Post by anansi on Sept 8, 2024 1:53:24 GMT -5
What are some reasons why it is wrong for Africans west of the Nile and south of the Sahara, to identify with Egyptian civilization or aspects of it?
There are none, because there’s a continuity of cultural diffusion west of the Nile and south of the Sahara, long before the Sahara became a desert, one only have to look at the head rest common throughout Africa to see this, I’m not saying there’s cultural uniformity, but shared cultural ideas that moved back and forth for millennia .
The recent discovery of the inscription of Mentuhotep II at Jebel Uweinat is a dramatic proof that the theories surrounding the Abu Ballas trail were correct!
In the mid nineties, during his walking expeditions, Carlo Bergmann discovered a number of pottery caches similar to the one at Abu Ballas. The excavation of the new sites, and the re-examination of Abu Ballas by Rudolph Kuper and the HBI team yielded the startling results that all these pottery depots, along the trail leading from Dakhla towards the Gilf Kebir date from ancient times, the oldest dated finds contemporary with the XVIIIth Dynasty.
About this time Michele di Vincenzo and Giancarlo Negro made the surprising discovery that the scarab in the famous pectoral of King Tutankhamun was made of a carved piece of Libyan Desert Glass.
Giancarlo Negro made a further discovery at the hill adjacent to Abu Ballas. A series of faint engravings half way up the hill can possibly be interpreted as a serekh, or Horus name of an Egyptian king (photos and tentative reconstruction courtesy Giancarlo Negro).
Examining of the above 'engraving' early November 2002, I came to the conclusion that the reconstruction was based on a special lighting condition at the time the photo was taken, and misleading results of image enhancement. Most of the lines continue beyond the reconstuction, and I cannot distinguish a serekh or any other drawn scene. It is possible that the lines are natural in origin.
All above led to speculation that the ancient egyptians, at least during the XVIIIth Dynasty, ventured out to the deep desert, in search of mineral resources, and possibly trading with the inhabitants of the Gilf, Uweinat and even Kufra. However the hypothesis was very questionable, as no written inscription had been found anywhere outside the immediate vicinity of oases. This contradicts with the practice of the ancient egyptians to record any such ventures, as attested by the innumerable inscriptions in the eastern desert.
It was again Carlo Bergman who came up with another sensational find. Some 100 kilometres from Dakhla he came upon a sandstone hill that had a number of paintings and engravings, but more importantly a series of unmistakable hieroglyphic inscriptions. The main inscription dates from the 27th year of King Khufu, while the second from the reign of his son, Redjedef, both of the 4th Dynasty, about 2400 bc. One inscription names the spot as "Redjedef's water mountain", indicating it's status as a possible water depot.
Carlo Bergman has recently put up a new website providing for the first time some detail on his amazing discoveries, including detailed description of "Djedefre's Water Mountain" and exciting new finds in the same area. The site is mostly in german, but there is an excellent english summary, and the many photos have english captions.
Note: some of the conclusions presented on the site are open to debate, and there had been a sad rift between the German archaeological community in Egypt and Carlo Bergmann, the background of which I am not aware of. By posting this link, I acknowledge Carlo's discoveries, however I do by no means support or endorse any of the arguments and controversies from either side, in which I wish to remain impartial until I hear the details from both sides !
With all the evidence emerging, it was possible to synthetise all the knowledge on the subject, and this was excellently done by Klaus Peter Kuhlmann in his paper, The "Oasis Bypath" or The Issue of Desert Trade in Pharaonic Times, published in Tides of the Desert, Africa Praehistorica 14 (obtainable from the HBI). The main conclusions are that the ancient Egyptians in fact made only short desert ventures.
The height of these seem to have been the 4th Dynasty, attested by Redjedef's mountain, and the Chephren quarries near Abu Simbel, but all these are no more than 100 kms away from inhabited places. After these early ventures it was realised that the Western Desert has little mineral potential. The desert trails were more likely be used by the "Libyans", descendants of the old neolithic inhabitants, who traded with Egypt, and possibly patrolled the deeper desert on behalf of their Egyptian patrons. The raw material for the Tutankhamen scarab was more than likely a stray find by a Libyan away from the main LDG area, which somehow made it's way to Egypt. (We have found worked LDG samples 300 kms from the source area, no more than 70 kilometres from Abu Ballas.) It's unique occurrence is proof that there was no regular supply of this exotic material. Similarly the "Egyptian" engravings at Abu Ballas are most likely the produce of desert nomads who have been in contact with Egypt.
The upper inscription on the right reads Iam hr ms ntr... ("Yam bringing ..."). The land of Yam was the destination of three lengthy voyages made by Harkhouf, whose autobiographical texts on the facade of his rock tomb in Aswan are among the most important Ancient Egyptian historical records. While the three voyages are described in much detail, the location of Yam has been a total mystery, with most Egyptologists placing it somewhere in Nubia and west of the Nile. The reference to Yam at Uweinat suggests that the route starting at Dakhla, and clearly passing by Uweinat, could possibly have continued on to Yam, which in this case could have been further south-west (with Uweinat possibly being a meeting and trading point).
Possible areas they may be identified as Yam are Darfur, Ennedi or even the Tibesti mountains. Unfortunately the name of the produce is too weathered to be clearly readable, but the figure holding a bowl or basket full of some substance behind the prostrate figure would indicate a powdered or granular substance. The first sign of the produce is ntr, Clayton and Trafford suggest a reading of Sn-ntr (incense), as this was a produce of Yam referred to by Harkhouf. Having had a good close look, I'm reasonably convinced that no more than one sign could be after ntr, the other patterns are simply weathering.
This would not fit sn-ntr, however there is an alternate reading/produce, ntr-y (a kind of Natron). We do know that Natron is a key produce of the Chad region to this day, and with the ongoing civil war in Egypt, Mentuhotep in Thebes may have been cut off from the only major supply of this material crucial for mummification, Wadi Natrun in the north. However at this moment this reading is nothing more than speculation.
www.fjexpeditions.com/frameset/ancientroute.htm
Headrest
Middle Kingdom
ca. 2030–1802 B.C
Headrests were used by ancient Egyptians to support a person's neck while sleeping. While the flat base board and curved top are consistent features, the form of the middle section varied. This type with six slender rods supporting the curved top is fairly rare. More common were single column-like supports between base and top.
www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544251
Limestone figure of a sleeping woman using a headrest in the collection of Glencairn Museum (E1219).
Figure 2: Several 20th-century African headrests in the collection of Glencairn Museum
image shows that from Mali, and the second image shows that from the Nile Valley, dating to Dynastic Egypt. Head-supports like these are yet another common theme across Africa
I believe there was give and take but if the Sahara and other cultural incubators was before the rise of Kmt proper it will be difficult to figure out much influence Kmt has on it's neighbors take for instance the hangool from Somalia and the Ws scepter from Kmt who gave what to whom or did they originate in the same location and fan out from there.
Below, we have an early and a rather simple rendition dating back to ca. 3500 BC, found in the Hierakonpolis tomb 100, sporting several individuals holding what appear to be Was scepter
The following is a "North Saharan" — from "Kargur Talh" in particular — rendition dating to ca. 6ky to 7ky BP; it notably sports a male figure holding what appears to be a staff, reminiscent of the Was scepter..
Top image shows the Fon art on the left hand side, which is reminiscent in its theme, of the ancient Egyptian wall relief of Rameses smiting an enemy on the right hand side. Bottom image shows another example of parallels between west Sahelian/Sub-Saharan art [likely Benin carving] — sporting the head of some carnivorous creature [likely a feline of some sort] on the left hand side, and two ancient Egyptian figurines — one sporting a falcon head, and the other, a feline; what stands out here, is the remarkably similar standing postures, particularly what they are doing with their arms and hands.
Some interesting pectorals, from the Nile Valley and sub-Saharan west Africa. In this case, we have pectorals sporting ram heads, demonstrating remarkable parallelism; the examples here, include one from ancient Egypt and Nigeria (?). The ancient Egyptian example is obvious on the top right hand side, sporting a ram head with a sun disc.
Parallels in color conventions
The ancient Egyptians were not the only ones to depict their fellow dark skin African neighbours in dual contrasting tones; the following image shows a conflict between the Fon warriors and their Yoruba counterparts. Both of these groups would generally be seen as dark skin peoples, but from the image below, this might not be immediately apparent to anyone unfamiliar with these peoples...
Parallel themes in art centered females
Nursing
Kemetian art, like any other, speaks for itself. For instance, Kemetian art had certain features that were similar to that of other ancient African culture. You'll see what I mean..
Nursing Woman. From Giza: 5th Dynasty (ca. 2420-2389 B.C.E). Limestone with remains of paint. (courtesy of metmuseum
Akan [Ghana] wood carving of a female breast-feeding a young one; not unlike the theme being communicated in the ancient Egyptian rendition above.
Fertility Dolls
On the far left, is an ancient Egyptian "paddle" doll, courtesy of the British Museum; in the middle, we have Ashanti examples of the fertility doll, and third image is yet another example of fertility dolls common amongst the Akan.
Fertility dolls are a fairly common theme in Africa, from the Akan speaking groups of Ghana to the Donguena, Evale, Hakawama, Himba, Humbe, Kwanyama, Mukubal, Mwila, Ndimba, Ngambwe, Ovambo and Zemba people of the semi-desert areas of Angola for example, and it appear that the ancient Egyptians were no different in this aspect.
A little trivia on the Egyptian "paddle doll"...
Such dolls are usually found in Upper Egypt and Nubia. When complete they have faces and hair of clay. Hair may also be of faience beads. This one is missing its hair. A number have been found dating to the second half of the 11th Dynasty from tombs in the neighbourhood of Deir el Bahri and are common at Thebes. However, at least two have been found in earlier tombs at Beni Hasan and one at Rifeh. Another was found beneath the Ramesseum at Thebes dating to the 13th Dynasty (Bourriau 1988, 126-127). Most are of 11th Dynasty to Middle Kingdom.
The marks on the body are thought to be tattoos or scarification and the end of the paddle, it has been suggested is an exaggerated pubic area. That such dolls are found mainly in female graves has led Egyptologists to suggest that these are fertility figurines put in graves to ensure fertility in the afterlife. - Courtesy of SWANSEA UNIVERSITY.
Gourd ornamentation is a widely practiced tradition on the African continent. In the images above, although the specimens themselves in question are from vastly different time frames, with the Sahelian example being the far more recent example, the remarkable parallelism in the themes of the art is hard to miss. On the left, we have the image of an Egyptian example dating back to the Nagadan period some time in around the 4th millennium BC, while on the right, we have a South of the Sahara example from west Africa.
exploring-africa.blogspot.com/2008/11/examples-of-cultural-similarities.htm
newafrikan77.wordpress.com/2017/03/24/vodou-vodoun-palm-oil-egyptian-vodou-heka-vodou-existed-before-ancient-egypt/
he oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a native of West Africa. It flourishes in the humid tropics in groves of varying density, mainly in the coastal belt between 10 degrees north latitude and 10 degrees south latitude. It is also found up to 20 degrees south latitude in Central and East Africa and Madagascar in isolated localities with a suitable rainfall. It grows on relatively open ground and, therefore, originally spread along the banks of rivers and later on land cleared by humans for long-fallow cultivation (Hartley 1988: 5–7).
The palm fruit develops in dense bunches weighing 10 kilograms (kg) or more and containing more than a thousand individual fruits similar in size to a small plum. Palm oil is obtained from the flesh of the fruit and probably formed part of the food supply of the indigenous populations long before recorded history. It may also have been traded overland, since archaeological evidence indicates that palm oil was most likely available in ancient Egypt. The excavation of an early tomb at Abydos, dated to 3000 B.C., yielded “a mass of several Kilograms still in the shape of the vessel which contained it” (Friedel 1897).
www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-world-history-of-food/palm-oil/0D4C12BDCA1A1BB57486568E8019691D
There are none, because there’s a continuity of cultural diffusion west of the Nile and south of the Sahara, long before the Sahara became a desert, one only have to look at the head rest common throughout Africa to see this, I’m not saying there’s cultural uniformity, but shared cultural ideas that moved back and forth for millennia .
The recent discovery of the inscription of Mentuhotep II at Jebel Uweinat is a dramatic proof that the theories surrounding the Abu Ballas trail were correct!
In the mid nineties, during his walking expeditions, Carlo Bergmann discovered a number of pottery caches similar to the one at Abu Ballas. The excavation of the new sites, and the re-examination of Abu Ballas by Rudolph Kuper and the HBI team yielded the startling results that all these pottery depots, along the trail leading from Dakhla towards the Gilf Kebir date from ancient times, the oldest dated finds contemporary with the XVIIIth Dynasty.
About this time Michele di Vincenzo and Giancarlo Negro made the surprising discovery that the scarab in the famous pectoral of King Tutankhamun was made of a carved piece of Libyan Desert Glass.
Giancarlo Negro made a further discovery at the hill adjacent to Abu Ballas. A series of faint engravings half way up the hill can possibly be interpreted as a serekh, or Horus name of an Egyptian king (photos and tentative reconstruction courtesy Giancarlo Negro).
Examining of the above 'engraving' early November 2002, I came to the conclusion that the reconstruction was based on a special lighting condition at the time the photo was taken, and misleading results of image enhancement. Most of the lines continue beyond the reconstuction, and I cannot distinguish a serekh or any other drawn scene. It is possible that the lines are natural in origin.
All above led to speculation that the ancient egyptians, at least during the XVIIIth Dynasty, ventured out to the deep desert, in search of mineral resources, and possibly trading with the inhabitants of the Gilf, Uweinat and even Kufra. However the hypothesis was very questionable, as no written inscription had been found anywhere outside the immediate vicinity of oases. This contradicts with the practice of the ancient egyptians to record any such ventures, as attested by the innumerable inscriptions in the eastern desert.
It was again Carlo Bergman who came up with another sensational find. Some 100 kilometres from Dakhla he came upon a sandstone hill that had a number of paintings and engravings, but more importantly a series of unmistakable hieroglyphic inscriptions. The main inscription dates from the 27th year of King Khufu, while the second from the reign of his son, Redjedef, both of the 4th Dynasty, about 2400 bc. One inscription names the spot as "Redjedef's water mountain", indicating it's status as a possible water depot.
Carlo Bergman has recently put up a new website providing for the first time some detail on his amazing discoveries, including detailed description of "Djedefre's Water Mountain" and exciting new finds in the same area. The site is mostly in german, but there is an excellent english summary, and the many photos have english captions.
Note: some of the conclusions presented on the site are open to debate, and there had been a sad rift between the German archaeological community in Egypt and Carlo Bergmann, the background of which I am not aware of. By posting this link, I acknowledge Carlo's discoveries, however I do by no means support or endorse any of the arguments and controversies from either side, in which I wish to remain impartial until I hear the details from both sides !
With all the evidence emerging, it was possible to synthetise all the knowledge on the subject, and this was excellently done by Klaus Peter Kuhlmann in his paper, The "Oasis Bypath" or The Issue of Desert Trade in Pharaonic Times, published in Tides of the Desert, Africa Praehistorica 14 (obtainable from the HBI). The main conclusions are that the ancient Egyptians in fact made only short desert ventures.
The height of these seem to have been the 4th Dynasty, attested by Redjedef's mountain, and the Chephren quarries near Abu Simbel, but all these are no more than 100 kms away from inhabited places. After these early ventures it was realised that the Western Desert has little mineral potential. The desert trails were more likely be used by the "Libyans", descendants of the old neolithic inhabitants, who traded with Egypt, and possibly patrolled the deeper desert on behalf of their Egyptian patrons. The raw material for the Tutankhamen scarab was more than likely a stray find by a Libyan away from the main LDG area, which somehow made it's way to Egypt. (We have found worked LDG samples 300 kms from the source area, no more than 70 kilometres from Abu Ballas.) It's unique occurrence is proof that there was no regular supply of this exotic material. Similarly the "Egyptian" engravings at Abu Ballas are most likely the produce of desert nomads who have been in contact with Egypt.
The upper inscription on the right reads Iam hr ms ntr... ("Yam bringing ..."). The land of Yam was the destination of three lengthy voyages made by Harkhouf, whose autobiographical texts on the facade of his rock tomb in Aswan are among the most important Ancient Egyptian historical records. While the three voyages are described in much detail, the location of Yam has been a total mystery, with most Egyptologists placing it somewhere in Nubia and west of the Nile. The reference to Yam at Uweinat suggests that the route starting at Dakhla, and clearly passing by Uweinat, could possibly have continued on to Yam, which in this case could have been further south-west (with Uweinat possibly being a meeting and trading point).
Possible areas they may be identified as Yam are Darfur, Ennedi or even the Tibesti mountains. Unfortunately the name of the produce is too weathered to be clearly readable, but the figure holding a bowl or basket full of some substance behind the prostrate figure would indicate a powdered or granular substance. The first sign of the produce is ntr, Clayton and Trafford suggest a reading of Sn-ntr (incense), as this was a produce of Yam referred to by Harkhouf. Having had a good close look, I'm reasonably convinced that no more than one sign could be after ntr, the other patterns are simply weathering.
This would not fit sn-ntr, however there is an alternate reading/produce, ntr-y (a kind of Natron). We do know that Natron is a key produce of the Chad region to this day, and with the ongoing civil war in Egypt, Mentuhotep in Thebes may have been cut off from the only major supply of this material crucial for mummification, Wadi Natrun in the north. However at this moment this reading is nothing more than speculation.
www.fjexpeditions.com/frameset/ancientroute.htm
Headrest
Middle Kingdom
ca. 2030–1802 B.C
Headrests were used by ancient Egyptians to support a person's neck while sleeping. While the flat base board and curved top are consistent features, the form of the middle section varied. This type with six slender rods supporting the curved top is fairly rare. More common were single column-like supports between base and top.
www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544251
Limestone figure of a sleeping woman using a headrest in the collection of Glencairn Museum (E1219).
Figure 2: Several 20th-century African headrests in the collection of Glencairn Museum
image shows that from Mali, and the second image shows that from the Nile Valley, dating to Dynastic Egypt. Head-supports like these are yet another common theme across Africa
I believe there was give and take but if the Sahara and other cultural incubators was before the rise of Kmt proper it will be difficult to figure out much influence Kmt has on it's neighbors take for instance the hangool from Somalia and the Ws scepter from Kmt who gave what to whom or did they originate in the same location and fan out from there.
Below, we have an early and a rather simple rendition dating back to ca. 3500 BC, found in the Hierakonpolis tomb 100, sporting several individuals holding what appear to be Was scepter
The following is a "North Saharan" — from "Kargur Talh" in particular — rendition dating to ca. 6ky to 7ky BP; it notably sports a male figure holding what appears to be a staff, reminiscent of the Was scepter..
Top image shows the Fon art on the left hand side, which is reminiscent in its theme, of the ancient Egyptian wall relief of Rameses smiting an enemy on the right hand side. Bottom image shows another example of parallels between west Sahelian/Sub-Saharan art [likely Benin carving] — sporting the head of some carnivorous creature [likely a feline of some sort] on the left hand side, and two ancient Egyptian figurines — one sporting a falcon head, and the other, a feline; what stands out here, is the remarkably similar standing postures, particularly what they are doing with their arms and hands.
Some interesting pectorals, from the Nile Valley and sub-Saharan west Africa. In this case, we have pectorals sporting ram heads, demonstrating remarkable parallelism; the examples here, include one from ancient Egypt and Nigeria (?). The ancient Egyptian example is obvious on the top right hand side, sporting a ram head with a sun disc.
Parallels in color conventions
The ancient Egyptians were not the only ones to depict their fellow dark skin African neighbours in dual contrasting tones; the following image shows a conflict between the Fon warriors and their Yoruba counterparts. Both of these groups would generally be seen as dark skin peoples, but from the image below, this might not be immediately apparent to anyone unfamiliar with these peoples...
Parallel themes in art centered females
Nursing
Kemetian art, like any other, speaks for itself. For instance, Kemetian art had certain features that were similar to that of other ancient African culture. You'll see what I mean..
Nursing Woman. From Giza: 5th Dynasty (ca. 2420-2389 B.C.E). Limestone with remains of paint. (courtesy of metmuseum
Akan [Ghana] wood carving of a female breast-feeding a young one; not unlike the theme being communicated in the ancient Egyptian rendition above.
Fertility Dolls
On the far left, is an ancient Egyptian "paddle" doll, courtesy of the British Museum; in the middle, we have Ashanti examples of the fertility doll, and third image is yet another example of fertility dolls common amongst the Akan.
Fertility dolls are a fairly common theme in Africa, from the Akan speaking groups of Ghana to the Donguena, Evale, Hakawama, Himba, Humbe, Kwanyama, Mukubal, Mwila, Ndimba, Ngambwe, Ovambo and Zemba people of the semi-desert areas of Angola for example, and it appear that the ancient Egyptians were no different in this aspect.
A little trivia on the Egyptian "paddle doll"...
Such dolls are usually found in Upper Egypt and Nubia. When complete they have faces and hair of clay. Hair may also be of faience beads. This one is missing its hair. A number have been found dating to the second half of the 11th Dynasty from tombs in the neighbourhood of Deir el Bahri and are common at Thebes. However, at least two have been found in earlier tombs at Beni Hasan and one at Rifeh. Another was found beneath the Ramesseum at Thebes dating to the 13th Dynasty (Bourriau 1988, 126-127). Most are of 11th Dynasty to Middle Kingdom.
The marks on the body are thought to be tattoos or scarification and the end of the paddle, it has been suggested is an exaggerated pubic area. That such dolls are found mainly in female graves has led Egyptologists to suggest that these are fertility figurines put in graves to ensure fertility in the afterlife. - Courtesy of SWANSEA UNIVERSITY.
Gourd ornamentation is a widely practiced tradition on the African continent. In the images above, although the specimens themselves in question are from vastly different time frames, with the Sahelian example being the far more recent example, the remarkable parallelism in the themes of the art is hard to miss. On the left, we have the image of an Egyptian example dating back to the Nagadan period some time in around the 4th millennium BC, while on the right, we have a South of the Sahara example from west Africa.
exploring-africa.blogspot.com/2008/11/examples-of-cultural-similarities.htm
newafrikan77.wordpress.com/2017/03/24/vodou-vodoun-palm-oil-egyptian-vodou-heka-vodou-existed-before-ancient-egypt/
he oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a native of West Africa. It flourishes in the humid tropics in groves of varying density, mainly in the coastal belt between 10 degrees north latitude and 10 degrees south latitude. It is also found up to 20 degrees south latitude in Central and East Africa and Madagascar in isolated localities with a suitable rainfall. It grows on relatively open ground and, therefore, originally spread along the banks of rivers and later on land cleared by humans for long-fallow cultivation (Hartley 1988: 5–7).
The palm fruit develops in dense bunches weighing 10 kilograms (kg) or more and containing more than a thousand individual fruits similar in size to a small plum. Palm oil is obtained from the flesh of the fruit and probably formed part of the food supply of the indigenous populations long before recorded history. It may also have been traded overland, since archaeological evidence indicates that palm oil was most likely available in ancient Egypt. The excavation of an early tomb at Abydos, dated to 3000 B.C., yielded “a mass of several Kilograms still in the shape of the vessel which contained it” (Friedel 1897).
www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-world-history-of-food/palm-oil/0D4C12BDCA1A1BB57486568E8019691D