“Another and perhaps more pressing problem concerning the proper perspective for an African worldview is that concerning the historical framework. This problem is related to the methodological problems discussed earlier in the consideration of Diop’s two cradle theory, but here we are concerned with the interpretation of history and more specifically the motive forces of the historical processes.” “European historiography, which has of course been incorporated into the framework of Egyptology, is largely based upon the ideas of Ibn Khaldun, the 14th Century Arab historian, who is given little credit by his European benefactors. Khaldun brought to the Aryan historical method a high degree of perfection. The basic trends can be found in the Greek and Roman historians such as Herodotus, Thucydides and Polybius. One can also see its earlier foundations in the mythology of the Hindus and the Early Iranians, Greeks, Celts, and Vikings. We can call it Nomad historiography. It is essentially the story of plundering, looting, raping, etc. For example, Herodotus begins his histories with the so called rape and kidnapping of Helen of Troy. Polybius emphasizes the rape of the Sabine women as crucial to the historical rise of Rome.” “What Khaldun brought to this tradition was a systematic framework that provided all the answers which had eluded the more ancient Aryan historiographers. For example, Herodotus could not quite figure out what caused the rise and fall of cities nor could Polybius quite determine the cause of the confrontation of the major powers. Khaldun offered a solution to these problems with his concept of ‘dynasty’ as the motive force of history.” “Without attempting a complete exploration of Khaldun’s historiography, suffice it to say that Khaldun explained the historical process thusly: Great civilizations are begun by savage nomadic or Bedouin conquerors of peaceful sedentary peoples who are generally more cultured than themselves. The lust for superiority and dominion are innate. These savages united by what Khaldun calls group feeling and blood ties and directed by a holy war mentality triumph and establish a dynasty over their fallen foes. Because of their primitive and simplistic traditions, these savages bring justice and prosperity to the new society which leads to a flourishing civilization. After several generations, the dynasty becomes corrupt with luxury and the society becomes decadent and vulnerable to takeover by another dynasty or tribe.” “This theory has, of course, been criticized, modified and denounced. But in the context of Aryan culture it has one virtue; that it is better than any other historiography. Thus, with proper adaptions and equally proper omission of credits, the Egyptologists have incorporated the nomadic historiography. Manetho’s chronology, of course, fitted this natural proclivity very well. The analysis of how these culture pirates fitted the data into this framework has long been a marvel to Black scholars who have reviewed the travesty but for the most part in a rather unsystematic and reactive manner. Certainly additional research could be done in this area.” “The problem with this historiography for Black scholars is that most Black scholars have had to use secondary sources (either because they have been systematically barred from access to the primary data and/or they have not developed the research skills necessary to examine the primary data.) Thus, they have been unable to separate data from biased, distorted and inaccurate copies, translations and interpretations in many cases. In addition, the data have been selected and ignored by considerations that grow out of the Eurocentric perspective. In sum, few if any Black scholars have been able to disentangle the data from the dictates of nomadic historiography and this has resulted in obstacles to full development of an African historiography.” “A brief review of the history of Black thinkers concerning Kamit will demonstrate the point. The first group to emerge developed a tradition that Professor Thompson has identified as the old scrapper tradition. These old scrappers without any special training, but with a sincere dedication to ferreting out the truth about Black historical and cultural inferiority took whatever data were available and squeezed as much truth from them as circumstances allowed. At first men like Hosea Easton, Henry Highland Garnett and Martin Delany took the biblical myth of Ham and used it to establish Blacks as the authors of the great ‘Nile valley’ civilizations. They also used ancient European works such as Herodotus, Diodorus and whatever modern European works they could find. This tradition has been an honorable endeavor and has taught us much. The old scrappers are still among us slugging it out as per our beloved Professor John G. Jackson.” “The next group of Blacks to deal with the Egyptian data seem to begin with George Washington Williams. Williams along with DuBois started a strain of integrationist thought on ancient Kamit. They argued only that Blacks had a share in building the Egyptian civilization along with other races. This strain which is completely enthralled to European historiography is continued today by such Blacks as John Hope Franklin, Anthony Norguera and Ali Mazrui, some of these also demand a Black share in Greek antiquity which properly understood is true but for the most part these ‘Negro intellectuals’ have no grasp of the true meaning.” “The third group to emerge is a progressive extension of the old scrappers. These scholars who include Cheikh Diop, Theo Obenga, Yosef ben Jochannan, and Chancellor Williams have developed the multi-disciplinary skills to take command of the facts of the African which is a necessary element of the foundation for an African historiography. The scientific formulation of the two cradle and cultural unity themes of Diop are outstanding examples of the viability of the foundation. The task is, however, far from complete.” “The impact of the colonizers historiography on the educational process is so overwhelming that only a collective consensus on the part of African scholars can deal with great historical issues which confront us. Individual contributions have been significant and in the past practically all we could hope to achieve, but now we must work together to develop the comprehensive perspectives necessary for a correct interpretation of the world.” "The history of Kamit is still shrouded in mystery and alien assumptions. For example, the explorations of the period from the unification to the ‘18th dynasty’ is largely a matter of conjecture. Yet, most Black scholars more or less accept this interpretation. The idea that Kamitic history represents the rise and fall of dynasties which become corrupt with success is so permeated with Khaldunic assumptions that we should have a conference and deal with this issue or to draft a historiographical statement on the pre-18th dynasty period of the Kamitic past.” “History as we know it began in Kamit and by Kamites. It was at first the history of peace, national development, and moral and material achievements until at least the 6th dynasty in theory and practice and in time perhaps restore the world to its proper historical momentum.” “If we are to take command of the world and recreate an African world order we must first recover the ability to conceive of such a task. We must first take command of our own minds. As an ancient African priest said:’ “The seeing of the eyes, the hearing of the ears, the smelling of the Nose-report to the mind, and that is what causes every perception To come forth; it is the tongue that repeats what the mind thinks, Therefore, it is through what the mind thinks and the tongue directs That the whole divine order has come about.” Jacob H. Carruthers “Essays in Ancient Egyptian Studies” Page 32
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 11:29:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015