And the sons of Ham; Cush (northern Sudan), and Mizraim (Egypt), and Phut (East Africa), and Canaan (Palestine). And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar (Sennar in Sudan). Genesis 10:6-10
And they (the sons of Judah upon entering Canaan) found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they of Ham had dwelt there of old. I Chronicles 4:40
Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham...They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea. Psalms 105:23...106:21-22
And the lord said, like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Isaiah 20:3...43:3
And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. Ezekial 30:4
(Pharaoh's daughter) I am black, and comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Song of Solomon 1
Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength and it was infinite. Nahum 3:9
Kebra Nagast (Ethiopian bible - "The Glory of Kings")
Solomon has taken a wife not of his color, who is moreover black, for he has married the daughter of Pharaoh.
The Greek Chronicles
Herodotus
Origins of the Oracle of Dodona
At Dodona, however, the priestesses who deliver the oracles have a different version of the story: two black doves, they say, flew away from Thebes in Egypt, and one of them alighted at Dodona, the other in Libya (Africa)...The story which the people of Dodona tell about the doves came, I should say, from the fact that the women were foreigners, whose language sounded to them like the twittering of birds...As to the bird being black, they merely signify by this that the woman was Egyptian. -book II
Colchians are of Egyptian Descent
But it is undoubtedly a fact that the Colchians are of Egyptian descent...My own idea on the subject was based on the fact that they have black skins and wooly hair...and secondly, and more especially, on the fact that the Colchians, the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians are the only races which from ancient times have practiced circumcision. -book II
Aristotle
Those who are too black are cowards, like for instance, the Egyptians and Ethiopians. But those who are excessively white are also cowards as can be seen from the example of women, the complexion of courage is between the two -Physiognomy, 6
Diodorus
Origins of the Egyptians
The Ethiopians say that the Egyptians are one of their colonies, which was led into Egypt by Osiris. They claim that at the beginning of the world Egypt was simply a sea but that the Nile, carrying down vast quantities of loam from Ethiopia in its flood waters, finally filled it in and made it part of the continent...They add that the Egyptians have received from them, as from authors and their ancestors, the greater part of their laws. -Universal History, book III
Colossi of Memnon
These are two colossal seated statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in western Thebes. At dawn, the northern statue emitted a whistling sound. Ancient Greeks who visited the statue called it the 'vocal Memnon', thinking the figure represented the Homeric character Memnon, singing to his mother Eos, the goddess of the dawn.
Memnon was an Ethiopian king who went to troy to help Priam, his uncle, and was killed by Achilles.
( To the Ancient Greeks; Egyptian - Ethiopian - same thing.}
Posts: 3344 | From: Berkeley | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Aeschylus, -525(?) to -456, tragic poet and creator of Greek tragedy. In The Suppliants, Danaos, fleeing with his daughters, the Danaids, and pursued by his brother Aegyptos with his sons, the Aegyptiads, who seek to wed their cousins by force, climbs a hillock, looks out to sea and describes the Aegyptiads at the oars afar off in these terms: 'I can see the crew with their black limbs and white tunics.'33
A similar description of the Egyptian type of man recurs a few lines later in verse 745.
(f) Achilles Tatius of Alexandria.
He compares the herdsmen of the Delta to the Ethiopians and explains that they are blackish, like half-castes.
(g) Strabo, -58 to about +25.
Strabo visited Egypt and almost all the countries of the Roman empire. He concurs in the theory that the Egyptians and the Colchoi are of the same race but holds that the migrations to Ethiopia and Colchoi had been from Egypt only
'Egyptians settled in Ethiopia and in Colchoi.'34 There is no doubt whatever as to Strabo's notion of the Egyptian's race for he seeks elsewhere to explain why the Egyptians are darker than the Hindus, a circumstance which would permit the refutation, if needed, of any attempt at confusing 'the Hindu and Egyptian races'.
(h) Diodorus of Sicily, about -63 to +14, Greek historian and contemporary of Caesar Augustus.
According to Diodorus it was probably Ethiopia which colonized Egypt (in the Athenian sense of the term, signifying that, with overpopulation, a proportion of the people emigrate to new territory).
The Ethiopians say that the Egyptians `are one of their colonies,35 which was led into Egypt by Osiris. They claim that at the beginning of the world Egypt was simply a sea but that the Nile, carrying down vast quantities of loam from Ethiopia in its flood waters, finally filled it in and made it part of the continent. . . They add that the Egyptians have received from them, as from authors and their ancestors, the greater part of their laws.
Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
quote: 6: And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. 7: And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. 8: And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9: He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10: And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Genesis 10:6-10
READ CAREFULLY, THIS PASSAGE REVEALS THE IDEOLOGY BEHIND NOAH'S 'CURSE' PLACED UPON CANAAN
quote: 39: And they went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. 40: And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they of Ham had dwelt there of old.
I Chronicles 4:40
quote: 23: Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. ... 21: They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; 22: Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.
Psalms 105:23...106:21-22
quote:
3: And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; 4: So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5: And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. ... 3: For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Isaiah 20:3...43:3
THE FOLLOWING DIATRIBE CAN BE MORE CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD BY SUBSTITUTING THE NAME(S) OF ANY GREAT NATION; ENGLAND, AMERICA, ROME, GREECE, CHINA, ETC...(THE LOWLY SHALL OVERTHROW THE HIGH...
quote: 4: And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
Ezekial 30:4
quote: 1: The song of songs, which is Solomon's. 2: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. 3: Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. 4: Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee. 5: I am black, (but) comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. 6: Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. ... 10: My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. 11: His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. ... 9: I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. 10: Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. 11: We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.
Song of Solomon 1
quote: 9: Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
Nahum 3:9
IE, THE CHILDREN OF HAM DOMINATED THE WORLD. ...
Posts: 3344 | From: Berkeley | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Hey Wally, do you think you can 'enlighten' some of the hopeless here? Posts: 26352 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I read somewhere if Kemet was seen as of one of the sons of Ham and the Babylonians were seen ..if only in-part the grandson of Ham..remember Kush begat Nimrod and he became a mighty one upon the Earth before the lord and the begining of his kingdom is in the land of Sinaar..and he lived in his captial city of Babel. Then I can understand how some from the Nation of Shem..meaning Hebrews would have a problem with the sons of Ham as they were hemmed in on all fronts being pushed around by both.
Wally
quote:And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. 8: And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9: He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10: And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
This makes the above true and it strenghtens Mikes, Dr. Winters and Marc's case.
Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Brada-Anansi: I read somewhere if Kemet was seen as of one of the sons of Ham and the Babylonians were seen ..if only in-part the grandson of Ham..remember Kush begat Nimrod and he became a mighty one upon the Earth before the lord and the begining of his kingdom is in the land of Sinaar..and he lived in his captial city of Babel. Then I can understand how some from the Nation of Shem..meaning Hebrews would have a problem with the sons of Ham as they were hemmed in on all fronts being pushed around by both...
You have to constantly keep in mind the replication of names; Sennar, Sudan > replicated as Mesopotamia, Asia Sheba, Sudan > Sheba, Arabia Kush, Sudan > Kush, Asia ...
Posts: 3344 | From: Berkeley | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
The Hamitic (IE, Kememou) moral code; which Judeo-Christian theology subsequently reduced to "Ten Commandments" - a 'Readers Digest' version
I have not committed sins against men.
I have not opposed my family and kinsfolk.
I have not acted fraudulently in the Seat of Truth.
I have not known men who were of no account.
I have not wrought evil.
I have not made it to be the first work should be done for me.
I have not brought forward my name for dignities.
I have not abused the servants.
I have not belittled God.
I have not defrauded the humble man of his property.
I have not done what the gods abominate.
I have not vilified a slave to his master.
I have not inflicted pain.
I have not caused anyone to go hungry.
I have not made any man to weep.
I have not committed murder.
I have not given the order for murder to be committed.
I have not caused calamities to befall men and women.
I have not plundered the offerings in the temples.
I have not defrauded the gods of their cake-offerings.
I have not carried off the fenkhu cakes of the Spirits.
I have not committed fornication.
I have not masturbated in the sanctuaries of the god of my city.
I have not diminished from the bushel.
I have not filched land from my neighbor's estate and added it to my own acre.
I have not encroached upon the fields of others.
I have not added to the weights of the scales.
I have not depressed the pointer of the balance.
I have not carried away the milk from the mouths of children.
I have not driven the cattle away from their pastures.
I have not snared the geese in the goose-pens of the gods.
I have not caught fish with bait made of the bodies of the same kind of fish.
I have not stopped water when it should flow.
I have not made a cutting in a canal of running water.
I have not extinguished a fire when it should burn.
I have not violated the times of the chosen meat offerings.
I have not driven away the cattle on the estates of the gods.
I have not turned back the god at his appearances.
I am pure. I am pure. I am pure. My pure offerings are the pure offerings of that great Benu which dwelleth in Hensu. For behold, I am the nose of Neb-nefu (the lord of the air), who giveth sustenance unto all mankind, on the day of the filling of the Utchat in Anu, in the second month of the season Pert, on the last of the month, [in the presence of the Lord of this earth]. I have seen the filling of the Utchat in Anu, therefore let not calamity befall me in this land, or in this Hall of Maati, because I know the names of the gods who are therein, [and who are the followers of the Great God].
Posts: 3344 | From: Berkeley | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Obviously part of the reason for the scorn goes back to the period when Egypt and Kush dominated the surrounding area. But another reason is that cosmologically people want to believe that they are FIRST among men, which reflects the ancient Egyptian world view and the world view of most cultures. However, ONLY Africans can truly claim to be FIRST among men biologically, culturally, physically, spiritually, ethnically, cosmologically and in any other sense. The notion that ones people were DIRECTLY created by "the gods" and have a direct relationship with them is a powerful force in religious iconography and philosophy. Of course, in order to remove this, other people would have to destroy Africans or at least destroy anything that would support this notion among Africans.
Hence, the need to elevate one's own group to the mountain top pinnacle next to the "sun" and source of all life. But obviously, in order to claim this Europeans would HAVE to lie, would HAVE to destroy and HAVE to erase the history of most of the planet because they are really THE LAST among men, not the first. And in reality that whole concept of being close to the "sun" at the pinnacle of a mountain of fire is as old as dirt yet NOWHERE do you find such symbolism in ancient Europe. Yet you find that ancient symbolism almost everywhere else in the world. So even then they are the last among men, pretending to be first.
Symbolically, if you understand the 3 Abrahamic religions, they are all based around the concept of "the word" which means revealed law, which means the law of God as revealed to his 'prophet', priest, king or follower. This revealed "divine" law then becomes the law of the people or 'mans law' as taught or spread by said 'prophets' or priests. Therefore, mans earthly authority in 'the law' derives from 'the word' as God's law. Simply put, religion is the cosmological basis for the rule of kings and queens. And who ever controls the religion controls "the law".
Now, all of this comes from Egypt obviously, as 'the law' was symbolized as the word or 'logos' in Ptah. Ptah gave the Pharaoh the divine breath and the power of divine speech, meaning the power and authority to rule via 'the word' or even better he "was the word" incarnate. From all of the cosmological underpinnings of Egyptian kingship comes the elements of later Abrahamic religions. This is why Moses (he who is born in Egyptian) came to lead his people with "the word" received on "fire mountain" which in reality is nothing more than the pyramid which IS the home of Ra meaning fire, the sun or creator as the ben ben. So basically, in order for a people to rule they need a historical narrative of how they obtained 'the word' or revealed law from God as the sole caretakers of the 'divine truth'.
Therefore, in order for this to work, any facts that would contradict the narrative and undermine their authority have to be erased. Likewise those ideas and beliefs that stand in opposition to their rule must likewise be destroyed and replaced with their own system of belief in the "narrative" or "story" that defines their power and authority to rule.
Note that most of the kings and Queens of Europe modeled themselves as God Kings or Sun Kings. Watch Elizabeth the golden age as with her golden hair is modeled as "the sun" itself. Various Kings in Europe tailored the bible to suit their rule and authority. The wars of the Holy Roman Empire were all about conquering in the name of "god" in order to reinforce the power and authority of the Holy ROman Emporer and the Western Christian Church, which was trying to usurp the power of the REAL Roman Emperor and Pope in Constantinople.
Keep in mind as well that much of the Crusades was about European "holy knights" going to "the East" to steal the ancient wealth and history of these lands in order to reinforce their own systems of rule and authority. It was the beginning of Europe associating itself with the ancient ruins and symbols of cultures it had NOTHING to do with. These knights then used those relics to then define their own "secret orders" which of course put Europeans "first among men". The holy grail is a diversion from the ACTUAL artifacts they were after. As an example, the Knights Hospitaller dismantled the ruins of the Shrine of Mausolus, one of the ancient wonders of the world, and also the basis of many shrines of freemasonry in Europe and America. Note also that some of the highest degrees of Freemasonry is symbolized by the Knights Templar and Knights of Malta, which are a reflection on the history of the Crusades as a search for ancient treasure, symbols and power. In fact the ruling body of Freemasonry is the Scottish rite based in Britain, which gave charters to both the white and black American lodges.
Of course it is no coincidence that Britain was the biggest colonial empire in the world and obtained much priceless treasure and loot from its conquered territories, much of which is on display at its museums as well as in private collections. By having this loot in their possession and incorporating the symbolism of these cultures into their own, they can pretend to be an EXTENSION of those cultures, when they ARE NOT.
Posts: 8901 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
The 42 Negative Confessions obviously predates and informs the Israelite's moral system. Nonetheless, the Israelites' system is hardly a reduction of the 42 N C to a simple ten commandments. In fact, there are a minimum of 613 Misswoth (commandments) within the Five Books of Moses. One may inquire into the set of 365 negative ones and 248 positive ones by clicking the underscored terms.
quote:Originally posted by Wally: The Hamitic (IE, Kememou) moral code; which Judeo-Christian theology subsequently reduced to "Ten Commandments" - a 'Readers Digest' version
Posts: 8014 | From: the Tekrur in the Western Sahel | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
^ Still, the similarity is too striking to be ignored.
quote:Originally posted by Brada-Anansi: I read somewhere if Kemet was seen as of one of the sons of Ham and the Babylonians were seen ..if only in-part the grandson of Ham..remember Kush begat Nimrod and he became a mighty one upon the Earth before the lord and the begining of his kingdom is in the land of Sinaar..and he lived in his captial city of Babel. Then I can understand how some from the Nation of Shem..meaning Hebrews would have a problem with the sons of Ham as they were hemmed in on all fronts being pushed around by both.
Wally
And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. 8: And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9: He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10: And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
The problem is many of the 'sons' or nations of Ham listed are identical to those sons or nations of Shem. This likely supports the theory of the '2 Cushes' with one in Sudan and the other in Arabia. This likely explains repetition of names on both sides of the Red Sea. Dana Marniche has discussed this. The people of Ham and the people of Shem share a very ancient and intimate if not common history between them.
quote:This makes the above true and it strenghtens Mikes, Dr. Winters and Marc's case.
And what case is that?? A black empire that stretched from Mali to Japan? Or that whites are albinos fron central Asia??
quote:Originally posted by Wally: You have to constantly keep in mind the replication of names; Sennar, Sudan > replicated as Mesopotamia, Asia Sheba, Sudan > Sheba, Arabia Kush, Sudan > Kush, Asia ...
My point exactly. The similarity in names may point to early Semitic speakers if not Afrasians.
Posts: 26352 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
CHRONICLES OF EMERGING WHITE RACISM; EUPHEMISTICALLY REFERRED TO AS 'EUROCENTRISM'...
(Note: Schure's "red race" are the people who once occupied Atlantis.)
The Great Initiates, Part 1 By Edouard Schure 1889
Looks like a duck, walks like a duck, sounds like a duck...but not a duck...
quote: “The fundamental character of the Egyptians in respect of physical type, language and tone of thought, is Negritic. The Egyptians were not negroes, but they bore resemblance to the negro which is indisputable.” Ancient Egypt by George Rawlinson and Arthur Gilman, London, 1886, p. 24.
Racism is an obvious mental disorder...Posts: 3344 | From: Berkeley | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:And what case is that?? A black empire that stretched from Mali to Japan? Or that whites are albinos fron central Asia??
Naww man..more like their case for "some "Black West Asians..were culturally derived Africans..atleast in part. For sure the Canannites were.
And if you have similar place names with similar folks it might just point to origins..all the time.. "No"...but it should not be poo pooed away casually...afterall my town of "New York" derived from a town in England called York.Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
OK, let's stop the crap right here and now! The subject of this topic is "Ancient Chronicles" (on African history}; it isn't about personal attacks against individuals here, and it will not be turned into another peanut gallery; IF YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF FOLLOWING THE FLOW OF THIS DISCUSSION, THEN DON'T DISCUSS! TAKE YOUR BS TO 'ANCIENT EGYPT'...Posts: 3344 | From: Berkeley | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee. As one gathers eggs that have been abondoned in fright have I gathered the whole world Taharka smiting Assyrians..poster repo?? Book of Kings chpt 9.v 19Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
The Garden of Eden..streaches from Iraq to Ethiopia.
Genesis 2:10-14 (New American Standard Bible) 10Now a (A)river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.
11The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of (B)Havilah, where there is gold.
12The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.
13The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of "Cush".
14The name of the third river is (C)Tigris; it flows east of Assyria And the fourth river is the (D)Euphrates.
The first rivers could be the Blue and White Niles..keep in mind the river is still called Gihon in Ethiopia today. The Pishon maybe some dried up river in Arabia a possible location for Havilah. There is a certain amount of ironey in that in the war between science and popular religion that they are close to having an agreement on where man's origins lay..if one look at the area around Gihon as the birth-place of modern-man.
Although it is possible that the garden of Eden was in Africa, it would have to be at the very boundary of potential locations. In addition, such a location would contradict the Genesis 2 narrative that says that God planted the garden "toward the east" (presumably east of Israel). Ethiopia is to the southwest. Therefore, Mesopotamia or the Persian Gulf matches the description of the biblical narrative the best.
Out of Africa?Numerous scientific studies have proposed to have shown that a small group of individuals migrated out of eastern Africa and eventually expanded into most of today's populations.4 In reality, what the studies have shown is that African populations exhibit the most genetic diversity among all people groups. The theory is that once a population has been founded, the amount of genetic diversity increases over time. The theory is generally good, but does make some assumptions. One of the assumptions is that the populations have undergone little or no interbreeding with other populations. For Africa, the assumption is generally good, since Africa is geographically isolated from the rest of the world. The only route to get into Africa is through Suez. Likewise, for Native Americans, there was only one route - over the Aleutians near the end of an ice age, when sea levels were low and temperatures were beginning to moderate. However, for people groups in Mesopotamia and the Middle East, there was no geographic isolation. Being at the intersection of three continents, the Middle East has seen numerous people groups migrate through and back. So, it would be very unlikely that peoples of the Middle East would have the greatest genetic diversity of modern humans, even if humans originated there. www.godandscience.org/apologetics/humans_out_...Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
Now the Ethiopians, as historians relate, were the first of all men and the proofs of this statement, they say, are manifest. For that they did not come into their land as immigrants from abroad but were natives of it and so justly bear the name of "autochthones" is, they maintain, conceded by practically all men; furthermore, that those who dwell beneath the noon-day sun were, in all likelihood, the first to be generated by the earth, is clear to all; since, inasmuch as it was the warmth of the sun which, at the generation of the universe, dried up the earth when it was still wet and impregnated it with life, it is reasonable to suppose that the region which was nearest the sun was the first to bring forth living creatures. And they say that they were the first to be taught to honour the gods and to hold sacrifices and processions and festivals and the other rites by which men honour the deity; and that in consequence their piety has been published abroad among all men, and it is generally held that the sacrifices practised among the Ethiopians are those which are the most pleasing to heaven. As witness to this they call upon the poet who is perhaps the oldest and certainly the most venerated among the Greeks; for in the Iliad he represents both Zeus and the rest of the gods with him as absent on a visit to Ethiopia to share in the sacrifices and the banquet which were given annually by the Ethiopians for all the gods together:
For Zeus had yesterday to Ocean's bounds Set forth to feast with Ethiop's faultless men, And he was followed there by all the gods.
Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History, Books II.35 - IV.58, Translated by C.H. Oldfather, Harvard University Press, 2000
On the Ethiopians who dwell beyond Libya and their antiquities (Book III, chaps. 1-7) wysinger.homestead.com/diodorus.html - Cached - Similar
Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Wally: The KJV Bible - The Children of Ham
And the sons of Ham; Cush (northern Sudan), and Mizraim (Egypt), and Phut (East Africa), and Canaan (Palestine). And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar (Sennar in Sudan). Genesis 10:6-10
And they (the sons of Judah upon entering Canaan) found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they of Ham had dwelt there of old. I Chronicles 4:40
Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham...They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea. Psalms 105:23...106:21-22
And the lord said, like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Isaiah 20:3...43:3
And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. Ezekial 30:4
(Pharaoh's daughter) I am black, and comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Song of Solomon 1
Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength and it was infinite. Nahum 3:9
Kebra Nagast (Ethiopian bible - "The Glory of Kings")
Solomon has taken a wife not of his color, who is moreover black, for he has married the daughter of Pharaoh.
The Greek Chronicles
Herodotus
Origins of the Oracle of Dodona
At Dodona, however, the priestesses who deliver the oracles have a different version of the story: two black doves, they say, flew away from Thebes in Egypt, and one of them alighted at Dodona, the other in Libya (Africa)...The story which the people of Dodona tell about the doves came, I should say, from the fact that the women were foreigners, whose language sounded to them like the twittering of birds...As to the bird being black, they merely signify by this that the woman was Egyptian. -book II
Colchians are of Egyptian Descent
But it is undoubtedly a fact that the Colchians are of Egyptian descent...My own idea on the subject was based on the fact that they have black skins and wooly hair...and secondly, and more especially, on the fact that the Colchians, the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians are the only races which from ancient times have practiced circumcision. -book II
Aristotle
Those who are too black are cowards, like for instance, the Egyptians and Ethiopians. But those who are excessively white are also cowards as can be seen from the example of women, the complexion of courage is between the two -Physiognomy, 6
Diodorus
Origins of the Egyptians
The Ethiopians say that the Egyptians are one of their colonies, which was led into Egypt by Osiris. They claim that at the beginning of the world Egypt was simply a sea but that the Nile, carrying down vast quantities of loam from Ethiopia in its flood waters, finally filled it in and made it part of the continent...They add that the Egyptians have received from them, as from authors and their ancestors, the greater part of their laws. -Universal History, book III
Colossi of Memnon
These are two colossal seated statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in western Thebes. At dawn, the northern statue emitted a whistling sound. Ancient Greeks who visited the statue called it the 'vocal Memnon', thinking the figure represented the Homeric character Memnon, singing to his mother Eos, the goddess of the dawn.
Memnon was an Ethiopian king who went to troy to help Priam, his uncle, and was killed by Achilles.
( To the Ancient Greeks; Egyptian - Ethiopian - same thing.}
Posts: 12143 | From: When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable | Registered: Jun 2007
| IP: Logged |
THE GREEK TERM 'AITHIOP, ETC., IS A MISTRANSLATION OF THE MTAU NTR WORD; THUS, TO TRY AND FIND A CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN A MISTRANSLATION AND A MTAU NTR WORD IS BOTH A WASTE OF TIME AND SILLY...
HERE'S A STUMBLING EFFORT WHICH ALMOST GETS THERE; SHORT OF THE MTAU NTR ITSELF!
THE LATTER QUOTATION IS FROM The history of Herodotus: A new English version, ed. with copious ..., Volume 2 By HerodotusPosts: 3344 | From: Berkeley | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
@ Wally, Ethiopia does not come from those terms, neither is the term derived from Greek notions of "burnt faces" as some historians have posited. This is why it is always good to asked the learned of a given society about their history.
Ethiopia is a transposition of the name some of the "Ethiopians" called their area which is TABIYA. Here we can clearly see the transposition:
Greek Ethiopian Ai (no vowel preceding) Th T IO A P B I I A YA
The same can be said about Egypt. Egypt does not derive from He-t-Ka-Ptah. It derives from the name Gebts which is also in Budge's dictionary as a trade city in Upper Egypt.
Greek Ethiopian AIGYPTOS GEBTS
As we can see, the P > B is regular in their transpositions in the Greek. TABIYA is written as ATEB on pgs 13, 97, 97, and 102. TABIYA is an Amarigna word for "station." On page 102 of Budge it states ATEB "place for loading up, station." Tabiya was a major import station for trade.
The Greeks had a habit of naming a whole land area from a the name of a city or concept and this is no different.
Anyone stating anything else is guessing.
Posts: 853 | From: Houston | Registered: Nov 2007
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Brada-Anansi: Naww man..more like their case for "some "Black West Asians..were culturally derived Africans..atleast in part. For sure the Canannites were.
And if you have similar place names with similar folks it might just point to origins..all the time.. "No"...but it should not be poo pooed away casually...afterall my town of "New York" derived from a town in England called York.
Well the Semitic languages of Southwest Asia originated in Africa which is right next door to Southwest Asia, so this is not hard to understand.
Posts: 26352 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by alTakruri: You call this ignored?
"The 42 Negative Confessions obviously predates and informs the Israelite's moral system."
What do you think predates and informs, especially informs, means?
quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: ^ Still, the similarity is too striking to be ignored.
LOL! I find it amazing how someone who argued consitently against the heavy African (Kemetian) influence on ancient Hebrew culture would now turn around and accuse others of "ignoring" this huge debt. But this is what dishonest person do.
Posts: 4254 | From: dasein | Registered: Jun 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
Hey Ako/Altk chill out. Ako, brotha, give it a rest for now. Even the Sage can mis-interrpet sometimes.
I am trying to learn something here.
shhhhhshshhh!!!!! people are studying!
Posts: 12143 | From: When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable | Registered: Jun 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
^ He can't chill, because he has a severe personality disorder. Perhaps the only think that can help him is medication along with a psychiatrist (hopefully a Jewish one).
quote:Originally posted by Bogledass: LOL! I find it amazing how someone who argued consitently against the heavy African (Kemetian) influence on ancient Hebrew culture would now turn around and accuse others of "ignoring" this huge debt. But this is what dishonest person do.
First of all, I never argued against any African/Kemetian influence on 'Hebrews' or rather Israelites. What I do argue against is your exaggeration of such influence as to say the very language, culture, and religion came from Egypt when that is obviously not the case. Second, I never accuse Takruri of anything.
As usual you are just a pathetic whiny loser who loves to distort or put words in others mouth in a vain attempt to discredit them. Sorry, my buggered boy but it won't do you any good. Posts: 26352 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
What are you talking about? Chill out from what? I have ¬Bogle on ignore, my replies were to DJ who may have forgotten my stance re Egypt and Israel. Also, ¬Bogle was addressing DJ, not me.
So, what misinterpretation? I've always pointed out the Egyptian precedents to Hokhmath Yisra'el where applicable. Is it my fault that you failed to follow my writings? Can you list the three books I recommended for discerning Egyptian borrowings by the Israelites? If not, leave me out of your discourse, please. I can, and do, handle my own affairs quite well myself. Thank you.
Now the study question is did you in fact follow the link to the 365 Negative Misswoth of Israel and compare them to the 42 Negative Confessions of Egypt? How can 365 be a Reader Digest version of 42? Which is greater, 365 or 42? If anything looks more expansion on the theme.
Now, since Egypt predates Israel, of course Israel learned of the Negative Confessions when they were a nationless Hebrew refugee corvee in Egypt. So their much later Negative Misswoth were informed by the Egyptian system. Do you understand what informed means in this connection?
Although the Torah is an ancient chronicle and Wally opened his thread with quotes from it I don't think he wants we should stray from citations involving the Nile Valley when examining non-Egyptian ancient chronicles.
quote:Originally posted by xyyman: Hey Ako/Altk chill out. Ako, brotha, give it a rest for now. Even the Sage can mis-interrpet sometimes.
I am trying to learn something here.
shhhhhshshhh!!!!! people are studying!
Posts: 8014 | From: the Tekrur in the Western Sahel | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
quote: And the LORD will smite Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return unto the LORD, and He will be entreated of them, and will heal them.
...
In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth;
for that the LORD of hosts hath blessed him, saying: 'Blessed be Egypt My people and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance.'
Isaiah 19:22, 24-25
Isn't it something that a writer from a people who viewed Egypt as perhaps their greatest enemy would record in their sacred scriptures that Egypt at one time knew Israel's deity and would return to that deity who recognizes Egypt as the deity's people?
Posts: 8014 | From: the Tekrur in the Western Sahel | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by alTakruri: my replies were to DJ who may have forgotten my stance re Egypt and Israel
He hasn't forgotten that you forced him to retreat from his Asianisation of the ancient Hebrews, he was just being dishonest as usual.
Posts: 4254 | From: dasein | Registered: Jun 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
Just a further note on how manipulation and control of "the word" as symbolic of the power to control the "hearts and minds" of the people, note the following:
The Fourth Crusade while in theory being an attack on Islam, actually was an attack on the Byzantine Empire as an attempt by WESTERN Europeans to take control of the center of Papal authority and put it in THE WEST. Note that the Eastern Roman Empire was the domain of the Greeks and Romans, with Greek being the official language and Orthodox Greek being the nature of Christian belief. Of course the Byzantine Empire as a direct successor of Rome with the active participation of the Greeks, never really LOST any of its ancient knowledge or culture, but they were transformed by a closer association with the people and cultures of the East. In reality Greece and later Rome were always more in line with the East as this is where many traits of their civilizations originated to begin with.
The result of the fourth crusade was that the Crusaders sacked Constantinople and created the Latin Empire. The latin empire then became the third claimant to the title of being The Roman Empire, but the actual title rightly belonged to the Byzantines. So you see that the idea of WESTERN civilization again becomes a play on words as during the 12-15th century the WEST was at war with THE EAST, where the EAST was the actual home of much of what we call 'WESTERN' culture. In other words, the West was nothing more than a fabrication of Medieval western European rulers who were intent on creating a new empire for themselves by adopting the labels and titles of civilizations that had gone before but had LITTLE actual relationship to them.
quote: The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople (original Latin name: Imperium Romaniae, "Empire of Romania"[1]) is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261. The Latin Empire was intended to supplant the Byzantine Empire as titular successor to the Roman Empire in the east, with a Western Catholic emperor enthroned in place of the Orthodox Byzantine emperors. Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders, was crowned the first Latin emperor as Baldwin I on 16 May 1204. The Latin Empire failed to attain political or economic dominance over the other Latin powers that had been established in former Byzantine territories in the wake of the Fourth Crusade, especially Venice, and after a short initial period of military successes it went into a steady decline. Weakened by constant warfare with the Bulgarians and the Greek successor states, it eventually fell to the Empire of Nicaea under Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261. The last Latin emperor, Baldwin II, went into exile, and the imperial title survived, with several claimants to it, until the 14th century.
By arrangement among the crusaders, Byzantine territory was divided: in the Partitio terrarum imperii Romanie, signed on 1 October 1204, three eighths - including Crete and other islands - went to the Republic of Venice. The Latin Empire claimed the remainder, and did exert control over areas of Greece, divided into vassal fiefs: the Kingdom of Thessalonica, the Principality of Achaea, the Duchy of Athens, the Duchy of the Archipelago and the short-lived duchies of Nicaea, Philippopolis, and Philadelphia. The Doge of Venice did not rank as a vassal to the Empire, but his position in control of 3/8 of its territory and of parts of Constantinople itself, ensured Venice's influence in the Empire's affairs. However, much of the former Byzantine territory remained in the hands of rival successor states led by Byzantine Greek aristocrats, such as the Despotate of Epirus, the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond, which were bent on reconquest from the Latins.
The crowning of Baldwin and the creation of the Latin Empire had the curious effect of creating three so-called Roman Empires in Europe at the same time, the others being the Holy Roman Empire and the remnants of the Byzantine Empire (the direct successor of the ancient Roman Empire), none of which actually controlled the city of Rome, which was under the temporal authority of the Pope.
quote: Nomenclature For more details on this topic, see Names of the Greeks.
Until one century after the fall of its capital Constantinople, the Empire was known to its inhabitants and all over the world[citation needed] as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans (Latin: Imperium Romanum, Imperium Romanorum, Greek: ?as??e?a t?? ??µa???, Basileía tôn Rhomaíon), Romania[n 2] (??µa??a, Rhomanía), and also as Rhomaís (??µa??).[4]
The designation of the Empire as "Byzantine" began in Western Europe in 1557, when German historian Hieronymus Wolf published his work Corpus Historić Byzantinć, a collection of Byzantine sources. "Byzantine" itself comes from "Byzantium", the name of the city of Constantinople before it became the capital of Constantine. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre (Corpus Scriptorum Historić Byzantinć), and in 1680 of Du Cange's Historia Byzantina further popularized the use of Byzantine among French authors, such as Montesquieu.[5] It was not until the 19th century[citation needed], however, with the birth of modern Greece, that the term "Byzantine" came into general use in the Western world since before this time the term Greek had been used to refer to the Empire and its descendants within the Ottoman Empire.
The Empire preserved Romano-Hellenistic traditions,[6] but due to the increasing predominance of the Greek language,[7] it was usually known to most of its western and northern contemporaries as the Empire of the Greeks.[n 3] The use of the term Empire of the Greeks (Latin: Imperium Graecorum) in the West to refer to the Eastern Roman Empire also implied a rejection of the empire's claim to be the Roman Empire.[8] The claims of the Eastern Roman Empire to Roman inheritance had been actively contested in the West at the time of the Roman Empress Irene of Athens, due to the coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor year 800, by Pope Leo III, who needing help against enemies in Rome, saw the throne of the Roman Empire as vacant (lacking a male occupant). Whenever the Popes or the rulers of the West made use of the name Roman to refer to the eastern Roman Emperors, they preferred the term Imperator Romanić instead of Imperator Romanorum, a title that Westerners maintained applied only to Charlemagne and his successors.[9]
By contrast, in the Persian, Islamic, and Slavic worlds, the Empire's Roman identity was generally accepted. In the Islamic world it was known primarily as ??? (Rűm "Rome").[10][11]
In modern historical atlases, the Empire is usually called the Eastern Roman Empire in maps depicting the empire during the period AD 395 to AD 610, after the new emperor Heraclius changed the official language from Latin to Greek (already the language known by the great majority of the population); in maps depicting the Empire after AD 610, the term Byzantine Empire usually appears.
Also keep in mind that the idea of a Pope or single leader of all Christianity was never ever originated in Rome proper. The earliest chief bishops of Christianity actually originated in Egypt and the Levant with Constantine being the actual first pope, in the sense that the Eastern Roman Emperor was the head of the church. It is only in Italy with support from France and other Germanic kingdoms, that the idea of a Pope in Rome became defined. In fact the wars between the various pretenders to be heirs of the Roman empire were all based around the idea of the Pope as supreme authority (over the Western Church). In reality the head of the Church as created by the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine, was to be under THE EMPEROR as head of the Church from the seat at Constantinople, which is the location of the first Church the Hagia Sophia. All other heads of the church were simply bishops under the emperor's domain.
quote: Eastern Orthodoxy
One of the most tragic divisions within Christianity is the one between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches. Both have valid holy orders and apostolic succession through the episcopacy, both celebrate the same sacraments, both believe almost exactly the same theology, and both proclaim the same faith in Christ. So, why the division? What caused the division?
Emperor vs. Patriarch
After the western Roman Empire collapsed in A.D. 476, the eastern half continued under the title of the Byzantine Empire and was headquartered in Constantinople. The patriarch of that city had jurisdiction over the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, and served under the emperor, who ruled those lands with military might. In the East, the emperor wielded tremendous influence in church affairs. Some emperors even claimed to be equal in authority to the twelve apostles, and as such claimed to have the power to appoint the patriarch of Constantinople. Although the two offices were legally autonomous, in practice the patriarch served at the emperor’s pleasure. Many patriarchs of Constantinople were good and holy bishops who ruled well and resisted imperial encroachments on church matters, but it is difficult to withstand the designs of power-hungry or meddlesome emperors with armed soldiers at their disposal.
In fact all of this came about as a result of the Council of Nicea and the Council of Constantinople which 1) laid the basis for Christianity 2) Put the head of the Church in the seat of the Emperor (Constantinople). This was challenged in the West as an affront to Rome with the idea that the Pope was seated in Rome by the tradition of the teachings of Saint Peter (the Apostle) going to Rome. But this is only if you believe that there was a Saint Peter and that he went to Rome. In reality Constantine created Christianity as a way of controlling the empire and placed himself at the head of it.
Council of Constantinople:
quote: The famous third canon reads:
The Bishop of Constantinople, however, shall have the prerogative of honour after the Bishop of Rome because Constantinople is New Rome.[6]
This canon was a first step in the rising importance of the new imperial capital, just fifty years old, and was notable in that it demoted the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria. Jerusalem, as the site of the first Church, retained its place of honor. By 451, in the Council of Chalcedon (Canon IX), Constantinople would be recognized as the ecumenical jurisdiction of highest ecclesiastical appeal.[7]
Baronius maintained the non-authenticity of the third canon, while some medieval Greeks maintained that it did not declare supremacy of the Bishop of Rome, but the primacy; "the first among equals," similar to how they today view the Bishop of Constantinople. Throughout the next several centuries, the Western Church asserted that the Bishop of Rome had supreme authority, and by the time of the Great Schism the Roman Catholic Church based its claim to supremacy on the succession of St. Peter. When the First Council of Constantinople was approved, Rome protested the diminished honor to be afforded the bishops of Antioch and Alexandria. The status of these Eastern patriarchs would be brought up again by the Papal Legates at the Council of Chalcedon. Pope Leo the Great[8], declared that this canon had never been submitted to Rome and that their lessened honor was a violation of the Nicene order. At the repudiated Fourth Council of Constantinople (869), the Roman legates[9] asserted the place of the bishop of Rome's honor over the bishop of Constantinople's; nine years later, this latrocinium council was replaced.
After the Great Schism (1054), in 1215 at the Fourth Lateran Council[10], Roman supremacy over the whole world was formally claimed by the new Latin patriarch. The Roman correctores of Gratian[11], insert the words: "canon hic ex iis est quos apostolica Romana sedes a principio et longo post tempore non recipit."
The patriarch often attempted to bolster his position in the universal Church to give himself more leverage in dealing with the emperor, and this usually brought him into conflict with Rome.
During the years of conflict between East and West, the Roman pontiff remained firm, defending the Catholic faith against heresies and unruly or immoral secular powers, especially the Byzantine emperor. The first conflict came when Emperor Constantius appointed an Arian heretic as patriarch. Pope Julian excommunicated the patriarch in 343, and Constantinople remained in schism until John Chrysostom assumed the patriarchate in 398.
Ironically, in the Church’s eighth-century struggle against the Iconoclastic heresy (which sought to eliminate all sacred images), it was the pope and the Western bishops mainly who fought for the Catholic practice of venerating icons, which is still very much a part of Orthodox liturgy and spirituality. The patriarch of Constantinople sided with the heretical, iconoclastic emperors.
posted
Don't forget though that the 1st Christian Emporer was actually African and named Ezana. Though, it seems Abyssianian affairs didn't factor much into what was going on in Europe. I don't know how recognized Ezana was to Constantine and the like.
Posts: 1219 | From: North Carolina, USA | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
There was a relationship between the early Ethiopian Christians, Egyptian Christianity and the Eastern Byzantine Christian empire in Armenia, Syria and Constantinople. I wouldn't doubt that many Ethiopians and other Africans were heavily involved on many levels in and outside Africa in early Christianity.
However, the head of the Christian church as created by the Council of Nicea was Constantine.
Posts: 8901 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Another Prophecy Against Cush Isaiah 18 (New International Version)
Woe to the land of whirring wings (of locusts) along the rivers of Cush (Upper Nile region),
which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.
All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it.
(a biblical incantation against the reality of the dominance of the sons of Ham; "the lord shall lead the revolution to overthrow this Hamitic dominance!")
This is what the LORD says to me: "I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."
For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches.
They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter.
At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers— the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty.
Posts: 3344 | From: Berkeley | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
The Supriority In Glory Of The Blacks Over The Whites.
Al-Jahiz (in Arabic الجاحظ) (real name Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Fuqaimi al-Basri) (born in Basra, c. 781 – December 868 or January 869) was a famous Arab scholar, believed to have been an Afro-Arab of East African descent. He was an Arabic prose writer and author of works on Arabic literature, biology, zoology, history, early Islamic philosophy, Islamic psychology, Mu'tazili theology, and politico-religious polemics.
Al-Jahiz (776-869): Al-Fakhar al-Sudan min al-Abyadh (Superiority Of The Blacks To The Whites)
In the name of the Almighty, Merciful God; May God protect and keep you; let He make you obey Him and make you part of his favorites. You mentioned – may Allah protect you from deception – that you read my treatise (kitab) on the refutation of the pure Arabs to those of mixed parentage, the replies of the mixed ones and the answers of their maternal uncles. But I did not mention in it anything about the boasts of the Sudan. So know, - may Allah preserve you – that I postponed that intentionally. And you mentioned that you would like me to write to you the boasts of the Sudan, so I have written what I recall of their boasts. Al-Asma'I said : Al-Fizr, a slave of the Fazara, who had a pierced earlobe is known to have said: Harmony arrives quickly in the creation. Because of that goats stay away from the sheep as long as there are goats around. The lamb avoids the predators, and also does not feel close to the ones with big hoofs. Abu Zaid al-Nahwi recited the following verse: Without harmony, man perishes. Saddad Al-Hariti - with erudite eloquence - tells: “I requested from a black slave of the desert steppe:
-To whom do you belong, O Black one? -To the Lord of Hadr (sedentary settlement), O Bald person.
-Aren't you black? -Aren't you a bald person? -Does truth thus puts you so much in anger? - It is this truth which puts you so much in anger! Do not insult and you will be dreaded; really best is than you give it up completely ". Saddad concludes: “In truth, at the time when I addressed the word to her, I thought to be worth all the inhabitants of Nagd and, at the time when she left me, I had the thought not to be worth my slave”. Al 'Asma' i reports according to 'Isa b. 'Umar these words of Du l-Rumma: “That Al1ah curses the black slave of the family of Such and Such! That she speaks well and that she is eloquent!”. I asked him: “How is the rain which falls at your place?” She answered: “We received as far as we wanted it”.
Qualities of the Blacks:
Among the Blacks, there is Luqman the Wise-one and it is him which said: “There are three men who are known to us only into three (circumstances): he who preserves his control in anger, the courageous one in the face of danger, the friend when you need him. He gave his son the following advice: If you whish to remain with someone, make him angry before that. You will learn in advance if he is just and good. This is the only quote of him we regularly hear, because he had o to many sayings to chose from. More important then this is that God called him "the Wise" in the Koran as well as his testament to his son. Said ibn Jubair was also black. He got killed by Hajjaj at the age of 49 half a year before Hajjaj himself died at the age of 53. Said was a very pious man highly esteemed for his profound knowledge of the traditions of the prophet Mohamet and a companion of Ibn Abbas. The Hadith-scholars doubt even all Hadith who come from the companions of Ibn Abbas except those of Said ibn Jubair. His father was a marwa of the Asad tribe, and Said himself was a marwa of the Umayads. After he was killed people felt the loss. Also among the blacks was: the Ethiopian, Bilal, of whom Caliph Omar said that he alone was worth a third of all Islam; Afga, the first to die in the holy wars of the Prophet; EI-Migdad, the first to fight in the holy war as a horseman; El Wanshi, who killed the false prophet, Musailima; known as "the Liar". He had the habit to say; I've murdered the best one of all men; meaning Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib, may God's peace rest on him - and I killed the worst out of men, namely Musailima the impostor ". And another Black, Makhul the lawyer. And another Black, Al-Haiqutan the poet, who was higher [then the others] through his personal judgment, his reason and by the size of his insights. It is him who said in connection to friends: “the friend is recognized when one shares intimacy of the heart and when one accompanies one on a journey ". And another Black, Gulaibib, on whom the transmitters said how the Envoy of Allah - How the blessing and the safety of Allah are on him! - left to carry out a raid and after it asked his companions: “Do we not miss somebody?”. They answered: “We seek Such and Such”. Then he left again and asked them [again]; “Do we not miss somebody? “. They answered: “We seek Such and Such”. Then he left again and asked them [again]: “Isn’t there somebody missing? ” 'They answered for the third time: “We do not seek anybody”. The Prophet said: “As for me, I miss Gulaibib. Seek him!”. They went to seek and found him lying in the middle of seven [men], which he in fact had killed. The Prophet - That the blessing and the safety of Allah are on him - said: “He killed seven (men) and they killed him. This man is of me and me of him!” The Hadith specialists adds: “Then the Prophet held him in his arms until one had dug for him a tomb, without him having no other bed than the arms of the Prophet. We do not know if they were able to wash him before the burial.. One of the Blacks was
Faraj, the barber-surgeon, who was so just that he was often called by the judges for council. He was a freedmen of Jafar ibn Sulayman. He served Jafar many years cutting his hair and beard. Jafar had never found him making mistakes in what he did or said. So he decided to test him. If it really turns out his behavior is the result of inner- wisdom, I will make him free, find him a wife, and make him rich. If things turn different, I will have to take other steps. And one day when Faraj was cupping him he asked: slave do you cup yourself to?
-Yes. -And when? -When I need some. -Do you know when you need some? - I know it most of the time, but sometimes it happens to me to make an error. -What do you eat? - In winter of sweetened big Dakbirah and in summer Sikbaga bitter-sweet ". Ga' far b. Sulaiman kept his promises. It is in connection to this that Abu Firun said (Ragaz): “Out of the way, my wife is in front of me, I am a very close friend of Farag the layer of suction cups ". One says: Farag had acquired such a reputation of impartiality, of nobility of heart of piety and religious scruple, that his owners, the descendants of Ga' far and the notable ones of Mirbad required his testimony only for healthy businesses and without dispute ". As for El-Haiqutan, he is the one who wrote the poem used in Yemen when arguing with the Quaresh and Mubar. The same poem the people from Persia and Ethiopia use against the Arabs. When the white poet, Jarir, saw El-Haiqutan in a white robe on a feast day, he remarked, "He looks like the penis of a donkey wrapped in white paper." El-Haiqutan replied to him in a poem in which he said, "Though my hair is wooly and my skin black as coal I am generous and my honor shines. My color does not prevent my being valiant with my sword in battle. Know, you who would boast of your petty glory : The people of the Negus have more reason for glory then you. In the days that Islam was offered to El-Julanda, Ibn Kisra, Harith, Hawdha, the Copts, and Caesar they all refused. Off al the kings only the Negus accepted. As a result his kingdom lasted long, unmovable and prosperous. Loqman was one of them, so to were his son and his mothers son. As well as Abraha, the most renowned king. Abu Yaksum's invasion threatened the existence of your country, and yet, you were as numerous as the grains (of sand), and more still, Like the water birds, when, on them, fall in a deserted country, the bird with the bent claws and gray of color. If another than Allah had wished to push back 'Abraha. You would have noticed. That one which has the most experience of men is closest to the facts. There is no claim to fame, except that you live opposite the Sanctuary, and that you lit fires in its vicinity. If one of your chiefs, concerned his honor, advances (against us), Or we face him, or he turns the back to us and as for what you say, that it is about a divine prophecy, You did not know to protect the Sanctuary surrounded by veils. You claim to be a tribe never subjugated and never paying tribute, But it is simpler to pay a tax than to flee. If a sovereign had wanted to seize it, Then the Himyar and their Maqawil would have come there. One can not stay there neither in summer nor in winter; and its water is far from spouting out as in Guata. There is neither place pleasant to the eye nor hunting ground, but only the trade, and the trade is a disdainful thing. Aren't you (Garir) a puppy (kulaib) and your mother is she not a ewe? Fats sheep are the source of your shame and your vanity. As for the verses: Gulanda, the son of Chosroes, Harit, Hawda, the Copt and the worthy Cesar said no to Islam, then he is referring to the time when the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) wrote to the Bana Julanda, but they refused to listen. As was the case with Chosroes, of Harith ibn Abi Shamir, of Hawdha ibn Ali al-Hanafi, of the Muqawqis, the patriarch of the Copts and ruler of Alexandria, and of the emperor of Byzantium; Caesar. However the Bana Mulanda became Muslim some time later, there where the Negus became Muslim before the conquest of Mecca and so retained his dominions while God took away the treasures (meaning provinces) from the others. The emperor of Byzantium; his diminished empire still exist, but he has been driven from every place where the hoofs of horses can tread. What rests him are bays, the high mountains, the strongest castles, the cold places and the rainy-windery ones. The poet also talks proudly of Loqman and his son. When the poet says: Abu Yaksum invaded the very heart of your country, and this despite the fact that you were as numerous as the grains of sand. He alludes here to the Lord of the Elephant whose army's attacked Mecca to destroy the Ka'ba. The Poet says : You were as numerous as the grains of sand, so why did you flee from him ? None of you withstanding him until he reached Mecca. Mecca is the mother of the cities. The Arabian Peninsula is the homeland of the Arabs and Mecca is one of its towns, but an important and ancient one. Because of that it is considered the mother of the peninsula. That is why with the conquest of conquests is meant the conquest of Mecca. Similarly the Fatiha of the Book is called the Mother of the Book. It happens that the Arabs say of a thing that it is the mother of what it did not generate. Thus the expressions: he hid him on the top (Mother) of his head, of the same; Mother of hell. The host calls his hostess “my hospital Mother”. A Bedouin, having been bitten by flees at a
woman of which he was the host, says (Ragaz):
O Hospital mother! That your face is saved to me; and that the supreme Master delivers me from your residence and of the bites of flees which - I see it! - will make me die. I spent the night to scratch me, to scratch myself as scrapes itself a scabrous camel, during the rest. Allah - How He is exalted! - clarifies Mecca and the Temple, when He says: “In truth, the first temple [which] was founded for people, is certainly that located at Bakka, [temple] blessed and direction for the world ''. The poet wants to say: when Mecca Mother of the cities, place of the Holy Temple and your claim to fame - was the object of raids, it is you all which were the object of raids. As for the verses of the poet: And as for what you say, it is about a divine prophecy; You did not know to protect the Sanctuary, surrounded by veils. You claim that your people have never been subjugated or paid tribute. But paying that you will find easier then fleeing. This is why the poet Abid ibn al-Abras says: They refused to submit to kings and are free-people. When they hear the call of war they go. What he says means; you say you pay no tribute but paying is easier then fleeing and surrender although you enormously outnumber your enemies. When the poet says: Your country is not nice in winter or summer, nor is there the abundant water like Juatha (in Bahrayn). He means conquering Mecca would never have brought profit, otherwise Yemen and other countries would have. The climate is bad; in winter its people go to Taif; during the heat to Jidda. And nothing in Mecca can compare with the lushness of Juatha. When the poet says: There is no grazing for the male oryx, no hunting either; Only trading places and trade is never a right occupation. He means Mecca has no lush green places, hunting is prohibited. There are only merchants which have no good reputation. He also says that the people of Mecca lack strength and kings refrain from taking their means of living because they would not satisfy a king. Those from Mecca are unable to protect themselves. Because of this the poet Muawiya ibn Aws said: I bought, in a shop, more than one goatskin flask of wine, as swarthy as a man with the dark skin, I folded back the opening of it on the neck, Folded back it resembled a mutilated hand; I carried them to a greedy Arab merchant, or a wine merchant bearing earrings and with cripple Arab. All these verses refer to the Quraysh. They say that the Quraysh are merchants who seek the protection of the Sanctuary, and when they travel, they carry the fruit of the palm tree and the bark of trees, so that they are recognized and that nobody kills them.
The poet says: Are you not a member of the Kulayb tribe? Isn't your mother one of those sheep? Your fat sheep are both your pride and your shame. It is rumored that the Kulayd tribe is having intercourse with their sheep just like the tribes of el-Araj and Sulaym. And the people of the Ashja are rumored to have intercourse with goats. Al-Najashi said: If only one of the tribes of the Quraysh had degraded me other then the goat buggers Sulaym and Ashja. Al Farazdaq said: As long as I live I will never be able to bring as sacrifice the milk sheep that belonged to the Araj. After spending my money I may find the animal gives bird to a boy. Another poet: If you want more money for your female donkey, just tell the Darimi that you sell it. He will kiss its back, but for its dryness, would draw near to its buttocks. The Darimi, when he copulates with the donkey wants his mouth to reach the animals mouth. Abd ibn Rashid said: They are bad people, the best of them are still bad. To the sheep they herd they are the male and the shepherd. When one of their women is made ready for marriage; it will be the spotted sheep that weeps sincerely. This is why Al 'Ahtal said (Kamil); Enjoy your ewes, O Garir. Because your heart encouraged you only with the depravity in loneliness. This is why Al-Haiqutan says: Are not you not a puppy (kulaib) and your mother is she not a ewe? Fat sheep are the source of your shame and your vanity. As for shame, it is about their bad reputation in connection with the ewes. As for their claim to fame: the poet makes it clear that, when they are prevailed of something, it is ewes, if still they would arrive to the camels.
Among the claims to fame of the Blacks, of Zang and Abyssinians, in addition to the fragment of the Al-Haiqutan poem, which we have mentioned, it is necessary to count, after Garir b. Al-Hatafa who had turned against the Banu Taglib in (Kamil): Do not seek really any maternal uncle at [Banu] Taglib, because Zang have maternal uncles nobler than them [Banu Taglib], the verses of Sanih b. Ribah which, in anger, turns to Garir and, against him, glorifies the Zang (Kamil): Why does this animal of the Kulayd talks bad about us? Has he seen he is no match for Hajib and Iqal? Somebody who compares the donkey called Maragha and her son (Jarir) to al Farazdaq is unreal and beyond understanding. If you would meet Zanj in formation for battle, you would see noble heroes. Ask Ibn Amr, when he sought out their spears, did he not find the Zanj spears to be long? They took (killed) the son of Ziyad and they dismount their horses for battle. And when they have dismounted to go to battle, what a battle. They left in their courtyards the horses of war, while you had only sheep and lambs in your corals. Ibn Nadba, a warrior in your
ranks, was one of us blacks. So was Khufaf, who had many problems to take care of, and the two sons of Zubayba, Antara and Harasa. We don't see other people like that in your ranks . Ask Ibn Jayfar, when he marched against our homeland, How destructive they were when they attacked him. Ans Sulayk, called the lion, or the respected Abbas, When they attack, they all outshine you completely. Among them is also Ibn Khazim ibn Ajla. He surpassed all tribes in courage and honesty. They were all sons of noble women, who were on they turn descendents of noble women. They are the lions who bring up their little ones.
And so are we nobler then the Kulaib because of our maternal uncles; You, however, you are viler than them under this same report. And the sons of Al-Hubab, here are people who can strike a lance or to nourish you. In winter, when the wind of the North blows. The ibn 'Amr of which we talked is Hafs b. Ziyad b. 'Amr Al 'Ataki; he replaced his father as the head of the Al-Haggag police force, when Ribah Sar az-Zangi seized the area of the Euphrate, Hafq b. Ziyad went then to meet him. Ribah killed them, him and his men, and pillaged his camp. As for Ibn Gaifar, it is an-Nu' man b. Gaifar b. 'Ubad b. Gaifar b. Al
Julanda (or Gulanda); they had made an incursion in Zang territory: The Zang killed them and plundered the camp. Then the poet speaks about the sons of the Zang women, when they draw towards the Zang in bravery and self-esteem. He mentions then Hufaf bin Nadba, 'Abbas b. Mirdas, the two sons of Saddad: 'Antara 'l-Fawaris and his brother Harasa, as well as Sulaik bin as-Salaka. The latter, lions among the men, have the boldest hearts, the most intrepid courage and they passed in proverb. One counts among ( the sons of the Zang women) 'Abd Allah b. Hazim as Sulami, and the sons of Al-Hubab: 'Umair b. Al-Hubab and his brothers. Al Jahhaf ibn Hakim was one of them to. They are also proud of Raban, Bilal's brother, because of his piety also Amir ibn Fuhayra who was at Badr and died a martyrs dead on the day of Bir Mauna, and those present saw him being raised up by God up from the earth to the heaven, so he has no grave among us. Among the blacks is also Yasir's family. They also say: El-Ghandaf who was with Ubayd Allah ibn al Hurr was one of us, he was the most courageous among men. He would attack caravans single-handed. Also a man with proverbial courage was Kabawayh who was with al Mughira ibn al Fizr. Marbah al Ashram ; the young slave of general Abu Bahr was black to. He came here from Syria in the days of Qutayba ibn Muslim. His reputation was so widespread that people tried not to meet him. Also among them was El Maglul and his sons, who though slaves were very generous and wise and were renowned among the people of the dessert about their knowledge of it. Also among us was Aflah, who attacked caravans in Khorassan single handed for twenty years. Malik ibn al-Rayb killed him after he had sodomized him in the middle of the night, when he was to intoxicated and unarmed. The verses of his son testify about this (Tawil): He Malik! If 'Aflah had not been drunk, you would have seen undoubtedly that he is brother of the russet-red lion and even the eclipse! The Blacks continue: coming from Abyssinia, we were Masters of the country of Arabia up to Mecca, and on all the country our law reigned. We put to rout Du Nuwas, killed by the 'Aqyal Himyarites. You, you never dominated our country. Your poet says (Tawil): They ruined Gumdan and threw its roof down. Riyat and his troops, by an impetuous attack, with force. The Abyssinians encircled it at night and threw down a construction built by the 'Aqyal at in remote times, a multitude, of black color, coming from Al-Yaksum, such as the lions of d’as-Sara, which would have been wearing a leopard skin. [Blacks] add: we count among us Kabagila; no one of those who went up the Sulaiman channel and who fought in singular combat did resemble him. They continue: also the forty are ours who revolted, at the time of the qadi Sawwar b. 'Abd Allah, in the area of the Euphrates; they drove out their dwellings the populations of this area and went on to an immense massacre of the inhabitants of Ubulla. The one who did cut the head of Isa ibn Jafar in Oman with a Bahrayni scythe when all were afraid was one of us.
Everybody knows that the Zanj are among the most generous of mortals ; a quality that is found only among noble characters. These people have a natural talent for dancing to the rhythm of the tambourine, without needing to learn it. There are no better singers anywhere in the world, no people more polished and eloquent, and no people less given to insulting language. All other peoples in the world have their stammerers, those who have difficulty in pronouncing certain sounds, and those who cannot express themselves fluently or are downright tongue-tied, except the Zanj. Sometimes some of them recite before their ruler continuously from sunrise to sunset, without needing to turn round or pause in their flow. No other nation can surpass them in bodily strength and physical toughness. One of them will lift huge blocks and carry heavy loads that would be beyond the strength of most Bedouins or members of other races. They are courageous, energetic, and generous, which are the virtues of nobility, and also good-tempered and with little propensity to evil. They are always cheerful, smiling, and devoid of malice, which is a sign of noble character. Some people say that their generosity is due to their stupidity, shortsightedness and lack of foresight, but our reply is that this is a scurvy way of commending generosity and altruism. At that rate the wisest and most intelligent man would be the most stingy and ungenerous. But in fact the Slavs are more stingy than the
Byzantines, and the latter more intelligent and thoughtful; according to our opponents' argument, the Slavs ought to be more generous and open-handed than the Byzantines. Likewise we see that women have less sense than man and children have less sense than women, but are meaner than they are. If more sense meant greater meanness, then the child should be the most generous of all. Yet in fact we know nothing on earth that is worth than a boy, for he is the most untruthful of mankind, the most calumnious, the nastiest, and the meanest, the least inclined to do good, and the most ruthless. Only gradually does the boy leave these qualities as he gains in sense and gains in good deeds. How then can the lack of sense be the cause of generosity in the Zanj? You have admitted that they are generous, and then you make assertions which are untenable, and we have already shown you the fallacy of your argument according to true reasoning. This opinion would mean that the coward is wiser than the brave man, the treacherous wiser than the loyal, and that the worrier is wiser than the patient man. This is something for which you have no proof. These qualities in man are a gift of God. Sense is a gift, and good character is a gift, and generosity and courage likewise. The Zanj say to the Arabs: You are so ignorant that during the jahiliyya (the times of ignorance ) you regarded us as your equals when it came to marrying Arab women, but with the advent of the justice of Islam you decided this practice was bad. Yet the desert is full of Zanj married to Arab wives, and they have been princes and kings and have safeguarded your rights and sheltered you against your enemies. You even have sayings in your language which vaunt the deeds of our kings--deeds which you often placed above your own; this you would not have done had you not considered them superior to your own. Al Namr ibn Tawlab recited the following poem: Bad luck came over his rule as over Tubba and the great king Abraha, placed him higher then the princes of his own country. Labid ibn Radi'a recited the following: If a person could reach eternity during his lifetime, Abu Yaksum would be among those. This kind of virtue has never been ascribed to anyone before.
The (Zanj) also say: from Labid's verses it becomes also clear that you put our kings higher then your own. Darkness came over those who survived from Muharriq's family. Darkness that had done its work with Tubba and Heraclius, Darkness that had vanquished Abraha, who was living in the palace of Mawkal. So he prefers Abraha , but he would like the other kings to be his equals. The (Zanj) say : The Ethiopian, Akym ibn Akym, was more eloquent than Eli-Ajjaj. It is from him that the Syrians learnt the sciences and also from El Montagi ibn Nabhan, who was a native of Negroland and had a pierced ear. He had come to the Arabian desert as a child and left it with a complete knowledge of Arabic. Hakim ibn Ayash al Kalbi said: Don't feel pride in the maternal uncle from the Asad tribe; because even the Zanj and Nubians are more noble to have as uncles then they. Akym ibn Akym the Abyssinian made the following response: On the day of the battle of Ghumdun we were like lions and on the day of Yathrib we were the stallions of the Arabs. On the fearful day of the elephant the hearts of the Arabs deserted them and they fled on their camels. The negus is one of us; and Dhul Aqsayn is your brother in law. The grandfather of Abraha, the protector of Abu Talib was one of us. I have to forgive Adnan if he makes fun with us ; because what can be said of the genealogy of the Himyari? They are muleteers, assembled from everywhere, gathered as a net gathers fish in the stormy sea. Gumdan, a fortress, ordinary the residence of the king - then Persian - who reigned on Yemen. When Abyssinians seized Yemen, they let remain only of the ruins which 'Utman b. 'Affan - That Allah satisfied with him! - destroyed at the time of the coming of Islam, while saying: “It is necessary to extirpate the vestiges of the gahiliya (the false prophet)”. The fortress comprised a cistern, capped by an asbestos roof, of which Halaf Al 'Ahmar said; and an asbestos cistern, which demolished by the attacking Abyssinian, and his king. About it, Qudama, the wise of the Moslem East and Master in alchemy, has said (Tawil); He lit its fire there; nevertheless fire Would last indefinitely, the cistern does not disappear, because asbestos, even if a fire burned there thousand years, would not heat. Those which launch the naphtha coat themselves with some, when they want to penetrate into the fire. Labid says (Wafir); O friendly, do you not see a flash illuminating the black night, like the flame on the wick of the lamp? I could not find the sleep, while the flash moved away towards Nagd in the motionless night, and when the companions were held dormant on their saddles of wood. Its shoddy cloud illuminated the heavy clouds and there cut out silhouettes of Abyssinians, Armed with small swaths and javelins.
"Labid," he says, "used this imagery because when the Ethiopians, splendid in the blackness of their skins and in the vigor and strength of their superb bodies, attacked with their spears, bows, and arrows they spread an unimaginable terror around them." When Ukaym says : On the day of Yathrib we were the stallions of the Arabs. It is a reference to Musrif ibn Uqba al Murri the general who gave the conquered city (Medina) over to the troops for pillage and the Negroes cohabited with the captured women, which are mentioned in the following verses of Mudar; Ask Musrif El Mwirri the general in question about the morning when he gave the captured virgins over to his weather-beaten Negro soldiers. On this occasion the Zanj fought you, Whites, in spite of your rage. Wahrig defended you
with his Persians, whilst the Ethiopian general commanded in the midst of destruction. It was then the women of your race were enjoyed by a Negro, whose phallus was the size of a donkey's. When the poet says: They are muleteers, assembled from everywhere, gathered as a net gathers fish in the stormy sea. He here accepted what story tellers say about Himyar.-That they used to be muleteers. The Negroes can also be proud of the fact that the single dead person over whom the Prophet ever prayed was their ruler, the Emperor of Ethiopia. He prayed for the Negus, while the Prophet was in Medina, and the tomb of the Negus in Abyssinia. And also: “the Negus is who gave in marriage to the Prophet - That blessing and the safety of Allah be on him! - 'Umm Habiba, girl of Abu Sufyan: he asked Halid b. Sa' id to be the tutor of 'Umm Habiba, offering in the name of the Prophet - How the blessing and the safety of Allah are on him! - a dowry of four hundred dinars. And also: we made you three presents: the civet, the most sweet perfume, most exquisite and noblest; the litter; it is the best defense for the women and best protection for what is sacred for man; the codex: it preserves best its contents and ensure best preservation; it is splendid and most handy. And also: we inspire the most fear in the heart and catch most of the glances (of the onlookers), just as the carriers of black (Abbasid) inspire more fear and fill up more the heart than the carriers of white (Umayyad), in the same way the night inspires more fear than the day. And also: the color black always inspires the most fear. The Arabs, to describe their camels, say: “the black horses are most beautiful and most robust, the black cows best and most beautiful, and their skins are most valuable, most useful and most durable. The black ewes give the fattiest milk and creamy, moreover the dark brown ewes give more milk then the russet-red ewes”. while every stone and hill is dryer and harder the more it is black. The black lion is invincible. The black date is the highest quality. Healthy date palms have black stems. A hadith of the Prophet says : Follow the great black color. The poet al-Ansari says: I'm in debt but I do not have to worry; because I own tall date groves, well pruned and every heavy laden palm seems to have been smeared with the pitch of blood of sacrificed animals.
The Zanj say that the best green is the darkest green. God, may he be exalted said: And besides these there are two gardens. When describing them so as to make people long for them God called them dark green. Ibn Abbas said : they became dark green through irrigation. Black ebony is the most solid and most durable of woods. It s also most expensive , free of disease, best fit for art-work. It is so heavy that of all woods expensive and cheap ones only ebony sinks in the water. Remember that even certain stones do not sink while ebony sinks immediately. A person remains handsome as long as his hair is still black and in paradise everyone will have black hair. The pupils of the eye, too are black and are they not the most precious part of the human body. The most expensive kohl is made of antimony which is black. This is why a hadith of the Prophet states that God will have all the faithful enter paradise hairless (on their body) beardless, and their eyes blackened with kohl. Man doesn’t have anything more useful in him than his liver, which ensures the good operation of the stomach and the digestion of food and the good functioning of the unit maintains the life of the body; however, the liver is black. Man does not have anything more valuable, more expensive in him than the black bile of his heart, a clot of black blood situated in the folds of this internal organ; it holds in this heart the same place as the brain in the head. The woman does not have anything sweeter and more pleasant than her lips, for the kiss; however, they are all the more beautiful as they are as close to the black as possible. Du r-Rumma says (Basit): Sunk are its lips blood-colored and purple, Of the same are her gums, fine and bright her teeth. The most pleasant shade and freshest is the shade [well] black. The poet says (Ragaz): Jet black, similar to the shade projected by the stone. Humaid b. Tawr says (Tawil): We sought the shade of a cave, while our mounts Sought the wood shade shaded on which would fall the evening, trees in the major shades, like Ascetic nuns, who prohibit the wine. Allah created, the night for the rest and recovery, and the day for the profit and the labor. One can also say that black is associated with activity as scorpions and snakes come out at night and bring their poison into the night. This activity counts for most wild animals and also ghosts. All this happens during the night. The blacks say; we also resemble the night like this. They also say : the greatest of siestas that last the longest is in the darkness of the closed door and windows. They also say : no color is deeper and homogeneous then black. A proverb to say that something is very far: You will not see this until tar becomes white and the raven gray-haired. According to the philosophers, black is the accident that fills the area. Musk and amber are the best perfumes. Both are black; as are the hardest rock. Abu Daddil al-Jumahi said the following lines in praise of al Azzaq al Makhzumi who was called Abd Allah ibn Abd Shams ibn al Mughira: My gratefulness to you is boundless; as long as there are rocks in the valley of the Lebanon, you will be the object of praise and precious in value. Just as there is no fault in the Black Stone.
The Arabs draw glory from the black color. If an objector advances; “On what is that based, as they say: Such is of a pure white, bursting of whiteness, white and of clear
face? We will answer: By this, the Arabs do not mean the whiteness of the skin, but rather the nobility and purity of character. The Hudr (of Banu) Muharib draw glory from their dark color, and people with the black dye are called among Arabs the hudr. As-Sammah b. Dirar says (Tawil): The camels leave in the evening Zarud, and [the setting sun] covered Zubala with the coat of the night. The poet says (Ragaz); Until the moment when the morning draws me from a dark night, Like the valiant knight who takes from the sleeve the well soaked sword. The Arabs qualify the iron as dark, because it is hard, and that it is dark means black. Al-Harit b. Hilliza says (Munsarih): When we force our camels from the branches of palm tree of Bahrain, a race not stopped until Al-Hisau retains them. We then put to defeat the troop of the son of Umm Qatam, The ones with the dark weapons of Persia. Al-Muharibi said the following about his being a member of the Khudr clan. Every man of virtue knows I'm a member of the Khudr clan of the tribe of Qays. Not easily to command; not enduring any injustice, and mentally sharp. The clan of Mughira are the Khudr of the tribe of Makhzum . Al Makhzumi spoke the following lines, which were also from al-Fadl ibn al-Abbas al Lihbi: I am the famous Al Akhdar, very well known The dark one in the land of the Arabs. Those finding me in a contest as adversary, find a noble man. The one who fills the bucket to the knot in the rope. The Khudr of the Ghassan tribe are the royal house of Jafna. Al Ghassani said: According to Al Hakam I'm a descendent from the royal Khudr. Of those who paid the blood money to those of Baris. Some poet; maybe Hassan mentions the Khudr of the Ukaym tribe; saying; You are not from the nobles of the clan Hashim, neither from the Jumah, Khudri, and the other powerful. The ten sons of Abd el Mottalib the grandfather of Mohammed were all black and strong. The Amir ibn al Tufayl said that the Kaba was well guarded when he saw them on black camels going around the Kaba. Ibn Abbas was black and very tall. Those of Abu Talib's family , who are the most noble of men, are more or less black.
The Zanj say: The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said: I was send to the red and the black. And everybody knows that the Zanj, Abyssinians and Nubians or surely not white or red but definitely black. We know that Allah, the Most Powerful and Exalted, sent His Prophet (to the people), all of them: Arabs and non-Arabs (ajam) alike. And if he (Muhammad) said: I was sent to the ruddy (Al-ahmar) and the dark-skinned (al-aswad), then in his view we are neither ruddy nor light-skinned (bid); so he was sent to us. Indeed, his use of the dark-skinned refers to us, as the people (of our community) are in one of these categories (i.e. either ruddy or dark-skinned). Therefore, if the Arabs are ruddy, then they belong to the Byzantines (Rum), Slaves (Saqaliba), Persians and Khurasanis. But if they belong to the dark-skinned peoples, then they are a sub-category of our stock. So they are called medium-complexioned and brownish-black (sumr sud) when they are classified with us, as the Arabs use the masculine gender to refer to a group consisting of females and males and if the Prophet – may Allah be pleased with him – knew that the Zanj, Ethiopians and Nubians were not ruddy or light-skinned, rather dark-skinned, and that Allah Most High sent him to the dark-skinned and the ruddy, then surely he made us and the Arabs equals. Hence, we are the only dark-skinned people. If the appellation dark-skinned applies to us, then we are the pure Sudan, and the Arabs only resemble us. Therefore we are the first people to whom he was missioned. Thus the appellation of the Arabs is predicated on ours, since we alone are designated dark-skinned, and they are not so designated unless they are part of us. The Zanj also say: The Arabs think that the more people the better but we are the most numerous on this world, and have the most children. You can say there are two kinds of people among us (among the Zanj) the ants and the dogs. Trying to measure the amount of Arabs with the amount of ants you will see the ants are more numerous. Well then still add the dogs to that amount. You really have to add on the people of Abyssinia, Nubia, Fazzan, Marawa, Zaghawa and all the other black tribes. Qahtan is far from Adman. We are closer kin to the Abyssinians and our mothers are closer kin then those of Adnan are to Qahtan. When talking about languages the one from Ajuz of the Hawazin tribe is very different. Languages can be very different but still have the same origin; or have different origins but resemble each other anyhow. The language in the different regions of Khurasan differ as well as those of Jibal and Faris it all depends on the region but they have the same origin.. They say: You have never seen the genuine Zanj. You have only seen captives who came from the coasts and forests and valleys of Qanbuluh, from our menials, our lower orders, and our slaves. The people of Qanbaluh have neither beauty nor intelligence. Qanbaluh is the name of the place by which your ships anchor.
The natives in the Bilad Zanj are in both Qambalu (Pemba) and Lunjuya (Unguja), just as Arabs are the descendants of Adnan and Qahtan in the Middle East. You have yet to see a member of the Langawiya kind, either from the coast (al-Sawahil), or from the interior (al-Jouf). If you would meet these, you would forget the issue of fair looks and perfection. Now if you refuse to believe this, saying that you have yet to meet a Zanji with the brains even of a boy or a woman, we would reply to you, have you ever met among the enslaved of India and Sindh individuals with brains, education,
culture and manners so as to expect these same qualities in what has fallen to you from among the Zanj. Yet you know how much there is in India of mathematics, astronomy, medical science, turnery and woodwork, painting, and many other wonderful crafts. How does it happen that among the many Indian captives you have made there has never been one of this quality, or even a tenth of this quality? If you say, People of standing, intelligence and knowledge only live in the centre, near the seat of government; these are hangers-on uncouth types, peasants, people of the coast and swamps and forests and islands, plowmen and fishermen, we answer you; the same is true of those who you see and those you do not see of us. Our answer to you is as your answer to us. They say; If a Zanji and a Zanji women marry and their children remain after puberty in Iraq, they come to rule the roost thanks to their numbers, endurance, knowledge, and efficiency. On the other hand, the child of an Indian and an Indian woman, or of a Greek and a Greek woman, or of a Khurasani and a Khurasani women remain among you and in your country in the same condition as their fathers and mothers. The child of two Zanji parents does not remain thus after puberty, so that we do not find, among ten thousand, one who does what we said, except when a Zanji mates with a non-Zanji woman or a Zanji women with a non-Zanji man. Were it not for the fact that neither the Zanji man nor the Zanji women has much desire for people of other races, we would see an abundant progeny for Zanji men, while Zanji women hardly respond to non-Zanji men. They say: Likewise, you whites are not very active in seeking progeny from Zanji women, and the Zanji women falls pregnant more swiftly to a Zanji than to a white man. They say; it hardly ever happens among you that a man has a hundred children sprung from his loins, unless it is a Caliph, and then it is because of the large number of his women. You don’t find this among the rest of you. Among the Zanj so large a progeny would not be considered remarkable, for there are many such in their country. A Zanji woman bears about 50 times in about 50 years, each bird being twins, so that there are more then ninety. For it is said that women do not bear children when they reach 60, except for what is told of the women of Quraysh in particular.
The Zanj are the most eager of all God’s creatures for their women, and so also their women for them. They are also better compared to other women. Please think about what we have said. We have used facts from history as arguments and explained or quoted poetry from Arabs and others. Al Farazdaq was the one specialist of women and he had tried all races and remained unsatisfied. So he finally married Umm Makkiya the Zanj women and stayed with her. Forgetting all others because of her qualities. He made the following verse: He quotes Arab poet Farazdaq (d730) How many a tender daughter of the Zanj walks about with a hotly burning oven as broad as a drinking bowl. Dananir the daughter of Kabawayh al Zanji lived with Asha Sulaym. She was extremely black. Once she dyed her hands with henna and her eyes with black kohl. He made the following verse of it. She dyes the palm of her hands, palms as if clipped off from her forearm. She dyes the henna with her black color. She seems with the kohl in her pencil, as if she is applying kohl to her eyes with part of her skin. She answered with the following poem: Uglier than my color is the blackness of his arse. Contrasting with his skin, which is like palm pith or even whiter. In the streets they started calling him black and the street kids yelled it and he divorced her. The day of their wedding he had said: Dinars are of poor metal; and her response was: A white head is worse then my black color. The worst however are gray eyebrows. He kept quiet for some time and then attacked again. When she finally brought disgrace on him he divorced her. They say; If white men look on black women without desire, so too do black men look on white women without desire, for passions are habits and mostly convention. Thus, for the people of Basra, the most desirable women are Indians, the daughters of Indian women and Ghuris; for the Yemenis the most desirable women are Ethiopians and the daughters of Ethiopian women; for the Syrians the most desirable women are Greeks and the daughters of Greek women. Each people has a taste for the women whom they import as slaves and captives, apart from the exceptions, and no inferences can be drawn from exceptions.
The Negroes also have the sweetest breath and the greatest amount of saliva being in this respect like the dog as compared with other animals. The Zanj say: Black delights the eye. When the eyes hurt a common prescription is sitting in the dark with a rag over the eyes. Good eyesight is the most precious thing for a person. They say : The blacks are more numerous than the whites. The whites at most consist of the people of Persia, Jibal, and Khurasan, the Greeks, Slavs, Franks, and Avars, and some few others, not very numerous; the blacks include the Zanj, Ethiopians, the people of Fazzan, the Berbers, the Copts, and Nubians, the people of Zaghawa, Marw, Sind and India, Qamar and Dabila, China, and Masin... the islands in the seas between China and Africa are full of blacks, such as Ceylon, Kalah, Amal, Zabij, and their islands, as far as India, China, Kabul, and those shores.
They say; Al-Ishtiyan the blind man used to say; There are more blacks than whites, more
rocks than mud, more sand than soil, more saltwater than sweet water. They say; The Arabs belong with us and not with the whites, because their color is nearer to ours. The Indians are more bronzed than the Arabs, and they belong to the blacks. For the Prophet, God bless and save him, said; I was sent to the red and the black, and everyone knows that the Arabs are not red, as we already have stated above. He said; This advantage belongs to us and to the Arabs, as against the whites, if the Arabs want it. If they do not want it, then the advantage is ours alone against all the rest. The Zanj also say: If we are more numerous because of Zabaj alone we would still be far superior to you because of our merit. If it happens that the king of Zabaj has problems with the citizens, and they don't pay their taxes, he sends his army of thousands of people not with orders to beat and fight them. He does give orders for his soldiers to settle between them till they pay them. His army is bothering the people so badly by taking food and clothing from them that it is easier to pay the taxes. If they still don't pay he sends more regiments. The local rulers always wind up paying for fear he and his people will finally be destroyed by the army.
Once a king of Zabay reached an estuary which is several parasangs long and wide. In his camp he heard a women crying. He interrupted his meal to go and ask what had happened. He was told that the son of the women was eaten by a crocodile in the swamp. The king got angry because a creature existed that just like him took the right to decide on live or dead of his people. He dived into the water, all his soldiers followed him. They finished every single crocodile in the place with their hands. The people of Zabay alone are half of the population on earth. On the ends of the inhabited world all are black people. These ends are more populated then the central area, just like the circumference of a windmill in the wind is bigger than the pivot of that windmill. It is like the balcony of a house; it is narrow but as it goes all around the house its total area is bigger then the house itself. After the land of Zabay there are no more white people as we have reached there the periphery of the world where all are black. This is a proof that we are more numerous then the whites and we have the right to be proud of it. One of the white poets said: You are not more then they in number and glory belongs to those bigger in number. The Zanj also say: The Copts too are blacks. Abraham the friend of God married one of them and so was born a big prophet the ancestor of the Arabs; Ismael. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) also married one of them and Ibrahim was born. The angel Gabriel when addressing the prophet called him father of Ibrahim. The Zanj also say: The Black Stone is from paradise. The darker a piece of copper the more it is worth.
To those who despise the color black, we would reply that the excessive lanky, thin, and reddish hair of the Franks, Greeks, and Slavs, the redness of their locks and beards, the whiteness of their eyelashes, are uglier and more loathsome. There are no albinos among blacks, but only among you. The Zanj also say : We also have philosophers from among us as well as theologians and we have fine manners. God may he be exalted , did not make them black in order to disfigure them; rather it is their environment that made them so. The best evidence of this is that there are black tribes among the Arabs, such as the Banu Sulaim bin Mansur, and that all the peoples settled in the Harra, besides the Banu Sulaim are black. These tribes take slaves from among the Ashban to mend their flocks and for irrigation work, manual labor, and domestic service, and they take their wives from among the Byzantines; and yet it takes less than three generations for the Harra region to give them all the complexion of the Banu Sulaim. This region is such that the gazelles, ostriches, insects, wolves, foxes, sheep, asses, horses and birds that live there are all black. White and black are the results of environment, the natural properties of water and soil, distance from the sun, and intensity of heat. There is no question of metamorphosis, or of punishment, disfigurement or favor meted out by Allah. Besides, the land of the Banu Sulaim has much in common with the land of the Turks, where the camels, beasts of burden, and everything belonging to these people is similar in appearance: everything of theirs has a Turkish look. The soldiers of the frontier garrisons on this side of the Awsim sometimes come across Byzantine sheep mixed up with sheep belonging to the local inhabitants, but they have no difficulty in distinguishing the Byzantine flocks from the Syrian by their Byzantinity. When one comes across the descendents of Bedouin men and women who have ended up in Kurasan it is immediately apparent that they are the barbarians of these parts.
This exists in all things. Thus we see that locusts and worms on plants are green, and we see that the louse is black on a young man’s head, white if his hair whitens, red if it is dyed. Our blackness, O people of the Zanj, is not different from the blackness of the Banu Sulaym and other Arab tribes we have mentioned. And the very blackness of the Zanj is like the total whiteness of the white men.
The same rules apply to the brown color of the children of mixed marriages, also on their appearance, their habits in eating and desires. A poet when talking about Usaylim ibn al Alnaf al Asadi mentioned the blackness of the people of Yemen. There is Usaylim, easily noticed by those searching . He belongs to the elite chiefs through his line of descent. Others then in fear of his royal birth clap their hands. Black musk is applied to his hair as well as perfumed oil. If the black Yemenites would make him a woolen cloak, they have to make it thin and wide. A slave of the Bana Jada; being laughed at because of his black color said: They ridicule me because of my black color. I answered that only very stupid men can do so. Because as much as my skin is black I am in character white. I help friends in their needs as well as women traveling in their litters. When I have to face a fight (litt: the lance) I am called father of Saraq. The wife of Amr ibn Sha treated Irar ibn Amr badly. Because he was the son of a black women. Because of this he said the following on the children of Abyssinian and Zanj women: Did she not notice that I'm grown up and humble, so that I do not answer anger with anger? Like the courageous I bow in silence. If a courageous man would find it proper he would bite deeply. Her aim was to humiliate Irar and those wanting to do so are very unjust. Although he is dark, he has a very good figure If you really are like me and have principles, then be for him like the date butter which smoothens the skin. If not get away even by horse, with provisions for 5 days without rest stops. As regards the Indians, they are among the leaders in astronomy, mathematics in particular, they have Indian numerals, and medicine; they alone possess the secrets of the latter, and use them to practice some remarkable forms of treatment. They have the art of carving statues and painted figures. They possess the game of chess, which is the noblest of games and requires more judgment and intelligence than any other. They make Kedah swords, and excel in their use. They have splendid music, including that of the kankala, an instrument with a single string mounted on a gourd, which takes the place of the many stringed lute and cymbals. They know a number of sprightly dances.
To them belong the variety of arts from sword fighters to magicians and fumigators and medical skills. They posses a script capable of expressing the sounds of all languages as well as many numerals. They have a great deal of poetry, many long treatises, and a deep understanding of philosophy and letters; the book Kalila wa-Dimna originated with them. They are intelligent and courageous, and have more good qualities than the Chinese. Their sound judgment and sensible habits led them to invent pins, cork and toothpicks, the drape of clothes and the dyeing of hair. They are handsome, attractive and forbearing, their women are proverbial, and their country produces the matchless Indian aloes which are supplied to kings. They were the originators of the science of fikr by which a poison can be counteracted after it has been used, and of astronomical reckoning, subsequently adopted by the rest of the world. When Adam descended from Paradise, it was to their land that he made his way.
The Zanj also say : Among our good qualities are our good singers. As you can find among the slave girls from Sind. Also nobody is a better cook then the black slaves from Sind. Also moneychangers will never entrust their money then to those from Sind or their descendents as they are found to be better in those affairs, more alert and worthy of thrusting . One hardly ever finds a Greek or a Khorassan in a position of trust in a bank. When the bankers of Basra saw the excellent affairs that Faraj Abu Kub, a Sindi, had negotiated for his master, each of them took a Sindi assistant. They all wanted to make the profit his master had made. Caliph Sultan Abdelmalik ibn Mcrwan often said, "El Adgham is a master among all the Orientals." This El Adgham is also mentioned by Abdullar ibn Khnazim, who calls him, "An Ethiopian, a black son of Ethiopia. And this is all that came to my mind about what the blacks could be proud about. In former books we wrote of the pride of the Qahtan and later on if God whishes I will write on the pride of the Adnam against the Qahtan in much of what they said. www.assatashakur.org/.../29471-al-jahiz-776-869-superiority-blacks-whites.html - http://www.marcusgarvey.com/wmview.php?ArtID=444Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic