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November 15, 1992 - Image 12

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
Michigan Citizen, 1992-11-15

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efore
o
byZACIIAR\' .rou: SON. wit
Kathy Roe in.
Milwaukee Times
"Ancient Egypt was stolen from
A/rica by Nineteenth century Egyp- .
tologists whose doctorine wa.�
norished by the African slave trade.
the sligar empire and the COIlOIl
kinedom. Many cientists during
this period were loathe to associate
Black folks with tke human race,
milch less witla civilizdtion. Hence it
wa,t early determined that 1101 only
Black: people he excluded from
Egypl. bill that Egypl itself. through
ingenious anthropological mani­
pulation, be excluded from Africa.
I Jpilt! the tesumony of ancient
Hebrew. GT t .. k and Roman eyewit­
Iff. !,..,. " huE. tm tltttt th» uncient
f_·g_rplian.J were "Black (1IIe1 wooly
haired. .. .lrspiu: myriads (�r
sculptural ami sk eletul remruns
indicating the same. IIIt'Slt'TIl
«ienc» has turned II tif)t�""tI". ,'"'/10
th» world declarnl: TIll' ancient
FK_\'ptimrs "'t'n' white! N('\'(',. ht�r()r�
of since has surh tl mocl; t"J' h,' .. 11
mad» of hum an history ill tlie name
,�r racial supvriority {Ind ""tler tlw
allspices I�r' fllllhmpological
i,ur .. w;t ...
---I.c� Grand II. C1"KK II ... , nrie",
Am",.;ra: ... Mi. ''\illg !.ink /" Wark
Ili.'\tOl:'·.
Whcn and where did the fir t
human heings live'! Who
developed the first civilization
of mankind?
For �enlUries, these (IU�stions
have been raised hy philo­
sophers. scientist � l)d religious
scholars nil over'the world.
THE CREATION THEORY
It is hclie\ed that l\�ar1y every
I.:ultun,' has it., own wrsion of how
the world was �rcated and whcre
the garden uf Eden was l()cat�cI.
One version of the creation'
story accepted hy thc Greeks,
temmed from the "Kushites'
(Ethiopians), helief that their
country (Ethiopia) was hoth the
hirthplace of all mankind, and
the Garden of Eden. They also
helieved the Nile River wa� the
source from which cl!1 created tife
forms emerged.
The Ku�hitcs --, distinctly
mack race of highly ildnlnced
people live,1 ill East A;rka in
F.thiopia, Nuhia an,1 thc
Southern Sudan tOr1hO\l!.�'I"ls of
ye:\rs.
"In' the heginning )f the
wor!tl'" the Kushites claimed.
.. fhe land nf Egypt was buried
heneath the sea." until eventially
.h� land emerged frol,l out of the
water arht was forme,1 from the
I11U" that swept northwtlrd dur­
:ll�' tth' ,11111\1:11 flooding ,ecL on
'whl'n till' Nil � owrllowcd into
it" han�'\
PRE-DYNA'TY PERIOD,
BEFORETHEPHAROAHS
Kushitc people. also known a �
lIamitcs. a re said to he the fir t
humans to migrate from the
southern Nubia region to the fer­
tile land of Egypt after the Nile
valley was formed by the Nile
River. Once in Egypt. they
developed and set up a highly
evolved cultural society.
Following this migration -­
which is part of the pre-Dynasty
era =othcr waves of Kushiics .
from Nu hia. Erh iopia and the
Sudan later intermingled with
Africans already in Egypt. creat­
ing a new Kush-Egypt
bloodline.
Their descendants developed
the fir treater. By dipping Cl poin­
te eed \1 . n .t 'Eg) ian
cribes wrote me, sa 'C: on th
papyru: sheets. Another great
Egyptian . invention WilS the
calendar. alnng with religious
and social custom .. "
"Even in pre-dynastic time
the Egyptians had reached a high
level of civilizarion:
--for they imported gold, xilvcr.
iin.Icad. hematite. em ry. galena.
tll rquoi. e. ohsidia n. ,eq)cnti ne.
lapi .. 1;11\111. �()ral and lortoise
shell: --
and with the'e materials pro­
d'.lced heautiful and useful work;;
of art which were to C,lJ1 forth the
wonder and adm iralioll of later
age ,"
THE GOD OSIRIS
As the legend has it. the god
Osiris fll\d goddess L i � were
Kushite deitie� rcvercd h} the
Egypt ia n people.
"Osi ris was lInq lIes� inlla hly
'he pnpulnr god nf F.gypL.()siri�
was dear In the h�arls of the pen­
pk. lie \\as pre-elllcilelltl� gO�hl.
lie was in life (ttld death their
friend. Hi� hirt}l. death. huria1.
re 'urrection and ascension
embrace,,1 th<; lec-hling point� of
Egyptic-1I1theology ... in his efforts
to do good. he encounters e\'il. In
struggling with that. he is over­
come. He i� killed. But he did l�ot
re�t in his grave. At the end of .
three days. or forty, he rose again
and ascended into heaven."
Many Greek scholars who'
lilter vi�itcd Egypt also came to '
admire nlhl repcet the Kushites
he�a\Jse of thcir proud, l11flje. tic
manner. civility and strong
military p,fQwness.
The c\'idcn�c of science an,1
h,istnry prove. heyond it shadnw
of a douht. that the first people
t ha I settled on the N ilc werc
ll1ad and that they had fl highly
develope"l cul'ure in even t'he �o­
l:allc'd "pre-historic" times.
rr"ditional society however. did
not slIhsl'rihe to the notion of
Illona rl:h il'S. wh ich was a major
drawhad in decisively "e�"in)'
with the mas. ivc influx of white
Asian invad r who were hent on
conquering the fertile Delta
region of Northern Egypt.
"The picture wa generally the
same from about 4.000 B.C.
onward. In the A ian held area
in the north. the blacks had hard
choices to make. As clscwhccrc
on the continent. They had the
choice of remaining in their
homeland ilJld heinr redll�cd to
th" �Iatlls of s,'r\'flnt .1Ihl slaves:
or if they wcr' \\l'II-'n-do melll­
hers of th' profc"j"n;1I d'asses.
ardliteds, cngin 'er, or skill'd
(raft In,'n. thcy (()\Ild rCl1lflin.
hecome integrated into Asian
society. he cI.,sified as "wh ite"
it nd even hold high positions: or
finally, they 'ould reject inlcgra­
ti( n into A�ians 'ulture In"
III it'!" Il' ,Ul! thwa rtl. his tlw 1.'n'a t
majority did.
s the hi toric period opened
in ypt. it appeared that the
Africans were retaking the whole
, of their country. The Palermo
States records victory after vic­
tory over the .. ian '. Finally. the
great triumph came when the
African King Mcucs. defeated
the Asians decisively, uniting all
Egypt under African rule again
an d thus, begun the first
Dynasty."
CAPITAL OF EGYPT
MOVED TO MEMPHIS
"After the Asian North was
sudued, thc African capital city
was moved from Nckhch in the
south to the north where the "t \'0
lands" mct. Here astride what
had been tile henan I"ry. the: "crcr-
1\ a I �. i, �.. 0 f Ic III phi S \\;t � h u ill.
,:.II\\�d for th" k in , .m d like
T h I.' h �" ( in, It c It P P ,," !\: i It- I �. g i () 1\ )
1h.'LCI!l1l' till' (0(.11 poiu t of BI'h. .. k
pOW"'1 :11\" ouc C) f • h l' r h i,' ( LI.'Il-
tcrs of African civiliz.uion."
Egypt's first Golden Age was
inaugratcd hy an invasion from
F.th iopia. A conqueror of Sudan i
features. founded, the Th iul
nyna ·ty and ma ny entirely ncw
ideas entered the country.
Tht: great achievement of the
rcien of Khufu was the huilding
uf the Gr-cat Pyramid -- a :tru&.:­
fure cdehrated in the annals of
history (tS one of the Seven Won.'
dcr. o( thc Ancient WorhL
"Ry the time of tIll' Third
Dynasty ,(277R-272J). �entraliza­
tion of the monarchy \ .. 'as com­
plete. All the tech nological' a nd .
cultural dements of EgyptiClIl
ci\ilil.ation were alr'l'ady in pl;ll'e
flnd had only to be perpctuatl'd.
"This marked the en" of II'..
Old Kingdom."
HISTORY OF THE 4th. 5th
AND 6th DYNASTIES
Ancicnt Egypt cpitnmill'"
ci\ilii'cllion an I culture hUI
p-criodil:ally, as if hy fixc:d c�des.
�legcncrated into oppressi\c
feu�la I ism ra t her tlw n 'ne
traditional �y tellt of African
democra 'yo nuring the�e q'c1es.
political t:orruption. sodal
stagnation and moral decan­
dence wcre the order of the day.
Cycle of decadence were
inevitahly followed hy p�'riod5 of
revolution ilnd anilr�h�. whkh
were follow�d h� il P 'rind of
stahilil.ation and. as tim� wcnt
nn. another (;ulden Age. Th,,,
. cyde r�pcated itself thre(' lil\\e�
during Fg}ptifln history.
REVOLUTION IN EGYPT
"The advent of the Fourth
Dynasty. with the Giza
Pyramids. �howed that the mon­
archy had reached its zenith.
thereafter, the. regime again
cvolved toward feudalism. The
fctutalistll . ystem that had just
triumphed with the Fifth
Dyna ty reached its peak with the
Sixth. It then engaged stagnation
in the economy and the admini -
tratiou of the State in urban as
well a' rural area . And the 'lxth
Dynasty was the end with the first
popular upri. ing 'in. Egyptian
history.
"The wretched of Memphis,
c: pital and anctuary of royalty.
pillaged the city. robbing the rich
,and driving them into the streets.
The movement soon spread to
other cities. The situation
rhrourghout the city was
poignantly described in ancient
tc 1( t:
Thieves (became) proprietors
ilild the former rich (were)
robbed. Tho c drcs ell in fine
��) rp C us 'ere, beaten. The
children of noble were dashed
a�,.tin"t the wall .. Towns were
..
aha ndoncd. Doors. walls.
columns were set aflame."
THE MIDDLE KINGDOM
"Egypt': first Golden Age
ended in � 1M R.C. when the
death of King Neterkerc ended
the Vllh nyn�sty. From 4Ih.' to
.'554 R.C. l'haos prevailed in the
Nile Valley, and this intemlc,(iate
period 'co\,('rs Oyna�ties VII
through X. Often several rulers
daimed .he throne at one time.
Th is period of �onfllsion was
cnded h� a Thehan nohleman
named Inkf. who he�amc the
first King, of Oynas.ty XI. whkh
laterhcgan the Middle Kin�dom.
Intef I was \l\�ceeded by Intef II
who in turn. was followed by five
Mentu hotcps. Mentuhotep V was
too feehle that he was dethroncd
by Amenemhet I. who established
nyna�ty XII. A great lover of jus­
tke. Amenemhet I proved to he a
capahle monarch who was res­
pon:\ible for a numher. of
innovfltions on Egypt. ind!Jding
the slIrwying flnd ,Iistrkting of
citic.s.
tJnder Ses()stris I (.BB-.�-'27).
Sllccesnf of Amencm het 'I. ,I
period of expansion ell, lied. ;ll1d
the houndaries of Egypt wrre
extendcd into the Kingdom of
Kush in the South.
In �IX4 R.C.. Amenemhet IV
die,r leaving no heir._suh equen­
tly, a �C)mmoner assume,1 the
th rone. The re�ult of this action
wa. a stllte of civil war, between
the 'people living in the northern
nella who revolted against the
rule of f1 com moner. and citilens
fronl lower Egypt. The civil war'
lasted 100 years withollt a
Illea�urahle victory on either
. ide, Kings of OYtl(tsty XllIl1Ile,f
I from Thches. a nt' rival ru Ie r of
OYIlClst) XIV occupied the
throne (tl Memphis; both nlon­
ardls claiming to he the rightful
su&.: 'csor of. the XII Oynasty.
r.,
b
;...... 1

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