To the ancient Egyptians, the land of Punt, was the most exotic and mysterious of places to visit. It seems to have been considered by them a most unique haven; an emporium of goods for both king and gods.
For scholars however, Punt has been a challenging place to pinpoint. Using quotes from the leading scholars and experts on Punt, this paper will demonstrate a strong case that Punt was undoubtedly an African kingdom located in modern day Eritrea and eastern-Sudan.
The Location of Punt
In this section, I've provided various scholars' opinions on where the ancient Kingdom of Punt would have been located, based on the scarce information provided by the ancient Egyptians.
Egyptologists have long since given up on locating Punt in Arabia Felix (Yemen), or equating it with the biblical land of Ophir and its "mines of King Solomon." In fact, there was also a land route that brought the products of Punt to Egypt; the "mountain of Punt" and its auriferous pools clearly lay on the borders of Kush, in the Nile Valley of Nubia. Scholars no longer feel a need to go as far as Zanzibar or Socortra or even to Somalia in search of Punt. The book of the pharaohs By Pascal Vernus, Jean Yoyotte, David Lorton, p. 150
Punt was home to various incense-bearing trees (Boswellia and commiphera, which thrive on low rainfall), dom-palms, and species of hard, black trees called heben in Egyptian, the origin of our own word "ebony." Visitors to punt enountered panthers and cheetahs, monkeys and baboons (the latter on dry hills), as well as giraffes and rhinoceroses, animals that dwelled in the plains. Gold also came from Punt, In the middle of summer, rain fell on the mountain of Punt only in the miraculous form of vertable deluges. These details gleaned from texts enable us to locate the famous shores of punt and their vast interland. The land called punt included a desert region and a Sahelian region between the 22nd and the 18th parallel N. The south of Punt might have included the present-day province of Kassala and the north of Eritrea. To the west and the northwest, an undefinable border separated it from Kush and the land of the Medjoi (roughly Etbaya).
The book of the pharaohs By Pascal Vernus, Jean Yoyotte, David Lorton, p. 150-1
Egyptians explorers could get to Punt by land, though they had to cross vast stretches of mountains and desert. Punt could also be reached by sea, but at the cost of huge logistical efforts and a lengthy, coast-hugging journey. Even so, the land was both divine and familiar. Min of Koptos, the partron god of the trails in the eastern desert, was the prototype of the Medjoi from Punt and of the wanderers who explored that land. The Sky goddess Hathor, patroness of major voyages to foreign lands, was "misstress of punt." The book of the pharaohs By Pascal Vernus, Jean Yoyotte, David Lorton, p. 151
This casts new light on a longstanding Egyptological problem, the location of the land of Punt (pwnt), from which came gold, ebony, incence, and a host of other marvels. Rejecting its earlier identification with Somalia, Kitchen (1993) firmly locates Punt in northern Eritrea and adjacent areas of Sudan. The ebony (dalbergia melanoxylon) found in Pharaonic contexts occurs only here (in Eritrea), along with one kind of incense widely used in Bronze Age Egypt and the Levant, Eritrean Pistacia resin (serpico and White 2000). African connections: an archaeological perspective on Africa and the wider world By Peter Mitchell, p. 78
Kitchen, in nearly four decades of writing on the subject of Punt, has succeeded in establishing what today is the most widely accepted position on the location of Punt (Eritrea and Eastern Sudan). To Kitchen, Arabia was certainly out of the question. Perhaps the most contrary evidence is linguistic, he writes: "As for Parehu, the only named chief of Punt, the consonant p in his name and that of Punt itself also firmly excludes Arabia." Why? Because Old South Arabian languages possess an f but no p. Thus, Kitchen writes, "Arabia would have had a Farehu, chief of Funt!" Egyptian has both consonants, so the transcription is reliable, he adds. Trade and travel in the Red Sea Region, By, Paul Lunde, Alexandra Porter, p.178.
In the following two paragraphs, professor Pankhurst explains why the Eritrean coast would have been the best location for Punt do to proximity to Egypt and due to the limitation of seasonal sailing winds.
It may further be urged that the northernmost area, what is now the Eritrean coast, probably constituted the most frequently visited African section of Punt. The area's northerly location, and consequent relative proximity to Egypt, would have given its trade a significant edge over that of more distant areas, such as the Somali country. The Ethiopian borderlands, By Richard Pankhurst, p.4
Time, it should be emphasised, was of the essence. The Trade Winds dictated that ships from Egypt, sailing at perhaps 30 miles a day, had to travel during the three or so summer months, June to August, when the wind blew southwards, and had to complete their trading enterprise, doubtless no rapid affair, by November, when the winter winds began to blow in the opposite direction. Southbound vessels probably needed about a month to reach the northern Eritrean area, about the same time again to arrive at the coast opposite Aden, and a further month to reach Cape Guardafui (in Somalia). The southerly winds would by then be abating. It would therefore appear doubtful whether Egyptian commercial navigators could have easily sailed much further in the time permitted to them by nature.
The Ethiopian borderlands, By Richard Pankhurst, p.4
For the ancient Egyptians, Punt came to represent the point of the southernmost extent of Egyptian penetration of Africa, as reported on an obelisk from the reign of Queen Hatshepsut:
"my southern boundary is as far as the lands of Punt." Daily life of the Nubians, by Robert Bianchi, page 126
Ancient Egyptian inscriptions seem to suggest a geographic linkage between Punt and Kush, as the following inscription taking from Solem from the time of Amenhotep III demonstrates:
"When I turn my face to the south....I cause the chiefs of wretched Kush to turn thee...when I turn my face to thee the countries of Punt bring all the pleasant sweet woods of their countries...." Daily life of the Nubians, by Robert Bianchi, page 126
One of the most significant information of late that makes a very strong case that Punt was a kingdom neighboring upon Kush Kingdom (and one that disproves it being in Yemen or as distant as Somalia or Tanzania) is with the recent 2003 arechological discovery that shows Kush, along with Punt and other neighboring kingdoms joined in force to invade and sucessufully defeat the Ancient Egyptians.
"The tomb belonged to Sobeknakht, a Governor of El Kab, an important provincial capital during the latter part of the 17th Dynasty (about 1575-1550BC). The inscription describes a ferocious invasion of Egypt by armies from Kush and its allies from the south, including the land of Punt, on the southern coast of the Red Sea. It says that vast territories were affected and describes Sobeknakht’s heroic role in organising a counter-attack. The text takes the form of an address to the living by Sobeknakht: “Listen you, who are alive upon earth . . . Kush came . . . aroused along his length, he having stirred up the tribes of Wawat . . . the land of Punt and the Medjaw. . .” It describes the decisive role played by “the might of the great one, Nekhbet”, the vulture-goddess of El Kab, as “strong of heart against the Nubians, who were burnt through fire”, while the “chief of the nomads fell through the blast of her flame”. Tomb reveals Ancient Egypt’s humiliating secret
Professor Fattovich even argues that the ancient Ona Group-A sites of Eritrea (located near Asmara, the capital) may possibly be part of Punt or linked to it.
The potential importance of these finds went mostly unnoticed in the archaelogical world until Rodolfo Fattovich drew attention to their significance for understanding early complex societies in the Horn. Calling these sites both the "Ona Culture" and "Ona Group-A," he argues for a possible connection between Egypt and the land of Punt, and identifies the Ona culture as either located within the land of punt or as possibly linked to Punt (Fattovich 1984, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997a) The archaeology of ancient Eritrea By Peter Ridgway Schmidt, Matthew C. Curtis, Zelalem Teka, p. 469.
The Earliest mention of Punt and it's history.
According to Pankhurst, Punt dates back to the cradle of Egyptian civilization.
The first known contacts between Egypt and Punt date back to almost to the cradile of Egyptian civilisation. Pharaonic records reveal that as early as the First or Second Dynasties (3407-2888 BC) the Egyptians were in possession of myrrh The Ethiopian borderlands, by Richard Pankhurst, p. 4
"during the Fourth Egyptian dynasty (2789-2767 BC) a Puntite slave is mentioned as having been in the service of a son of Cheops, the builder of the Great Pyramid." The Ethiopian borderlands, by Richard Pankhurst, p. 5
Pankhurst further adds that the pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth Dynasty dispatched the earliest naval expedition to Punt.
Supplies from Punt probably first reached Egypt overland. King Sahure (2958-2946 BC) of the Fifth Dynasty, however, later despatched a naval fleet, which returned with myrrh, gold and costly wood. King Pepy II (2738-2644 BC) of the Sixth Dynasty subsequently noted that he had a Tenq, or small-boned slave, from Punt. The Ethiopians: a history By Richard Pankhurst, p. 14
Pharaonic expeditions to Punt increased after the founding of the Egyptian Red Sea port of Wadi Gasus, north of Koseir, during the reign of King Mentuhotep IV (2242-2212 BC) of the Eleventh Dynasty. Egyptian familiarity with Punt also found expression, during the Twelfth Dynasty, in a popular tale of a mariner, a kind of early Sinbad the Sailor, ship-wrecked in Puntite waters. The Ethiopians: a history By Richard Pankhurst, p. 14
Before the Suez Canal was built, the ancient Egyptians had already built a waterway from the Nile to the Red Sea.
Contact with Punt was subsequently facilitated by the cutting, on orders from King Sesostris III (2099-2061 BC), almost four thousand years before the Suez Canal, of a waterway between the Nile and the Red Sea.
The Ethiopians: a history By Richard Pankhurst, p.15
The New Egyptian Kingdom, founded around 1600 BC, witnessed many direct sailings from Egypt to Punt. By far the best known expedition to the latter region was despatched by Queen Hatshepsut (1501-1470 BC), whose achievements are recorded in inscriptions and pictorial reliefs on the walls of her famous temple of Dair El-Bahri at Thebes in southern Egypt. "As beautiful in execution as they are important in content" they constitute veritable archives in stone, and provide by far the most detailed source for the study of Puntite foreign trade ever produced. This expedition was, however, far from unique. The modern Swedish historian Saveo Soderberg observes that 'many, or ever perhaps most' of the Pharaohs despatched fleets to Punt, though almost every ruler tried to claim that was the first to do so. The Ethiopians: a history By Richard Pankhurst, p. 15
Queen Hatshepsut, after completing her expedition to Punt stated:
"I have given to thee all lands and all countries, wherein thy heart is glad. I have given to thee all Punt as far as the lands of God's Land .... I have led thy army on water and on land to explore the waters of inaccessible channels, and I have reached the myrrh-terraces (Punt). It is a glorious region of God's land; it is indeed my place of delight." The Book of the Ancient World, by Dorothy Mills, p.48-49
Upon Hatsheput's arrival at land of Punt, her ancient Egyptian troops and commander were greeted by the chief of Punt called Parehu, along beside him was his wife, Aty, their two sons and daughter (see photo on the right of Parehu and Aty). Behind them is their town; the houses are built on piles and entered by ladders, while palms growing beside them overshadow them. Aty's Obessity has been much speculated upon; as their daughter shows much the same tendency.
With the arrival of Queen Hatshepsut troops, the chief and his wife, quoted on Hatshepsut's mortuary temple, stated:
"How have you arrived at this land unknown to the men of Egypt? Have you come down from the roads of the Heavens? Or have you navigated the sea of Ta-nuter? You must have followed the path of the sun. As for the King of Egypt, there is no road which is inaccessible to His Majesty; we live by the breath he grants to us." Egypt and its monuments: By Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards, p. 285
The people of Punt were also Sea fairing people. Within half a century of Hapshetsut's great expedition, the people of Punt themselves were undertaking commercial voyages to Egypt as painted in Egyptian officials' tombs in Thebes.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of the relief, however, is the representation of two small Puntite sailing vessels. Their presence, as the archaeologist N. de Garis Davies has argued, reveals for the first time that the people of Punt were themselves making long sea journeys. Discussing these voyages he comments that the commerce revealed in Hatshepsut's inscriptions seems to have been continued, in part at least, by Puntite vessels which brought their freight to an Egyptian port, probably near Koseir, where the Egyptians met them and bartered their manufactures for such produce as the Puntites had been able to transport.
Te Precise character of the Puntite vessels cannot unfortunately be established from the relief. Their hulls, Davies remarks, are depicted as "bolster-like shapes, rounded at both ends", and, like the background, coloured pink. Their shape, colour and absence of the marking seem to preclude their constituting a heavy wooden structure, such as would be needed, not only to weather the storms and defy coral reefs, but also to hold the high mast and steering gear presumably required by such a vessel. The Boat's personnel was small, and comprised a captain, a steersman, a crew of one, perhaps also a stevedore, and a cook with a small pot, as well as apparently a woman and a child as passengers.
The Ethiopian borderlands. By Richard Pankhurst, p. 14
Though the Egyptian inscriptions are almost exclusively concerned with Pharaonic activities there are indications that the Puntites, within half a century of Hapshetsut's great expedition, were themselves understaking commercial voyages to Egypt. Testimony of this is found in an Egyptian official's tomb at Thebes, dating from the reign of King Amenhotep II (1447-1420 BC). It contains a relief depicting the arrival of two chiefs of Punt, bringing articles from their country, including gold, incense, ebony, trees, ostrich feathers and eggs, skins, antelopes(?) and oxen. There are also pictures of two Puntite vessels,which, though much smaller than those of the Pharaohs, were evidently seaworthy. Another tomb of the period depicts the arrival of other goods from Punt, among them fragrant gum, skins, and two wild animals, the happier in that they brought their skins on their backs. The Ethiopians: a history By Richard Pankhurst, p.15
One of the last recorded Pharaonic expeditions to punt was despatched by Ramses III (1998-1167 BC) of the Twentieth Dynasty. An inscription of his reign describes Egyptian vessels returning with Puntite products, among them many 'strange articles', 'plentiful myrrh', and a number of Puntites who brought it. The Ethiopians: a history By Richard Pankhurst, p. 15
The Appearance of Puntites
Puntites like all people of ancient kingdoms had a wide ranging looks and appearances. The painting below on the right demonstrates this. We can clearly see what appears to be a Puntite woman walking out of her home, who's dressed in a long red dress. The picture next to hers also shows a very dark skinned man walking what appears to be a dog. Rare images of Puntites like this makes a strong case that the Puntites were undoubtedly African, as the following quotes will illustrate.
Numerous representations of Nubians, Puntites and Libyans occur in Egyptian art, but only in the Nubian case can they be cross-checked against an indigenous archaeology. Such representations become standardized and stereotypical, and it is never certain when they represent contemporary reality. However, significant changes in representation are introduced over time and, at least initially, they might be thought to have been based on direct and from Egyptians-in skin colour, treatment of the hair (and sometimes beard), and reddish skins, but costume and ornamentation. Puntite and Egyptian males are assigned similarly reddish skins, but Nubians typically have darker ones, and Libyans at most periods have light coloured, yellowish skin. Initially, Nubians and Puntites may have been shown as fairly similar in appearance and dress (short linen kilts), but by ca. 1400 BC they are distinctly different. Ancient Egypt in Africa - Page 13
By 2000 BC Nubians wore loin cloths of leather, sometimes decorated with beadwork patterns attested in contemporary Nubian graves as well. Subsequently, in the New Kingdom (1593-1075 BC) many continued to be similarly dressed, but others wore linen kilts or even fully representative Egyptian dres; in both cases, skin colours and hair treatment remain distintively Nubian. The distinction, as can be seen in Figure 1:2, may be between the by now heavily Egyptianized Nubians of northern and central Nubia, and opponents, prisoners of war and 'tribte bearers' from still independent soutern Nubia. During the same periods, Puntites display hairstles different from the Nubian: most were long hair, with a head band and fillet; other Puntite hair is cap-like and perhaps a mark of elite status. Short linen kilts appear typical, and some possibly elite, wore shirts as well. Ancient Egypt in Africa - Page 13
The kilt-like dressing style of the people of Punt is also seen in some of Eritrea's modern ethnic group's traditional wear as shown in the photo below.
Land of Punt housing
The unusual form of housing employed in the land of Punt was clearly the source of much interest to the ancient Egyptian artists who decorated the souther wall of the second portico of the mortuary temple of QueenHatshepsut: no less than seven individual dwellings, of essentially the same type, are shown. These houses, so far as we can tell, seem to have been rounded huts covered with an undulating pointed thatched roof and (their most interesting feature) raised on stilts or piles above ground level, so that they could be entered only by climbing the ladders depicted learning against them, although no figures are seen in that activity. The logical, and indeed general, explanation is that the inhabitants lived on the 'upper floor' above ground level, the piles protecting them from marauding wild animals or other natural phenomena. 1996, Egypt Exploration Society, by Jacke Phillips, p. 206
Ancient Egyptian artifacts in Eritrea
According to professor Kjetil Tronvoll,
"..most of present day Eritrea was comprised of the ancient Kingdom of Punt, whose rulers dominated the area for a thousand years until about 1,000 B.C. (see, for instance, Longrigg 1945:11). In this respect, this particular area has one of Sub-Saharan Africa's oldest traditions of state-formations." — professor Kjetil Tronvoll Mai Weini, a highland village in Eritrea, By Kjetil Tronvoll, 1996
But was there any evidence of ancient Egyptian artifacts located in Eritrea? Despite the fact that Eritrea has yet to be properly excavated, there are indeed many locations demonstrating ancient Egyptian artifacts, proving the Eritrean region was indeed in contact with them.
At agordat in the middle Barka valley (Eritrea), an Egyptian-style, ceramic ear-plug and some stone celts which imitate bronze prototypes of the 17th-18th Dynasties have been excavated in sites dating to the mid-second millennium BC. On the Eritrean coast at Adulis, two fragments of glass vessels typical of the New Kingdom have been found in a level dating to the late second millennium BC. Encyclopedia of the archaeology of ancient Egypt By Kathryn A. Bard, Steven Blake Shubert, p.637
Posts: 34 | Registered: Mar 2010
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posted
Eriterians need to source some African scholars too. Ethiopia was divided based on some groundless research and opinions provided by the works of racist colonial imperialists who divide to rule better.
Eriterians should also seek the opinion of their fellow Africans and forget the manipulative lies of the pink-white bwoyz!
Cite me some Moorish scholars, some African writers, some African-American researchers not the works of some lying pinks.
Lion!
-------------------- Lionz Posts: 7419 | From: North America | Registered: Mar 2009
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quote:Originally posted by IronLion: Eriterians need to source some African scholars too.
Some of the quotes provided were from African-American scholars/Professors. The vast majority of the quotes were taking by white professors/historians. Although I prefer to take quotes from historians/professors than any random dude based on his skin color. The leading expert on Punt (Kitchen) already stated Punt is African kingdom that's undoubtedly to be found in present Eritrea.
quote:Originally posted by IronLion:
Ethiopia was divided based on some groundless research and opinions provided by the works of racist colonial imperialists who divide to rule better.
What does this have to do with Punt? Ethiopia wasn't divided, it was an imperial state that worked with colonizers. Ethiopian leaders, particularly Haile Selassie and Menelik stated they hated blacks and viwed themselves as caucasians. Besides, Eritrea predates Ethiopia and was never part of Ethiopia till Eritrea was annexed. Everything Ethiopia boasts about today has its origins in Eritrea or is entirely found in Eritrea only.
quote:Originally posted by IronLion: Eriterians should also seek the opinion of their fellow Africans and forget the manipulative lies of the pink-white bwoyz!
Eritreans only seek facts. If you got them, then share it with us. We're not in the business of creating false history in order to settle a score with people who told us we had no history.
quote:Originally posted by IronLion: Cite me some Moorish scholars, some African writers, some African-American researchers not the works of some lying pinks.
Lion!
Those lying pinks quoted in thread are stating Punt people are Africans. Punt people were African, Kush people were African, Medjay people were African, Amaw people were African, then you certainly better believe the ancient Egyptian were African.
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Hi 85500 welcome. Do you believe the "Cushitic" speaking populations of Eritrea are an older ethnic group than the Semitic speakers? Curious about your response, as it's difficult for me to separate Ethiopia and Eritrea in Ancient times; forget about post-colonial borders. Or do you feel that all Semitic languages had their origins in the Horn?
Posts: 747 | From: Atlanta, GA USA | Registered: May 2004
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posted
Are either of you aware of the findings of teff in Old Kingdom Egyptian mud bricks.
Also, I think its wrong for somebody to discount scholary reserch automically based on the ethnic affiliation of the scholar. While I agree there have been much bias,and definately prejudice, you cannot automatically discount scholarship just because a ''white'' person conducts reserch. History is about multidisplinary reserch from archaeology down to population genetics.
Not to sound very biased myself,but most historical texts that people cite and study from tends to come from ''white'' scholars. I am aware of earlier non-white scholars but most of their reserch tends to be obscure or in other languages with less acessibility to the common person.
For instance, one of the cited scholars is Richard Prankhurst. I believe he is a white scholar that deeply cares for and loves Ethiopia. He was one of the vocal scholars that helped overturn the racist Semito-centric worldview of ancient Ethiopia. Not to mention Basil Davidson,a collegue of Diop, that supported and advocated for proper recognition of all African history from Cape to Cairo.
Posts: 8675 | From: Tukuler al~Takruri as Ardo since OCT2014 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote:Originally posted by homeylu: Hi 85500 welcome. Do you believe the "Cushitic" speaking populations of Eritrea are an older ethnic group than the Semitic speakers?
This is another misconception. The difference between a "Semitic" speaker vs a "Cushitic" speaker is really cosmetics.
Although the Semitic family branch was born in Africa, it was the only Afro-Asiatic (Actually African) language that was developed outside of Africa. Semitic languages entered Eritrea from Yemen 2,000 BC (4,000 years ago). From the Eritrean coasts and highlands, it spread southwards into other parts of Eritrea and finally reached northern Ethiopia about 800 BC. I can't stress enough that Eritreans are not the result of a mixture between Yemeni populations and Eritrean ones. This racist colonial view was created to make it look like Eritreans weren't capable of starting the kingdoms without having been of some hybrid race. The horn of African population is of an ancient stock and is not a result of superior Yemenis bringing civilization into the horn, but rather, most scholars agree that the ancient Eritreans were the ones to spread their cultures into Yemen. Just look at the Arabian Peninsula, all the ancient kingdoms of that region, they all had contact with the horn of African coast.
Anyways to answer your question, the ancestors of 80% of Eritreans are proto-Bejas. 85% of Eritreans speak a Semitic lanauge, while the other 15% speak either a Cushitic and, or Nilotic.
quote:Originally posted by homeylu:Curious about your response, as it's difficult for me to separate Ethiopia and Eritrea in Ancient times; forget about post-colonial borders. Or do you feel that all Semitic languages had their origins in the Horn?
Ethiopia is a Greek word that means burned face. The name was adopted by Haile Selassie in the 1930s in order to bestow Biblical prestige to his country. You can see the pluses in adopting a name as Ethiopia, due to the historical and biblical references associated with such a name, as classical Nubia/Kush had for the most part generally been specifically regarded as being the ancient Ethiopians.
Eritrea has had a very different historical existence from Ethiopia and the Sudan. Eritrea had one of Africa's first democratic kingdoms called Medri-Bahri (land of the Sea). Despite Eritrea's relatively small size, it dwarfs both Ethiopia and the Sudan combined in archaeological historical sites. In fact, the only African country to have more archaeological historical sites than Eritrea is Egypt. Much of Eritrea's ancient past has been Ethiopianized by ethio-centric writers during Ethiopia's 50 years of occupation of Eritrea.
All semitic languages have an African origin. The problem with semitic languages is it was the only Afro-Asiatic language to have been developed outside of Africa. While Cushitic, ancient Egyptian, Bereber, and Beja languages originated in Africa and developed in Africa. So don't assume someone speaking a Semitic language is any different than a Cushitic one, as its really cosmetics. For example, most Amharas only started speaking Amharic 500 years ago. Although Amharic is regarded a 'semitic' language, it's substratum and origins are Cushitic. Most of the Amharic language is really an Agew-afaan Oromo Cushitic language.
The only predominate Semitic languages in the horn of Africa (disregarding Arabic) are Tigre, Tigrinya, Ge'ez (almost extinct) and Dahlik (all Spoken in Eritrea). The rest of the so-called 'Semitic' languages are really mostly Cushitic with a minority Semitic lexicon. Even those predmoinate Semitic languages I mentioned have a minority Cushitic element to them.
Here's Eritrean Tigrinya, which is different from Ethiopian. Eritrean Tigrinya is the second oldest spoken Semitic language in the horn of Africa (Ge'ez is the oldest but it's virtually extinct outside of Churches -sorta like Latin)
quote:Originally posted by ausar: Are either of you aware of the findings of teff in Old Kingdom Egyptian mud bricks.
Also, I think its wrong for somebody to discount scholary reserch automically based on the ethnic affiliation of the scholar. While I agree there have been much bias,and definately prejudice, you cannot automatically discount scholarship just because a ''white'' person conducts reserch. History is about multidisplinary reserch from archaeology down to population genetics.
well said. I agree with you 100%.
quote: For instance, one of the cited scholars is Richard Prankhurst. I believe he is a white scholar that deeply cares for and loves Ethiopia. He was one of the vocal scholars that helped overturn the racist Semito-centric worldview of ancient Ethiopia. Not to mention Basil Davidson,a collegue of Diop, that supported and advocated for proper recognition of all African history from Cape to Cairo.
A lot of scholars complain of Richard Pankhurst because he's too Ethio-centric. Basil Davidson has done a lot in helping African research and correcting Richard Pankhurst' Ethio-centric views over Eritrea and Somalia. But the person to turn everything upside down and is regarded as the mover and shaker of horn of African history (not saying basil davidson isn't, because he is very important) is Peter ridgway schmidt. This professor/archaeologist was the first one to smash the Yemeni colonization over Eritrea myth. He re-discovered the oldest civilization in the horn of Africa in the Eritrean highlands that was completely different than anything seen in Yemen.
quote:Eriterians need to source some African scholars too. Ethiopia was divided based on some groundless research and opinions provided by the works of racist colonial imperialists who divide to rule better.
Eriterians should also seek the opinion of their fellow Africans and forget the manipulative lies of the pink-white bwoyz!
Lol, Eritrea is much older than Ethiopia. Amhara and Tigray of Ethiopia dominated recently because of luck, the romantic idea of some isolated orthodox christian communities hiding in the interior Ethiopian mountains sarrounded by an ocean of hostile muslims appealed to european imaginations, starting with the portuguese. They got all well equipped up until Menelik's creation of current Ethiopia, the british went further than the portuguese by encourageing Menelik to grab as much land as he could. Many inside Ethiopia are today held by force as a result. Eritrea however was never part of Ethiopia, before the middle ages Amhara didn't even exist, Oromo and Agew eventually became the Amhara, these continued Axumite christian traditions, dynasties and such which they inherited from Eritreans/Tigray etc. The Amhara controlled a small part of current Ethiopia untill Europeans entered the scene, arming them and even fought their battles, empowering them to the fullest against mostly muslims, all because of some false imagination of some brave Abyssinian community relentlessly fighting muslims a thousands years without ever surrendering. Of course just some redicoulas fantasy, but they played along with the country Ethiopia emerging as a result.
Posts: 1554 | Registered: Jul 2006
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quote:Eriterians need to source some African scholars too. Ethiopia was divided based on some groundless research and opinions provided by the works of racist colonial imperialists who divide to rule better.
Eriterians should also seek the opinion of their fellow Africans and forget the manipulative lies of the pink-white bwoyz!
Lol, Eritrea is much older than Ethiopia. Amhara and Tigray of Ethiopia dominated recently because of luck, the romantic idea of some isolated orthodox christian communities hiding in the interior Ethiopian mountains sarrounded by an ocean of hostile muslims appealed to european imaginations, starting with the portuguese. They got all well equipped up until Menelik's creation of current Ethiopia, the british went further than the portuguese by encourageing Menelik to grab as much land as he could. Many inside Ethiopia are today held by force as a result. Eritrea however was never part of Ethiopia, before the middle ages Amhara didn't even exist, Oromo and Agew eventually became the Amhara, these continued Axumite christian traditions, dynasties and such which they inherited from Eritreans/Tigray etc. The Amhara controlled a small part of current Ethiopia untill Europeans entered the scene, arming them and even fought their battles, empowering them to the fullest against mostly muslims, all because of some false imagination of some brave Abyssinian community relentlessly fighting muslims a thousands years without ever surrendering. Of course just some redicoulas fantasy, but they played along with the country Ethiopia emerging as a result.
I like This !
Posts: 2463 | From: New Jersey USA | Registered: Dec 2007
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Kinda hard to read the blurry print, but I guess its a start for those unfamiliar with Eritrea at all.
Posts: 455 | From: Tharsis Montes | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
I think many of us realize that the land of Punt was located in the African Horn. It's less significant what the current names are and who should rightfully take credit for the civilization. People moved around more frequently then, the borders that exist now, did not exist then.
Using modern day borders, the land of upper Egypt, could have just as easily been lower Sudan, does it really matter?
They were all indigenous Africans, and that's what really matters. Even some hhave claimed that modern day Yemen was nothing more than an extension of Punt, and can be considered an indigenous African regions as well, before invaders from Northern Arabia integrated into the landscape.
Posts: 747 | From: Atlanta, GA USA | Registered: May 2004
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quote:Originally posted by ausar: Are either of you aware of the findings of teff in Old Kingdom Egyptian mud bricks.
Also, I think its wrong for somebody to discount scholary reserch automically based on the ethnic affiliation of the scholar. While I agree there have been much bias,and definately prejudice, you cannot automatically discount scholarship just because a ''white'' person conducts reserch. History is about multidisplinary reserch from archaeology down to population genetics.
Not to sound very biased myself,but most historical texts that people cite and study from tends to come from ''white'' scholars. I am aware of earlier non-white scholars but most of their reserch tends to be obscure or in other languages with less acessibility to the common person.
For instance, one of the cited scholars is Richard Prankhurst. I believe he is a white scholar that deeply cares for and loves Ethiopia. He was one of the vocal scholars that helped overturn the racist Semito-centric worldview of ancient Ethiopia. Not to mention Basil Davidson,a collegue of Diop, that supported and advocated for proper recognition of all African history from Cape to Cairo.
Comeon Ausar, don't sound naive!
Posts: 7419 | From: North America | Registered: Mar 2009
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Oh **** here we go again there is no eritrea or ethiopia. That region is complicated when it comes to historical facts one tribe says one thing another says a different thing.
Yonis what the hell are u talking about i can tell u are Somali Amhara Tigray rule by Luck are u serious or are u just a propoganda machine.
Tigray=Abyssinia=Ethiopia not Amhara Oromo ADdis ababa Finfinne
Posts: 410 | From: Al-Ard | Registered: Jun 2009
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Ironlion, i'm not naive about the mangling of history by 19th century European scholars. I know very well they devised the awful Hamitic Hypothesis and messed up Africana histography. I will not defend these scholars. My arguement was simply that many gems can be gleaned from these texts and can be used to correct the wrongs of past scholars. As I mentioned previously some white scholars like Basil Davidson attempted to correct the racist histography of African history. I still believe that scholar's work should transend their ethnic affiliation unless they use their own ethnic affiliation to demean or write falsehoods.
Posts: 8675 | From: Tukuler al~Takruri as Ardo since OCT2014 | Registered: Feb 2003
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^ Forget the tin-lion blinded by his own prejudice. He remains in the dark along with the crazy 'crackers' and their cracker-kissing minions he hates so much.
quote:Originally posted by 85500: Ethiopia is a Greek word that means burned face. The name was adopted by Haile Selassie in the 1930s in order to bestow Biblical prestige to his country. You can see the pluses in adopting a name as Ethiopia, due to the historical and biblical references associated with such a name, as classical Nubia/Kush had for the most part generally been specifically regarded as being the ancient Ethiopians....
Actually there is still conjecture on what the actual meaning of the word "Aethiopia" meant but the definition you gave still can't save Eurocentrics from the fact that the ancient Greeks first used that name for Canaan/Phoenicia or the Levant.
Welcome to the forum, by the way. It's nice to have an extra intelligent person than an extra idiotic troll. As you can see, this whole section is overrun by them. It's better to go the Egyptology section here to discuss this and other intelligent topics lest it get ruined by racial nonsense by the trolls.
Posts: 26239 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: ^ Forget the tin-lion blinded by his own prejudice. He remains in the dark along with the crazy 'crackers' and their cracker-kissing minions he hates so much.
quote:Originally posted by 85500: Ethiopia is a Greek word that means burned face. The name was adopted by Haile Selassie in the 1930s in order to bestow Biblical prestige to his country. You can see the pluses in adopting a name as Ethiopia, due to the historical and biblical references associated with such a name, as classical Nubia/Kush had for the most part generally been specifically regarded as being the ancient Ethiopians....
Actually there is still conjecture on what the actual meaning of the word "Aethiopia" meant but the definition you gave still can't save Eurocentrics from the fact that the ancient Greeks first used that name for Canaan/Phoenicia or the Levant.
Welcome to the forum, by the way. It's nice to have an extra intelligent person than an extra idiotic troll. As you can see, this whole section is overrun by them. It's better to go the Egyptology section here to discuss this and other intelligent topics lest it get ruined by racial nonsense by the trolls.
Mary, shut up and get lost! Posts: 7419 | From: North America | Registered: Mar 2009
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^ Sorry, but I'm not "Mary" as I told your Jew-frightened friend. Don't get mad cuz I told the truth, tin-cat. Posts: 26239 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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