Four Ladies, from Ashmolean Museum, Oxford(http://asiapacificuniverse.com/pkm/A64.gif)
Ta_Seti, a premier online African-centered discussion group!
Four Ladies, from Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
(http://asiapacificuniverse.com/pkm/A64.gif)
Different ethnic types in Egypt from Joseph Lichtenstern's Homepage at the University of Bordeaux, France.
"Nubian Woman"
"Type Barberin" (Berber Type)
"Type Noir" (Extreme Africoid Type)
To: athena-discuss@info.harpercollins.com
From: GLORIA EMEAGWALI
Subject: Cultural unity
Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 15:39:37 -0400 (EDT)
Speaking about unified African culture (within and between the
various zones} let me identify some observations about Ancient
Egyptian culture which I find applicable to the rest of Africa
in the past and to some extent the present.These are all taken from
the observations of Herodotus about Pharaonic Egypt:
"But they are unlike any of the Greeks in that they they do
not greet one another by name in the streets, but make a low
bow and drop one hand to the knee..."p.159.
Now the above is quite common in various parts of the continent
for eample Yoruba salutation. Incidentally the previous
observation by Herodotus of "young men stepping aside to
make room for their seniors ..." is also applicable.
"they practise circumcision, while men of other nations-except
those who have learntfrom Egypt-leave their private parts
as nature made them." p. 143
Female and male circumcision are commonly done in various
parts of the continent. In fact certain types of
female circumcision are generally called "pharonic" in
popular parlance.( By the way I do not necessaily endorse
the practice."
"women pass water standing up, men sitting down"p.142
I hate to bring this up but it is a common tendency
in upper West Africa
Some other cultural indicators of significance include
the following:
(a) the use of braided wigs.
Up to 1994 a braided Egyptian wig in the
British Museum was on display.Maybe it still
is there. It is almost identical to
West African braided wigs
(b) African combs
Indigenous African combs evolved to suit
hair texture. I have seen a typical African
comb amongst the Pharaonic items
in the British Museum exhibit and
in the Ashmolean,Oxford, as well, I believe
(c) Shoe design
Leather shoes of similar design to those
in the British Museum can be identified
in upper West Africa e.g Hausaland, Northern
Nigeria as well as Northern Ghana
Propositions and processes associated with divine kingship and
religion also seem to have similar underlying tendencies and
so too burial customs. Incidentally wrapping the corpse in cloth
as the Egyptians did it is fairly common.
Dr Gloria Emeagwali
Professor of History/African Studies
CCSU
(somebody asked me for my credentials, offline)
----------------
To: athena-discuss@info.harpercollins.com
From: GLORIA EMEAGWALI
Subject: Aigyptos,Kemet and points of correspondence
Date: Wed, 5 Jun 1996 14:27:10 -0400 (EDT)
".......it lists sixty-one points of correspondence
between African and Egyptian culture" Manansala
I have found Budge"s OSIRIS,AND THE EGYPTIAN RESURRECTION,
vol 2. Dover, NY - quite informative on this subject of
correspondence, particularly in his discussion of the following:
1. marriage p.212
2. respect for the aged, p.216
3. circumcision, p.219
4. snake worship,p.236
5. the crocodile, p.238
6. names,p.242
7. figures and counting, p.246
8. the head-rest,p252
9. the underworld,p.253
10. red body colouring, p.257
Even more significant are the chapters which focus on
Osiris and the African grave; African funeral ceremonies
and burials described; and the African doctrine of last
things (pp.79-147). In the discussion of the latter,
Budge, keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities in
the British Museum and by no means an African-American
Afrocentric, discusses African views on immortality,the
spirit-body,the shadow,the soul of the Ka, the heart, the
spirit-soul , reincarnation and death.Budge has to his
credit another 10 books on Egypt. OK Peter Daniels,what
is your criticism of Budge?I know that you don"t like
the cheap Dover editions, but that"s neither here nor there.
Finally, how about the term "Aigyptos" which I have
been told refes to the black-footed god from which the
term Egypt derives. Is there some correlation between
the term "Kemet" and the Greek version? There seems to be
a black thread connecting the two. Any denials?
Gloria Emeagwali
----------------
To: athena-discuss@info.harpercollins.com
From: ab67@cornell.edu (Ayele Bekerie)
Subject: African Knowledge Systems
Date: Fri, 10 May 1996 12:50:13 -0400
Dear Participants,
Here are some of my comments and suggestions witihin the framework of the
debate:
1.Lefkowitz referred to Nathan Glazer's letter in *The New York Times Book
Review * 3/10/96, p.4. The date is wrong; it is 3/17/96, p.4. I noticed
this error because the second letter was my humble contribution to the
debate. In the letter I raised the issue of geography and Egypt's huge
indebtedness to the the countries of the sources of the Nile river. The
issue og geography is important, for Lefkowitz made a pointed reference to
what she calls *the Mediterranean*. Is this a reference to the islands in
the Medit? or a reference to the European part of the sea? or a reference
to Palestine, Israel, Syria...? Does it include North Africa - from where
to where? These questions need clarification.
2.If philosophy has no relations to wisdom then why do the Greeks call it
*Love of Wisdom?*
3. Does Lefkowitz reject the Western sources utilized by George James?
4. With regard to the Ancient Egyptian solar calendar where the year is
divided into twelve parts of thirty days with extra five or six days for
the thirteenth month finds its corresponding calendar in the Ethiopian
calendar, which is still in use today. The Ethiopian calendar has thirteen
monthes, twelve of 30 days and the last month has five or six days.
5. It is interesting to note that the Ethiopians were not converted to
Christianity, rather Christianity was incorporated into the existing belief
systems, including Judaism. Otherwise, how do you account for the Arc of
the Covenant being the most defining element of the Ethiopian Christianity
called Tewahedo. Here I am referring to that part of Ethiopia with a
Tewahedo tradition; there are other traditions including Islam.
6. The Greeks have had significant cultural relations that predates
Christianity. Some of the inscriptions of our rulers were inscribed both in
Geez and Greek. Indeed, the Mediterranean goes deeper into Africa.
7. more later.
Sincerly,
Ayele
Ayele Bekerie, PhD
Visiting Assistant Professor
African Studies & Research Center
310 Triphammer Rd
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 255 4607
Fax (607) 255 0784
----------------
In a book published in 1971 entitled _The Legacy of Egypt_,
J.R. Harris (ed.), Oxford, one of the chapters, written by
P. Shinnie, is "The Legacy of Africa." The author tends to
discount the many theories of Egyptian influence in Africa,
and vice a versa, but yet does seem some instances of
relationship:
"But having said all this, it can be seen that, here
and there, there are strong resemblances to Egyptian
objects and to Egyptian culture scattered throughout
Africa. In the realm of material cuture a small number
of objects have been found which might reasonably be
supposed to have originated from Egypt. Amongst these
are musical instruments such as the small harp used
by the Azande and other peoples of southern Sudan and
Uganda, wooden head-rests in various parts of the
continent, certain types of sandals, and many other (?)
similar objects. In West Africa attention has been
drawn to the use of ostrich-feather fans, very similar
to pharaonic ones, in Wadia and Bagirmi and other places
in the neighbourhood of Lake Chad. Such fans were certainly
in use in Nubia in the Second Intermediate Period and a
number were found at Kerma, but none has been depicted
in any Meroitic reliefs.
In other parts of West Africa, particularly Nigeria,
there are resmeblances in the regalia of chiefs to
the pharaonic regalia---whips, crooks, and flails have
all been reported and some have seen them as direct
borrowings from Egypt.
The god Shango, of the Yoruba, whose sacred animal
is the ram, ahs been derived by some from the god
Amum, and Wainwright (G.A. Wainwright, JEA xxxv (1949)
170-5) has cited a ram-headed breastplate
from Lagos which certainly very strongly suggests an
Egyptian origin.
Frankfort drew attention to the resemblance between
ivory arm-clamps found in an early dynastic grave
in Lower Nubia and those in use amongst modern Masai
of East Africa; but, in the absence of any firm
evidence as to the antiquity of such objects they
must be viewed with some scepticism, they are too
few to be regarded as serious evidence.
Some authors ahve attempted to list all these
resemblances and Petrie (W.M. Petrie, _Ancient
Egypt_, 1914, 115-27, 159-79) gives sixty-one
examples of similarities between Egyptian objects
and customs and those of Africa."
----------------
According to E. A. Wallis Budge, _A short history of the
Egyptian people_, 1914, pp. 22-27, an inscription from
Ptolemaic times at Edfu mentions an invasion of Egypt
from the South during predynastic times. The text
mentions king Ra-Harmakhis of Ta-seti who invaded with an
army of Mesniu, or "Blacksmiths." Budge believes these
blacksmiths worked copper that was found early in the
southern area.
Interestingly, in the Sahel region of Africa pro-blacksmith
and anti-blacksmith societies still exist. The inscription
states that the Mesniu were lead by the god Horus,
while those in Southern Egypt were led by Set.
Finally, Horus gained victory by driving a spear
through Set's neck and beheading him:
"The text goes on to say that companies of
"Blacksmiths," settled down on lands given
them by Horus on the right and left of the
Nile and in what is now called "Middle Egypt,"
thus the followers of Horus from the South
occupied the country."
This Edfu texts supports archaeological finds at Qustul
which show a movement of the A-culture into Upper Egypt.
This movement seems to have eventually led to the
unification of Upper and Lower Egypt and the founding
of the first dynasty. Budge goes on to say:
"The success of Horus continued to press more and
more northward, and to occupy the more northern parts
of the Nile Valley...As a result, however, of one
of the battles between the South and the North,
which was probably near Anu (later, Heliopolis), the
king of the South gained the victory, and he was
henceforth able to call himself "King of the South,
King of the North."
Again, this agrees entirely with the archaeological record.
Paul Kekai Manansala
----------------
Much of the focus now regarding the 'race' of
the ancient Egyptians seemsto be on denying any
relationship between West Africa and East/Northeast
Africa. This effort, in my opinion, often makes some
of the following presumptions:
1) Most Afrocentrists are of West African descent.
2) Denial of a West African connection will leave
the Afrocentrists, in the opinion of others,
powerless.
3) Some seem of the opinion Afrocentrists claim
the Egyptian dynasties were founded by recent migrants
from West Africa.
4) In their zeal to deny, deny, deny, the Eurocentric
side has failed to take into account that any connection
with ancient Egypt, even one that has taken place many
centuries after the fall of the Pharaohs is in no way
rejected by Afrocentrists, or Africans in general.
5) For some reason, Saharan origin of some Egyptians does not
count as "West African." They ignore the fact that many
peoples traditionally considered 'West African' actually
live in the Sahara, including many in Niger, Mali
and Mauritania. Thus, not a few descendents of Africans
in the Western hemisphere are of Saharan descent.
6) EuroAmerikkkans are far more racially minded in denying
relationship between East and West. Thus, Western Saharan
descent is okay, but from the Sub-Sahara region, not okay.
This seems related to the notion that all Saharan peoples
are "Caucasoid."
The problems with the argument of the East-West divide are
numerous. First, the line between the Western Sahara and
West Africa to the south is as mythopoeic as the imaginary
line between Egypt and 'black' Sudan. Saharan people share
many genetic characteristics with those in the tropics, and
at one time, the word 'Moor' or 'blackamoor' equaled the
modern term "Negro." There is the perception that all N.
Africans look like 'Arabs,' but this is due to not having
visited the area or having limited experience with N. Africans
able to make it to Western universities (who are not
representative of the populationas a whole).
African anthropologists like Keita (1993) and Hassan (1988;
also Chamla 1975, 1976) have shown that intermixture between
differing groups occurred very early on, and that the
*earliest* peoples in the Sahara were Africoid. These
Africoid peoples *never* vanished from the Sahara.
Any attempt to deny a Nubian influence in the founding of
Egypt's dynasties must be highly suspect. Using the normal
standard in archaeology, the oldest known and related
finds would qualify as the most likely source. This would
mean the *Nubian* kingdom of Qustul. The oldest tombs
of a pharaonic type are found in Nubia, and these A-culture
tombs appear in Upper Egypt before the dynastic period.
(Williams, 1987) Also, both Badari and early Nakada pops.
are decidely Africoid in appearance.
The idea that the 1st Dynasty somehow arose due to sudden
foreign influence can be rejected. A physical type had
already developed during the later Nakada periods, and this
type was mostly tropical African and related a slight
admixture of northern types with the predominant southern
group. The predominant skeletal type among 1st Dynasty royal
remains was tropical African. These were found alongside a
slightly larger number of northern coastal types that was
found in the late Nakada and Kerma series. Keita (1992, 1993)
noting Hassan and others have postulated that this was due to
political marriages aimed at unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
While the tendency of 'hybridization' between Southern and
Northern types continued into the late dynasties, occassionally
either strong southern or northern typologies predominated.
The 1st through 13th Dynasties were more Southern in affinity
as a whole, and especially the Old Kingdom Giza remains were
said to have a 'southern' morphology (Keita 1992). The 18th
Dynasty seems also to have been very 'Nubian' in character,
and in particular the mummies of Ahmose and Thutmose I bear
marked resemblance to 'extreme' types found among early
Nubian remains.
Now, I will address the six points made above:
1) It is wrong to think all Afrocentrists and all
those that support the idea of a predominant Africoid
presence in ancient Egypt are W. African. Ayele
Bekerie from Ethiopia, and M. Abdullahi Diriye from
Somalia are two examples from East Africa who have
contributed to this discussion. Emiliano Zapata and
myself come at least partly from non-African cultures.
I am a multiculturalist who can be considered Afrocentric
in that I agree that not only are humans from "out of
Africa," but fairly advanced humans at that, and that
Africa had a natural head start in many areas. Obviously
I believe ancient Egypt was primarily a tropical African
('black') creation. And the culture was almost entirely
Saharo-tropical African and not West Asian.
2) The debate over Egypt does not require direct evidence
of West African connections. Few reasonable people can
doubt that West Africans and East Africans are related.
To suggest genetic relationship between Swedes and Italians,
Spaniards and Russians, or even Somalis and southern
Europeans; while denying *any* relationship between E. and
W. Africans is preposterous. Eurocentric scholars can
shove such data up where the Sun don't shine. We have a
history of being fed such nonsense. If there is some truth
to these propositions let it be proven in the great beyond,
or let us prove it to ourselves, but we will not accept it
from EuroAmerikkkans. However, the truth is the data, no
matter how corrupt it *may* be, does not support such
conclusions. In fact, it shows quite the opposite.
3) Few Afrocentrists have claimed that West Africans themselves
founded the Pharaonic Egypt. The most common propositions are
1) the founders of Pharaonic Egypt and the peoples of West
Africa come from closely related tropical African or
Saharo-tropical stock. 2) That their was culture and gene
flow from ancient Egypt to the rest of Africa throughout
history, even after the Pharoanic period. 3) There are very
ancient traditions of cultural or actual origin in East Africa
or specifically in Egypt among many West African peoples.
4) P. Shinnie (_The Legacy of Africa_) made it a point to
assign the many correspondences in Egyptian and African
culture to the post-Pharaonic Christian Nubian period.
He may be partly right in some cases, but this in no way
diminishes the cultural connection of Africa to Egypt,
anymore than Russian self-linkage to Greco-Roman
civilization is diminished despite learning about it only
many centuries after its fall.
5) Diop (1991, p.170, 171) shows how an agricultural tradition
dating from the Late Stone Age streches across the Southern
Sahara, from Mauretania on the West to just south of Khartoum
along the White and Blue Niles. In this zone, agricultural was
practiced during the rainy season with cattle raising, and
it was in this same area that we find the fishing cultures
using similar harpoon heads and the Wavy Line pottery. In
these communities there appeared to be a polarity between
those who respected blacksmiths, and those who held them
in contempt. Possibly this was in reaction to the spread of
iron. This culture bordered a Nile plow agricultural system that
may have been related to the plow agricultural complex found along
the Nile in Egypt. There has never been a racial line between
East and West, or between North and South. The area of the
Southern Sahara is to this day dominated by "Negroid" types.
In fact, even at Carthage, Chamla (1975, 1976) has claimed that
at least 20% of the population was black, while many others
were at least non-white.
6) As shown above, the Sahara is not, and the evidence shows,
has never been, a homogenous region. In the South, 'black
types' dominate. Try visiting northern Chad or Niger someday,
or for that matter southern Morocco or Libya. And although
there may be some physical differences between those in the
North and South Sahara, these *do not automatically* translate
to non-African. Although gene flow may have contributed to
the some populations, many 'non-black' types in the North can
be shown genetically and otherwise to be indigenous African
variants shaped by various factors *other* than migration.
References
Chamla, M.C., "Les hommes des Sepultures
proto-historiques et puniques d'Afrique du Nord I (Algerie
et Tunisie) _L'Anthropologie_ 79 (1975); p. 659-692
and II 80 (1976): 75-116, p.97
Diop, C.A., "Historie primitive de l'Humanite: Evolution du
monde Moir," Bulletin de l'Institut francaise d'Afrique
Noire, 24, 449. 1962.
__, _Civilization or Barbarism_, translated by Yaa-Lengi
Meema Ngemi, edited by Harold J. Salemson and Marjolijin de
Jager, Chicago, 1991.
Keita, S.O.Y., "Further Studies of Crania from Ancient Northern
Africa: An Analysis of Crania from First Dyansty Egyptian Tombs,
Using Multiple Discriminant Functions" _American Journal of
Physical Anthropology_ 87:245-254, 1992.
__, "Studies of ancient crania from northern Africa,"
_American Journal of Physical Anthropology_, 83: 35-48, 1990.
__,"Ancient Egyptian Biological Relationships," _History
in Africa_ 1993.
Williams, Bruce and Logan, T. "The Metropolitan Museum knife
handle and aspects of pharaonic images before Narmer,"
__Journal of Near East Studies_, 46:245-285.
----------------
Egypt's location has caused it to be coextensive with the rest
of Africa in many ways. Despite its relative nearness to
West Asia, only a surprisingly small number of roots can be
traced to Semitic languages. Indeed, most of the basic
Egyptian roots are monosyllabic rather than trisyllabic like
those in Semitic. The supposed barrier between West
and East Africa can be shown to be non-existent. Below are
some examples of how these regions were/are coextensive.
LANGUAGE:
Language does not equal race, but it often equals or approximates
culture. It certainly shows the movement (and likely intermixture)
of peoples.
Afrocentric Groupings
Drs. Diop and Obenga proposed a larger family of African languages
of which Egyptian was one. Later, Obenga called this the Negro-Egyptian
family; and Clyde Winters has postulated on a grouping he calls
Paleo-African. Here are some very interesting correspondences in
morphology given by Diop and Obenga between Ancient Egyptian and the
Walaf language of Senegal on the West African coast:
Egyptian Walaf
feh = go away feh = rush off
feh-ef feh-ef
feh-es feh-es
feh-n-ef feh-ôn-ef
feh-n-es feh-ôn-es
feh-w feh-w
feh-wef feh-w-ef
feh-w-es feh-w-es
feh-w-n-ef feh-w-ôn-ef
feh-w-m-es feh-w-ôn-es
feh-in-ef feh-il-ef
feh-in-es feh-il-es
feh-t-ef feh-t-ef
feh-t-es feh-t-es
feh-tyfy feh-ati-fy
feh-tysy feh-at-ef
feh-at-es
feh-tw-ef feh-tw-ef
feh-tw-es feh-tw-es
feh-n-tw-ef feh-an-tw-ef
feh-n-tw-es feh-an-tw-es
feh-y-ef feh-y-ef
feh-y-es feh-y-es
Greenberg Groupings
Even according to Dr. Joseph Greenberg's smaller African language
families, a clear coextensive relationship between West and
East Africa. Following are a few examples of languages from each
family on both coasts of Africa. This coextension reaches to
South Africa also.
Hamito-Semitic Family:
East Africa: Ancient Egyptian
West Africa: Hausa of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon
Congo-Kordofanian Family:
East Africa: Kordofanian languages of Sudan
West Africa: Wolof and Yoruba of Senegal and Nigeria
Nilo-Saharan:
East Africa: Dinka and Luo in Kenya and Sudan, Masai in Tanzania
West Africa: Kanuri in Nigeria and Niger
GENETIC AND HEREDITARY TRAITS
The present Egyptian population with its predominance of O type, a
greater proportion of B type than A, and a rarity of A1, agrees more
with sub-Saharan Africa than with Europe, the Levant, the Near East
or Iraq. The Hemoglobin Egyptian and the sickle cell mutation and
related thallemesias also point more toward the black African
population. Other areas of similarity include glucose-6-phosphate
dehydrogenase defiency and alcohol intolerance (ALDH).
Interesting results also come from ancient Egyptian remains. A study by
Borgognini-Tarli and Paoli in _Human Population Biology of Ancient Egypt_ found
that the ratio of A in Early Dynastic remains was very low; lower than modern
ratios.
A = 3
B = 18
AB = 14
O = 5
8 undistinguishable
Total: 48
Dental analysis has also shown genetic similarity between Egyptians and
Nubians particularly in rare variants like the sub-maxillary hypocone.
MATERIAL CULTURE:
African "Aquatic" culture: A fishing culture using barbed harpoons and
associated with the Wavy Line pottery complex
was found in the Late Stone Age from the
West Coast of Africa as far south as Liberia,
to Somalia and Ethiopia, including sites
near Khartoum and ancient Meroe. This aquatic
culture was associated with these tropical
crops cultivated through much of the same region,
which included most of the Sahel:
Guinea Corn
Bullrush Millet
African Rice
Finger Millet
Teff
Fonio ('Hungry Rice')
Wilton Stone Age complex: This culture extended from the Southwest coast
of Africa, and most of the rest of South Africa,
northward to Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia.
Metal working: The spread of metal-working, particularly iron-working
demonstrates how quickly the migrating peoples of Africa
diffused culture. Iron working evidence is found around
500 B.C. in Nigeria and about a century later iron slag
turns up in Meroe to the West, while it occurs at about
300 B.C. south and southwest of Lake Victoria. It may be
that iron dates extend much earlier though. The movement
of iron has been linked to the Bantu migrations.
Sorghum: The diffusion of this grain, which was one of Africa's earliest
food crops, is another indicator of prehistoric pan-African movement
and migration.
----------------
Ta_Seti, a premier online African-centered discussion group!
Report any problems to Paul Kekai Manansala at p.manansala@sbcglobal.net
Sponsored by AsiaPacificUniverse.com
Ta_Seti, a premier online African-centered discussion group!