural
and artistic data such as iconography on
rock art found in both Egypt and in the
Sudan.[167]
*Recent data from other research
suggests numerous trade contacts
between the Nile Valley peoples from
early times. The excavations of German
archaeologist Gunter Dreyer (1999) at
Predynastic Abydos for example
unearthed obsidian bowls, a material
traced to the nearby Sudan or Ethiopia.
Excavations at Hierakonpolis by
archaeologist Renee Friedman (1998)
also demonstrates ritual masks similar to
those used further south of Egypt, and
significant amounts of obsidian, also
traced to Ethiopian quarry sites.[168].
*As regards population types and
origins, one contemporary review of
older evidence acknowledges that "the
ancient Egyptians, especially southern
Egyptians, exhibited physical
characteristics that are within the range
of variation for ancient and modern
indigenous peoples of the Sahara and
tropical Africa."[169]
www.zhs41.net/historyafrican/index.htm
It is AFRICA that is the launching point,
the motor, the generator - not
Egypt. Indeed Egypt itself is the
beneficiary of the African genesis. It
would
of course develop its own unique style
and culture, and it would also
have its own trading links with various
parts of Africa, but make no mistake, the
GENESIS is AFRICA, via the Sahara
and the Sudan. The
people ethnically the closest to the
ancient Egyptians are NUBIANS not
Europeans or "Middle Easterners."
Again, it is the Sahara/Sudan that
is the African motor or driver.. The
Sahara once extended across
1/3 of Africa, not as desert but lush
greenbelt- allowing plenty of
scope for movement in certain eras of
African history,
Assorted diffusionist red herrings and
bogus "Afrocentrics" cannot disguise the
fundamental facts, although they try
hard. The more relevant questions is
Africa as the starting point and a
fundamental genesis for Egypt.
[/quote]This is pretty much along the same lines that I've always thought. The whole idea of Egypt being the originator of all knowledge and then sending out colonies across Africa just seems too much like reworked colonialist theory to me.
A friend recently bought a book by a self proclaimed Egyptologist from Cairo named Mustapha Gadalla. At first I was really surprised and offended at the lack of scholarship, but then I realized he's no dfferent from all the New Age nut jobs out there who've written books about Egypt's origins in Atlantis or extra-terestrials. Who says Egyptians can't be wacky too?
I can see how this theory appeals to many. Eurocentrics believing in a White Egypt reenforce their ideas of "the white man's burden", bringing knowledge where thee was ignorance, Egyptians like Gadalla get to pum themselves up feeling like no, it wasn't the white man, it was us who were the superior race. Fake Afrocentrics get to pump themselves up because it gives them stronger claims to being the descendants of "the master race". Once upon a time everyone was content to simply be the reencarnation of some Egyptian king or queen, but now in the age of DNA we need biological connections. What can you do? I suppose there's always been and is always going to be a contingent of people more attracted to fantasy history than the real thing.