Properly Examining Ancient Egypt

[Moorbey]

Until recently, there had been a scholarly debate among European intellectuals, as well as some Blacks, on what they referred to as the peopling of ancient Egypt. What this question really posed was, “Who were the ancient Egyptians?” Were they Black, white, mulatto, etc.?

This issue has been at the core of European history, or better yet, European historiography (the science of how history is written) for more than two hundred years. This framework of European hegemony over the history of the world has had a devastating impact on African people and the African mind.

It is in this context that we understand the intellectual devastation of the European conceptualization of the world order. We should understand this in relation to our movement for an African centered education aimed at helping our people come out from beneath this European intellectual assault.

Let me use renowned African deep thinker, scholar, and ancestor, Dr. Jacob H. Carruthers’ paper he wrote entitled, “Race of Ancient Egyptians” in helping clarify this subject. This paper gives us the insights we need to understand in this regard.

Dr. Carruthers observes, “The doctrine of white supremacy was launched by philosophers like David Hume who asserted in 1749 ‘I am apt to suspect the Negroes to be naturally inferior to the whites.’ This position was expressed in a different context by Montesquieu about the same time.”

We are guided by Dr. Carruthers when he explains, “In the Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu asserted, ‘it is impossible for us to suppose these creatures to be men, because allowing them to be men, a suspicion would follow that we ourselves are not Christians.’ Montesquieu was justifying the enslavement of Africans that was one of the major reasons for inventing the doctrine of white supremacy.”

Upon further examination, Dr. Carruthers reveals― “Obviously the emerging doctrine could not gain credibility among those who were familiar with the traditional wisdom among Europeans that the ancient Africans of Egypt had achieved a very high level of civilization and had transmitted to the ancient Greeks many of the major ideas considered a part of Greek civilization.”

Dr. Carruthers explains, “Several decades after the founding of the concept of white supremacy Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel supplied the solution of this latter difficulty when at the beginning of the 19th century, he asserted that Africa was ‘not a historical part of the world.’”

Finally, Dr. Carruthers quotes Hegel to demonstrate the ultimate in European intellectual arrogance, Hegel states, “Historical movement in it― that is its northern part― belongs to the Asiatic or European world… Egypt will be considered in reference to its western phase, but it does not belong to the African spirit.”

Through this conceptualization Dr. Carruthers reveals, “Thus Hegel took Egypt out of Africa and Africans out of Egypt. He also removed Africans from history.”

As an outgrowth of this kind of thinking by European scholars, the field of Egyptology began to emerge. Egyptology as a field of study is the creation of the European mentality that seeks to gather evidence (artifacts and antiquities) that supports the idea of the European origin of civilization.

Egyptologists have literally attempted to remove Egypt from the geographical confines of Africa and reposited it within the geographical domain of Asia.

The removal of Egypt from Africa serves a twofold purpose. First, it leads to the obvious idea that Egypt is not a part of Africa; therefore, its population could not have been Black. Secondly, it serves the purpose of implying that civilization did not begin with the Black race.

Fortunately, we have always had Black scholars among us, who did not get trapped in the European conception of the world. It started with men like Hosea Easton, Henry Highland Garnett, and Martin R. Delany who― “took the biblical myth of Ham and used it to establish Blacks as the authors of the great Nile Valley civilizations.”

Also, “They… used ancient European works such as Herodotus, Diodorus and whatever modern works they could find. This tradition has been an honorable endeavor and has taught us much.” The old scrappers, according to Dr. Carruthers, “are still among us slugging it out as per our beloved Professor John G. Jackson.”

Through the work of Senegalese scholar Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, Dr. Théophile Obenga, Dr. Yosef ben Jochannan, and Chancellor Williams the origin of the ancient Egyptians should never ever be a question for African people. This question has been resolved. We should be clear that the ancient Egyptians (or more properly called, Kemetic people) were Black.

Diop points out that Herodotus “after relating his eyewitness account informing us that the Egyptians were Black, demonstrated, with rare honesty (for a Greek), that Greece borrowed from Egypt all elements of her civilization even the cult of gods, and that Egypt was the cradle of civilization.”

Our scholars, thinkers, and researchers should never again raise the questions of who the Egyptians were. Clearly, they were Black people. This question has been resolved!

BlackCommentator.com Columnist, Conrad W. Worrill, PhD, is the National Chairman of the National Black United Front (NBUF).

[DreadedBliss]

This post was right on time for me. Asante sana!

[Sourakhata]

We were the first & we shall be the last no matter what!! We're the father of Mankind!
They refute it cause they know how strong we've been and how strong we can be if we are masters of our self-determination!

Their cultures could have not even exist without our predominance, the imitator always try to conceal his source of imitation like a plagiarist...!

[Kushnology]

Facts European and Arab scholars know, but conveniently ignore

* Ancient Egyptians were Black Afrikans.
* Ancient Egyptians were dark skinned melonderms.
* Ancient Egyptians were not Semites.
* Semite is a language.
* Semite is not a race.
* Semitic language comes from Afrika.
* The Ancient Egyptians referred to themselves as BLACKS, KMT.
* The Hebrews originated the term "Semite".
* Hebrews stated that the Ancient Egyptians were not Semitic or mixed, but BLACKS.
* The Ancient Egyptians were NOT mulattoes.
* The Greeks were the first Europeans to enter Egypt.
* The Greeks stated that Egyptians were dark as night, i.e., "burnt face" people.
* The Greeks stated the Egyptians and Ethiopians (various Black Afrikan tribes south of Egypt) were identical - BLACKS.
* Arabs entered Egypt only after the Hebrews and Greeks.
* Arabs have absolutely NOTHING to do with Ancient Egypt.
* The Ancient Egyptians were Black Afrikans.

The End.

[DreadedBliss]

My toddler's about to lose his mind if I don't take him outside but I've just been thinking on why do humans all look so different since Black people are the original people? I know I need more study on this, it's just so interesting to me how we ended up with so many languages and cultures and skin tones, etc.

[Majadi]

Originally Posted by Kushnology

Facts European and Arab scholars know, but conveniently ignore

* Ancient Egyptians were Black Afrikans.
* Ancient Egyptians were dark skinned melonderms.
* Ancient Egyptians were not Semites.
* Semite is a language.
* Semite is not a race.
* Semitic language comes from Afrika.
* The Ancient Egyptians referred to themselves as BLACKS, KMT.
* The Hebrews originated the term "Semite".
* Hebrews stated that the Ancient Egyptians were not Semitic or mixed, but BLACKS.
* The Ancient Egyptians were NOT mulattoes.
* The Greeks were the first Europeans to enter Egypt.
* The Greeks stated that Egyptians were dark as night, i.e., "burnt face" people.
* The Greeks stated the Egyptians and Ethiopians (various Black Afrikan tribes south of Egypt) were identical - BLACKS.
* Arabs entered Egypt only after the Hebrews and Greeks.
* Arabs have absolutely NOTHING to do with Ancient Egypt.
* The Ancient Egyptians were Black Afrikans.

The End.

Excellent writing from Dr. Worrill, BigDaddieJ, Kushnology I think we should add to that the worldview that includes the ethno-linguistic connection between East Afrika (Nile Valley Culture) and West Afrika! I am adding that we need to view Kemet and the Nile Valley from a Southernly perspective. Since the Nile flows south to north (as my then 13 year old daughter corrected her history teacher) we should see ourselves advancing from the South down the Nile going Northward! We must also see our Ancient Saharan civilizations that pre-dated Kemet as advancing from a westward locale to help build the Nile Valley Civiilizations. This way we can see Kemet as a melting pot of variant Afrikan sub-groups bringing there genius to that area. This is what made Kemet so awe-inspiring. In younger comrade's terms, Kemet was the Jump-Off! ( I hope I used that correctly)

[Fenix]

Yes! My research has shown that climate change brought about the dessication of the Sahara region which pushed people who occupied that land to the fertile Nile Valley. I take that as proof that the earliest settlers of the Nile Valley were Sub-Saharan Africans or closely related.

The Badari and Naqada cultures are the earliest to have settled in the area that would become Kemet and evidence has shown that they migrated from the South or Southwest into the Nile Valley.

At least, according to my research.

I love this discourse.

[Majadi]

Excellent research Fenix, this is one of my favorite subjects as well, I think there is some necessary work that needs to be done into those Pre-Kemetic civilizations! Nubia being partially underwater there needs be a field team to deal with Underwater Archaeology! If I had the funds I would send out a team myself to do the field research. My interests would are Anthropology, Pre-Kemetic Spirituality and Oral History!

[Fenix]

I first started my research (all scholarly, no fieldwork) about two years ago. I am most interested in the philosophy and the intellectual traditions which inherently has led to some work in the literature and some religion.

Very recently, I became interested in the origins of the civilization itself.

I think I posted some of the facts that I had gathered on the Badarian culture. It's still a work in progress and regretfully I've had to put it on the back burner for some other stuff.

[Majadi]

I would love to see that work, we younger scholar/researchers are often to be found with new ideas and questions that need to be posed.

[SoularFlarez]

much respect to da southern 'egyptians' (Kush/Ethiopia/Nubia/Sudan/etc) for holding shit down thru everything that happened.....