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AE links to civilizations in the Americas?
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by ausar: [QB] [QUOTE]I don't know. Some say you can make a better argument for Islamic African civilizations being Arabic/Semitic/Meditteranian than you can for Ancient Kemet. While others say that virtually all arguments to the effect that Timbuktu, Swahili or Kemet are anything other than Black African, are equally disingenuous and tactically identical. [/QUOTE] The trading communities in the Swahili already existed prior to contact with Arabs. The region was known as Rhapta which was noted for the sewn plank vessels also mentioned in Greco-Roman text Periplus of the Eretreyan Sea. The people who founded these trading networkd were migrating Bantu. The sewn plank vessels according to archaeologist Mark Horton look noting like dhows. The house architecture of the Swahili people probabaly came from coral architecture used by Cushic people from Eastern Africa. Not to mention Swahili is mostly Bantu with some Arabic and Persian loan words. An Eastern African archaeologist named Felix Chami has overturned myths that Arabs created Swahili civlization. What little Arabs came in adapted to the culture and became Swahili. See the following: The Swahili people have been viewed as of Persian/Arabic or Cushitic speaking origin. Scholars have used historical and archaeological data to support this hypothesis. However, linguistic and recent archaeological data suggest the Swahili culture had its origins in the early first centuries A.D. it was the early farming people who settled on the coast in the last centuries B.C. who first adopted iron technology and sailing techniques and founded the coastal settlements. the culture of iron-using people spread to the rest of the coast of East Africa, its center changing fom one place to another. Involvements in transoceanic trade from the early centuries A.D. contributed to the prosperity of the coastal communities as evidenced by coastal monuments. More than 1500 years of cultural continuity was offset by the arrival of European and Arab colonizers in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries A.D. African Archaeological Review 16 (3): 199-218, September 1998 Felix Chami Wednesday, 17 April, 2002, 17:27 GMT 18:27 UK Tanzanian dig unearths ancient secret [Skeleton found on Juani island] The remains hold clues about Africa's ancient history [test hello] [test] Tira Shubart Off Mafia Island, Tanzania [line] A discovery which a Tanzanian archaeologist believes will change how East African history is regarded has been made on tiny Juani Island, off the Tanzanian coast. These discoveries show the people here were interacting with other civilisations - and long before the Islamic era Prof. Felix Chami Felix Chami, professor of archaeology at the University of Dar es Salaam has uncovered a major site on Juani, near Mafia Island, which he believes will substantially increase the evidence that East Africa was part of a wider Indian Ocean community. Previous to Dr Chami's other discoveries on the Tanzanian coast, scholars had never considered East Africa as part of the ancient world. The professor had been alerted to the existence of the cave by two local men who informed Peter Byrne, owner of a small lodge on Mafia Island and supporter of efforts to discover the intriguing history of these small islands - which are now entirely dependent on fishing. Cave spirits We sailed on a dhow from Mafia Island to a beach on nearby Juani Island which Dr Chami believes may have been an ancient port since the Iron Age. Juani island has lush vegetation Unlike the other islands, Juani has fresh water and soil suitable for agriculture. The two local men, whose curiosity had overcome beliefs that the caves are inhabited by spirits, led us more than a kilometre along jungle tracks. The men hacked a path through the luxuriant growth with pangas which revealed a collapsed coral cave around 20 metres in diameter. With the help of hanging vines we climbed down into the cave. Major site Scattered throughout the seven to 10-metre-high overhanging cave were shards of pottery, human bones and three skulls. Dr Chami examined the skulls but said only carbon dating would establish their age. He was most excited by the large habitable area of soft loose soil, at least 50 square metres. "There could be three metres of layers here to establish a cultural chronology," he says. "This is a marvel. I believe this was a major Iron Age site. I can assure you this will change the archaeology of East Africa." Felix Chami will return to the site with his team after the rainy season to start a full excavation. In the past five years Dr Chami has overturned the belief that Swahili civilisation was simply the result of Indian Ocean trade networks. Trade secrets "It was thought that Swahili settlements were founded by foreigners, particularly by Islamic traders," he says. "But these discoveries show the people here were interacting with other civilisations - and long before the Islamic era." Dr Chami believes the coastal communities may have been trading animal goods, such as ivory as well as iron. [Professor Felix Chami] Professor Chami got inspiration from Ptolemy Dr. Chami utilised the writings of Greek geographer Ptolemy (c.87-150 AD) who described settlements in East Africa as "metropolis" and also referred to "cave dwellers". Ptolemy even specified a latitude eight degrees south on a large river -the location of the Rufiji river. It was there on the hills above the river that Dr Chami found the remains of settlements with ancient trading goods and evidence of agriculture. Directly opposite the Rufiji delta are Mafia & Juani Islands. Dr Chami's excavations uncovered cultural artefacts which have been carbon dated to 600 BC. They included Greco-Roman pottery, Syrian glass vessels, Sassanian pottery from Persia and glass beads. But Felix Chami believes the new site on Juani Island may well be the most significant yet. [URL=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1924318.stm]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1924318.stm[/URL] In Timbuktu many of texts might be written in Arabic,but most of the scholars were black African people. We also have texts in Timbuktu in native indigenous languages of the people who lived there. Timbuktu was originally founded by Tuareg nomads but Kankan Musa around the 1300's developed Timbuktu into the intellectual center it was. The students at Timbuktu were so good that many were installed at Al-Ahzar and other Northern African unverities. [QUOTE]Ausar and a few others are good at doing this! I've debated with them before on this issue, they all cling to the idea that the only way Africans left Africa was through slavery. They are quite comfortable theorizing any "negroid" skulls found outside of Africa as belonging to slaves, or finding other ways to minimize their importance. Thank god for people like you who can check them on this [/QUOTE] I have never denied there is an African pressence outside of Africa before slavery. However,Africans in Meso-America is pluasible,and I think I mentioned Abu Bakari II Mansa Musa's brother who was supposed to have made it to the Americas. If you don't know it's documented that the 25th dyansty Nubians invaded all the way to Spain. We also have accounts of Western African during the middle ages traveling to cities like Jerusalem or other regions within the Middle East. We definatley know that Ethiopians from Aksum ruled over large portions of Yemen. Nobody is saying that Africans never left Africa. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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