High Culture

GEO-HISTORY OF AFRICA/ARABIA

36,525 B.C.E. - 37,736 K.C.
DR. DUKUZUMURENYI

I
THE IMPORTANCE OF
AFRICAN & ARABIAN
HIGH CULTURE IN
THE MODERN WORLD

WHY STUDY
AFRICAN & ARABIAN
GEO-HISTORY?

One Reason Comes From
African-American Historian
Dr. John Henrik Clarke.

Dr. Clarke on Cultural History:
• "History is a clock people use to tell
their Historical Culture and Political
Time of the Day…A Compass people
use to find themselves on the Map of
Human Geography. [It] tells them
where they have been, where they are
and what they are…Most importantly
History tells a people where they still
must go and what they still must be."

Another Reason Comes From
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz

Malcolm X on Geo-History:

• “Of All Our Studies History is best able
to Reward Our Research...History is a
People’s Memory... Without a memory
Man is demoted to the Lower
Animals.”

Why Study African-Arabian
Geo-History?
• 1. It is in the Region of East Africa that the
“Cradle of Humanity” can be found.
• 2. It was in Northeast Africa that the World
High Culture [Civilization] began.
• 3. It was in North Africa & Arabia that the
World’s three Dominant Faiths began.
• 4. It is in the North Africa & Arabia that
the major World Energy Resource [Oil] is
found.

II
FACTS ABOUT
AFRICA &ARABIA

FACTS ABOUT AFRICA & ARABIA
• 1. The Sahara, the largest desert
in the world, is located in
Northern Africa. It is used by
Geographers to divide the
continent of Africa into North
Africa [the area North of the
Sahara] and sub-Saharan Africa
[the area South of the Sahara].


• 2. People have lived in
present-day Algeria for over
40,000 years.
• 3. Most of the people in
North Africa live along the
Mediterranean coast.

• 4. The Nile River, the longest river
in the world, is located in Africa
and flows from the south to the
north.
• 5. North Africa and Southwest
Asia have 130 million more people
than the United States.

GEOGRAPHY MATH PROBLEM
• 1. How many people live in
North Africa and Southwest
Asia, if there are 300 million
people in the United States
and North Africa and
Southwest Asia has 130
million more people than the
United States?

• 6. The Dead Sea is the earth’s
saltiest body of water-about nine
times saltier than oceans. It is also
the lowest point on the earth’s
surface 400 m below sea level.
• 7. The Arabian Peninsula supplies
the world with one third of all oil
produced in the world.


• 8. Saudi Arabia leads the
world in producing
freshwater from salt water.
Its 22 desalinization plants
produce 30 percent of all
desalinated water in the
world.

• 9. Most of the usable water in
Southwest Asia and North Africa
comes from aquifers and from
three river basins: the Jordan,
the Tigris-Euphrates, and the
Nile. Drought, industrialization,
irrigation needs, and population
increases-all strain the limited
water supply.


• 10. The country of Mali in West
Africa was home to three great
Medieval Commercial Empires:
Ghana, Mali and Songhai, that
existed from 500 C.E. to 1617
C.E.


• 11A. African Americans are the
descendants of over 100 West
African ethnic groups who were
enslaved during the European
Slave Trade from 1444 C.E. to
1888 C.E.

• 11B. Some of the Ethnic Groups
are: the Bambara, Mandinka,
Mende, Dogon, Fulani, Mossi,
Asante, Fon, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa,
Wolof, Fante, Serere, Luba,
Mbundu, Bakota, Akan, Kissi,
Kpelle, Susu, Tukolor, Balanta,
Baule, Kru, Bassa, Dan, Grebo,
Songhay, & Kanuri.

LANGUAGES OF
ENSLAVED WEST
AFRICANS

• 12. Liberia is Africa’s oldest
republic. It was settled by African
Americans freed from slavery in
the 1820s.
• 13. In Sudan, African blacks are a
majority and live in the south; Arab
Muslims are a minority and live in
the north and central region.

• 14. Nigeria is Africa’s most
populous nation. Pop. 130
million.
• 15. Africa south of the
Sahara has about 355 million
more people than the United
States.

GEOGRAPHY MATH PROBLEM

• 1. How many people live in
sub-Saharan Africa, if there
are 300 million people in the
United States and sub-
Saharan Africa has 355
million more people than the
United States?

• 16. 90% of Africa lies within the
Tropics, giving Africa the largest
tropical area of any other
continent.
• 17. Lesotho is called the
“Switzerland of southern Africa”
because of the majestic scenery in
the Drakensberg and Maloti
mountains.

• 18. The Natural Resources of
Africa and Arabia include:
Diamonds, Gold, Copper,
Uranium, Manganese, Cobalt,
Zinc, Natural Gas, Iron Ore,
Lead, Petroleum, and Phosphate.

III
HUMANITIES
AFRICAN
ORIGINS

Humanity: African Origins
• All members of the human family
come from sub-Saharan Africa.
Primarily from the region of the
Sudan, Ethiopia, Eastern and
Southern Africa. Thus, Africa was
known in ancient times as Al-Kebu-
Lan or Af-Rui-Ka [Birthplace, Birth
of the Spirit, Place of Beginnings.]


• Therefore, the first man & woman
[womb-man or man with a womb]
were Africans. Today, they would
be called Black Africans, Negro or
simply Black. [Ivan Van Sertima,
Blacks in Science Ancient & Modern]

• Oldest specimens of Humanity found
in the following African Countries:
• Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
• South Africa
• Kenya
• Ethiopia
• Algeria

How Do We Know This?
• Facts about the African Origin of
Humanity were obtained by
European, Asian and American,
African-American and African
Scientists who were experts in the
Sciences of Archaeology,
Paleontology and
Physical/Cultural Anthropology.

What is Archaeology?
• Archaeology: the study of
extinct human societies using
the material remains of their
behavior. The objectives of
archaeology are to construct
culture history, reconstruct
past ways of life, and study
cultural change over time.

What is Physical Anthropology?
• Physical Anthropology: the study
of the biological nature and
evolution of humanity. Also
called, Biological Anthropology.
[Anthropology: the study of the
biological and cultural
characteristics of all people in all
periods of time and all areas.]

What is Cultural Anthropology?

• Cultural Anthropology: the
study of human behavior that
is learned and is typical of a
particular human group.

What is Paleontology?
• Paleontology: the scientific
study of fossils. Fossils found
by paleontologists are used by
paleoanthropologists.
[Paleoanthropology is the
study of fossils and artifacts
in the context in which they
are found.]

• The European Paleontologists who
made the discoveries across the
continent of Africa from 1924 to
1992 were:
• Dr. Raymond Dart
• Dr. Robert Broom
• Dr. Louis & Mary Leakey
• Dr. Donald Johnson

• In the Tuesday, October 30, 1984
Science Section of the New York
Times newspaper, John Wilford
states that Dr. Louis & Mary
Leakey by unearthing the oldest
human remains anywhere in the
world, in Tanzania proved
beyond doubt the AFRICAN
ORIGINS OF MANKIND.

Historian, Sir Godfrey Higgins on
Humanities Origins:
• “Man was originally a Negro…and
he traveled Westwards, gradually
changing from the jet black of
India, through all the intermediate
shades of Syria, Italy, France to the
fair white and red of the maid of
Holland and Britain.”

Dr. Leonard Jeffries, Jr. on
Humanities Origins:
• “Humanity born at the latitude
of the Great Lakes near the
Equator is by necessity
pigmented and African. This is
substantiated by Gloger’s Law
which states that warm-blooded
animals are pigmented in hot
and humid climates.”

What is the
Latitude/Longitude of
the Great Lakes
Region of Africa?
[10 Points]

J.A. Rogers, U.S. Historian on
Humanities Origins:
• “Herodotus [Ancient Greek Historian]
said in 447 B.C. that the people of all
that region of Mesopotamia and India
were Black. He called them
Ethiopians. Moreover, tropical man
is never white. He is most often black
or dark brown, with flat nose, frizzy
or woolly hair, and protruding jaws.”

Herodotus on Humanities Origins:
• Herodotus, a Greek Historian, writing
in 447 B.C. stated that the “PEOPLE
OF ALL THE REGION OF
MESOPOTAMIA [ARABIA,
SOUTHWEST ASIA], INDIA &
EGYPT [AFRICA] WERE BLACK.”
The Greek word that he used to
describe them was Aethiops:
ethiopians, or black skinned.

J.A. Rogers, U.S. Historian on
Humanities Origins:
• “ Thus, when the Christians chose
Adam as their ancestor, they really
chose a dark-skinned progenitor for
the human race, even though the early
Christians of Europe knowing no
better represented Adam in their
paintings as white.” [What They
Never Told You In History Class]

Dr. Ashely Montagu on
Humanities Origins:
• “ All races are issued [born from or
fathered by] from the African race by
direct relationships [an example
would be the relationship of a child to
it’s parents], and other continents
were peopled [settled by people] from
Africa.” [Man:His First Two Million
Years: A Brief Introduction to
Anthropology]

Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, Seneglese
Scholar, on Humanities Origins:
• “ If mankind originated in Africa, it was
necessarily Negroid [Black] before
becoming white through mutation and
adaptation at the end of the last glaciation
[Ice Age] in Europe…it is now more
understandable why the Grimaldi Negroid
first occupied Europe for 10,000 years
before Cro-Magnon man- The prototype
of the white race—appeared (around 2000
B.C. to 1500 B.C.)”

Griffith Taylor on Humanities Origins:
• Writing in 1936 on early man in
Europe, Griffith Taylor stated
that Blacks were the first in
Europe and introduced their
culture all over the world.
[Environment and Nation]

Professor John G. Jackson, on
Humanities Origins:
• “Since there is overwhelming
evidence that the human race
originated in Africa, then all
mankind has an African
ancestry. Hence, all men must be
Negroes [Blacks or Africans].”

Paul, The Apostle of the Christian
Faith on Humanities Origins:
• “And hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the
face of the earth, and hath determined
the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation;” [Acts
17:26 KJV - Book of Acts Chapter 17,
Verse 26, King James Version]

Mono-genesis: One common Origin
[Types of Early Humanity]

• Australopithecus: “Southern
Man or Man from the South.”
Australopithecus lived in the
humid forests of eastern and
southern Africa, 4.4 million
years ago.

• Homo Habilis: “Man with
ability”. Homo Habilis lived in
Africa about 1.5 million years
ago.
• Homo Erectus: “Man who walks
upright”. Homo Erectus lived in
Africa about 300,000 years ago.

• Homo Sapiens: “Man who thinks”.
Homo Sapiens lived in Africa about
100,000 to 200,000 years ago. The first
Homo Sapiens were the Neanderthals.
The Neanderthals migrated from
Africa into Europe about 100,000 years
ago.

• Homo Sapiens Sapiens: “Man who
thinks deeply”. Homo Sapiens
Sapiens originated in Africa about
50,000 years ago. They Migrated
from Africa into Europe, where they
are called Cro-Magnon man, and
into Russia, China, Southeast Asia,
and the Americas.

Human Progenitors
• Earliest Ancestor: Dinqesh- (Lucy)
3.2 million-year-old hominid
ancestor of humanity found in
Olduvai Gorge in Kenya in East
Africa.
• Earliest Human Ancestor: Homo
Sapien African Eve- lived between
100,000 and 200,000 years ago.

Methods of Proof
• DNA [DeoxyRibonucleic Acid]-
Human Genetic Code [the data for
human development is located in
DNA] that contains cellular
information [for building proteins]
and controls heredity [inherited
characteristics].

Methods of Proof
• Radiocarbon Dating: Scientific method
for telling the age of once living
material by measuring the amount of
radioactive carbon remaining in it.
Because radiocarbon decays at a
known rate, archaeologists can
measure how much the radioactive
carbon has decayed in organic remains
and figure out when plants and animals
died.

How Did Mankind Change?
• Genetic Differentiation: Changes
occurring in human genes, by
mutation and or adaptation to
the climate of the human living
environment.

• Mutation is the act or process of
changing, sometimes a sudden
departure from the parent type
[original], as when and individual or
race differs in one or more
characteristics, caused by a change in
genes or chromosomes.

• Following the migration of Homo
Sapien Sapien from Africa to Europe
and Asia, the climates of Europe and
Asia changed as a result of the
glaciation of Europe. This change in
climate led to changes the genetic make
up of the early man in this region. An
example is the Grimaldi of Europe.

• The Grimalidi, an African or Black
people, who first settled in Europe
about 30,000 years ago and named
after the place in France where their
fossil remains are located, adapted to
the cooler climate of Europe brought
about by the last Ice Age. Which
resulted in a decrease in the amount
of pigment in their skins.

V
ELEVEN MAJOR
GEOGRAPHIC
QUALITIES OF AFRICA

ELEVEN MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC
QUALITIES OF AFRICA

• 1. The continent of Africa is
home to several of the worlds
oldest culture hearths and
civilizations. A culture hearth is
the source area or place of origin
of a major culture.

QUALITIES OF AFRICA
• 2. The physical geography of
Africa is dominated by the
continent’s plateau character,
variable rainfall, soils of low
fertility, and persistent
environmental problems in
farming.

QUALITIES OF AFRICA
• 3. The majority of Africa’s
peoples remain dependent on
farming for their livelihood.
Urbanization is accelerating, but
most countries’ populations
remain below 40 % urban.

QUALITIES OF AFRICA
• 4. The people of Africa
continue to face a high
incidence of disease, including
AIDS, diphtheria, malaria,
sleeping sickness, and river
blindness.

QUALITIES OF AFRICA
• 5. Most of Africa’s political
boundaries were drawn during
the colonial period without
regard for the human and
physical geography of the areas
they divided. This has caused
numerous problems.

QUALITIES OF AFRICA
• 6. Considerable economic
development has occurred in
many scattered areas of Africa,
but much of the realm’s
population continues to have
little access to the goods and
services of the world economy.

QUALITIES OF AFRICA
• 7. The realm is rich in raw
materials vital to industrialized
countries. Examples are
Colombo-Tantalite, Oil, Gold,
and Diamonds.

QUALITIES OF AFRICA
• 8. Patterns of raw-material
exploitation and export routes
set up during the colonial period
still prevail in most of sub-
Saharan Africa. Interregional
connections are poor.

QUALITIES OF AFRICA
• 9. Africa has increasingly been
drawn into the competition and
conflict between the world’s
major powers. The continent
contains about one-third of the
world’s refugee population.

QUALITIES OF AFRICA
• 10. Africa’s population growth rate is
by far the highest of any continents in
spite of a difficult agricultural
environment, numerous hazards and
diseases, and periodic food shortages.
Some of the best land is used to
produce such cash crops as coffee, tea,
cocoa, and cotton for sale overseas.

QUALITIES OF AFRICA
• 11. Even though post-
independence dislocations, civil
wars, and massive losses of life
have plagued some parts of
Africa, other areas have shown
relative stability, cohesion, and
economic growth.

VI
TEN MAJOR
GEOGRAPHIC
QUALITIES OF
ARABIA

TEN MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC
QUALITIES OF ARABIA
• 1. Arabia and the rest of
Southwest Asia contains several
of the world’s great ancient
culture hearths and civilizations.

QUALITIES OF ARABIA
• 2. This realm along with Africa is
the source of several world
religions, including Islam,
Christianity and Judaism.

QUALITIES OF ARABIA
• 3. Arabia, Southwest Asia and
North Africa is predominantly
Muslim. That faith pervades
cultures from Morocco in the
west to Afghanistan in the east.

QUALITIES OF ARABIA
• 4. North Africa, Southwest Asia
and Arabia is also known as the
“Arab World” but significant
populations there are not of
Arab ancestry.

QUALITIES OF ARABIA
• 5. The population of North
Africa, Arabia and Southwest
Asia is widely dispersed in
discontinuous clusters.

QUALITIES OF ARABIA
• 6. Natural environments in this
area are dominated by drought
and unreliable precipitation.
Population concentrations occur
where the water supply is
adequate to marginal.

QUALITIES OF ARABIA
• 7. The realm is a pivotal area in
the “Middle East,” where
Arabian, North African and
Asian regions intersect.

QUALITIES OF ARABIA
• 8. North Africa/Southwest Asia
and Arabia is a realm of intense
discord and bitter conflict,
reflected by frequent territorial
disputes and boundary frictions.

QUALITIES OF ARABIA
• 9. The collapse of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR/Soviet Union: 1917 -
1991) and the revival of Islam in
Turkestan have extended the
Arab realm into central Asia.

QUALITIES OF ARABIA
• 10. Enormous reserves of petroleum
lie beneath certain portions of the
realm, bringing wealth to those
favored places. But overall, oil
revenues have raised the living
standards of only a small minority of
the total population.

VII
THE GOLDEN AGE OF
AFRICAN & ARABIAN
HIGH CULTURE
36, 525 B.C.E. - 332 C.E.

8000 B.C.E. - 4000 B.C.E.
• The Nubian Civilization begins.
Africans develop agriculture and
construction techniques and
technology, weapons of war and
pottery. Nubians develop the concept
of monarchy. Monarchy is a form of
government whereby one person is
chosen to rule. In the African context
he rules with the aid of a Council of
Elders.

Syrian- Nubian- Libyan & Egyptian

Qustul Incense Burner: Nubian
Pharaoh with Crown & Falcon Label.
[4000 B.C.E.]

3400 B.C.E.
• Egyptian Civilization begins.
Africans develop the world’s
first calendar and first numerals
and writing system [Medu Neter:
Words of God; Hieroglphics:
Priestly Carvings]

ANCIENT EGYPT [KEMET]
• The Egyptians called themselves
Khemetiu or descendants of
Khem [Hebrew: Cham/Ham].
They called their country Kemet,
the “Black Land” referring to
the soil and “Land of the Blacks”
referring to the people.

• According to the Holy Bible and the
Koran, Khem was one of three sons
of the Ante-Diluvian Patriarch Noah.
Kham’s sons were:
• Kush: Nubia, Ethiopia
• Mizraim: Egypt
• Phut: Libya, Cyrenacia
• Kanaan: Canaanites, Phoencians

• Sons of Japheth:
• Gomer: Cimmerians
• Magog: Europeans
• Madai: Medians
• Javan: Grecians
• Tubal/Meschech: Russians
• Tiras: Thracians
• Ashkenaz: Germans

• Son’s of Shem:
• Elam: Persians
• Asshur: Assyrians
• Lud: Lydians
• Aram: Syrians

• The Greek Historian Herodotus, the
Roman Historian Tacitus, Sir Arthur
Keith, M. Fishberg, Gerald Massey
wrote that due to centuries of
miscegenation [ethnic group
intermarriage]the descendants of
Kham and Shem became ONE
PEOPLE.

• The Khemetiu Priests wrote The Old
Chronicle, a history of their nation,
which contained 113 Dynasties
covering 36,525 years. It contained
three Dynastic Periods:
• 1. Auri-tae
• 2. Mestraean
• 3. Egyptian

• 1. Auri-Tae
• They were the Primordial Race, the
first men, the Africans, the
Joudhour (Root) & first Divine
Rulers of the Egyptians.
• They were from the “Mountain of
the Moon”-Kilimanjaro.
• They discoursed [talked] with the
Son’s of God.

• 2. Mestreans
• They were the people of the
Asswan, the Nubian of
Khartoum in the modern Sudan.
They were the founders of the
next Khemetic Dynasty.
Considered to be Semi-Divine
Rulers.

• 3. Egyptians
• They were the indigenous
Khemetiu. They established self-
government and in 10,000 B.C.
limited Asian invasions to the
Nile Delta area. Under the
leadership of the Southern
Egyptian Aha-Menes the Line of
the Pharoahs in Kemet began.

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FAMILY
3000 B.C.

• The Civilization of Ancient
Egypt began far to the South of
Egypt in Nubia. The founders of
the Ancient Kushite Empire to
the South of Egypt for thousands
of years dominated the
Egyptians, the Akkadians, the
Babylonians and the Assyrians.


• These people known to the Ancients
as “The Blameless Ethiopians” were
held by the Greeks, Romans,
Egyptians, Assyrians and
Babylonians as “The Most Ancient of
Men” and Kush was viewed as “The
Ancestral Seat of Egypt”.

PHAROAH MENTUHOTEP
2085 B.C.

• Diodorus Siculus [Greek
Historian writing in 100 B.C.]:
“The Ethiopians consider
themselves as the most ancient
people of the earth, and assert
that they began philosophy,
science & religion.”

PHAROAH TUTMOSIS III
1479 - 1425 B.C.E.

PHAROAH TUTANKHAMEN
1361- 1352 B.C.

• Ethiopian/Egyptian Firsts:
• World Empire/Colonialism
–36,525 B.C. - 341 B.C.
• Religion, Science, Philosophy
–36,525 B.C.
• Calendar
–Solar Calendar 4241 B.C.
• Alphabet
–Writing System 5689 B.C.+

IMHOTEP:
FIRST MULTI-
GENIUS

• Herodotus [Greek Historian]:
“The Ethiopians are said to be
the Tallest, Handsomest, and
Longest lived of all
Humanity.”
[Histories: Book III]

• Isaiah, Israeli Prophet [734 B.C.]:
“…The Land of Ethiopia...at the
headwaters of the Nile…The time
will come when the Lord Almighty
will receive gifts from this land…
from this Tall, Smooth-Skinned
People, who are FEARED FAR AND
WIDE FOR THEIR CONQUESTS
AND DESTRUCTION.” [Isaiah 18]

• Count C.F. Volney [Ruins of
Empire, 1789]: “A people now
forgotten discovered science and
art, while others slept. A race of
men now rejected for their
BLACK SKIN AND WOOLY
HAIR, founded the laws of
nature, religious & civil systems
which still govern the universe.”

EGYPT & RELIGION
• The Gods of Antiquity from Greece to
Mexico were MEN & WOMEN OF
EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA. Examples:
• Zeus of Greece
• Apollo of Greece
• Buddha & Krishna of India
• Quetzalcoatl of Mexico
• Zaha of Japan

EGYPT & RELIGION
• Godfrey Higgins [1840]: “…All the
gods and goddesses of Greece were
[African men and women]…Jupiter,
Bacchus, Hercules, Apollo,
Ammon ...Venus, Isis, Hecati, Juno,
Metis, Ceres, Cybele were [Africans]
…[worshiped] in Rome.”

EGYPT & RELIGION
• J.A. Rogers [1952]: “Blacks were
first worshipped in Greece &
Rome. White masses bowed
down to Black Deities…They
appear as gods in Greek
mythology. The chief title of
Zeus…was Ethiops, that is the
Black.” [Nature Knows No Color
Line]

EGYPT & RELIGION
• Dr. Martin Bernal [1985]: “The
Greeks & Romans believed that
their religion came from Egypt,
and they turned to Egyptian
religion up until about 100 A.D.”
[Black Athena]

VIII

JUDAIC TRADITIONS
OF AFRICA & ARABIA

THREE PILLARS OF
JUDAISM

• 1. ONE WAS BORN OF THE
SEED OF ABRAHAM BY
THROUGH HIS FIRST BORN
SON ISAAC.

THREE PILLARS OF
JUDAISM

• 2. ONE WAS CIRCUMCISED
ACCORDING TO THE LAW
OF YAHWEH.

THREE PILLARS OF
JUDAISM

• 3. ONE OBSERVES THE
COMMANDMENTS OF
GOD AS CONTAINED IN
THE LAW OF MOSES.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• Judaism is a religion associated
with the people of Israel, which
dates back nearly 3000 years.
• Other names of Israel: Judah,
Judean, Hebrew, Jew, Jewish.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• Abraham & The Covenant with
God: After a visit from God,
Abraham leaves his home in Ur
of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia
and journeys to Canaan.
• Birth of Ishmael and Isaac:
Ishmael’s mother was Hagar the
Egyptian. Isaac’s mother was
Abraham’s half-sister, Sarah.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• Isaac & the Abrahamic Covenant:
Isaac marries his cousin Rebbeca
and fathers two fraternal twin
sons: Esau and Jacob.
• In Isaac’s old age, Jacob tricks
Esau out of the firstborn’s
Birthright and then out of the
firstborn’s Blessing.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• Jacob is sent by Rebecca to live with
his Uncle Laban. On his way there,
he is visited by God and told that he
will be protected. Jacob then
covenants with God to give him a
tenth of all he receives in answer to
his blessing.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• When Jacob reaches Labans
place, he meets and becomes
enamored with Rachel. He
contracts with Laban to work for
seven years to receive Rachel’s
hand in marriage.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• Laban, however, at the end of the
seven years give him his older
daughter Leah instead, since it is
the custom that the younger
daughter cannot marry before
the older.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• Jacob then contracts to work
another seven years to receive
Rachel as his wife [She must
have been some woman.] At the
end of the seven years he and
Rachel are married.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• Eventually, Jacob leaves and
returns to Canaan to make peace
with Esau and to see his parents.
The night before he is to meet
Esau, he wrestles until dawn with
a man until the man agrees to
bless him.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• The man tells him that his name shall
no more be Jacob, but he shall now be
Israel: “for as a prince have you
power with God and with men, and
have prevailed.” Jacob then asks him
what is his name and the man does
not answer. It is then that Jacob
realizes that he has just seen God face
to face and lived.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• Jacob/Israel then makes peace
with Esau and sees Isaac before
he dies. In time he fathers twelve
sons of his own. His favorite is
his ninth son Joseph.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• Joseph’s brothers out of jealously
sell him into slavery in Egypt. In a
matter of years he goes from being
a slave and prison trustee to Prime
Minister of Egypt. Following his
rise he sees his family again makes
peace with his brothers and they
all move to Egypt.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• 400 years later, the descendants
of Joseph and his eleven brothers
are enslaved in Egypt. God
raises up Moses, a Hebrew who
has been raised in Pharaohs
house, to lead them to freedom.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• After leading Hebrews out of Egypt,
Moses gives them the Law of God.
The central part of the Law of God
is the Ten Commandments, which
bear a striking resemblance to the
Egyptian 42 Negative Confessions.

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• The Law of God contains the
social, political and religious
duties by which the new nation of
Israel is to be governed. Religion
is a way of life and shapes all
aspects of ones social, economic
and political existence.

GREAT COMMANDMENT
OF JUDAISM
• “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our
God is one LORD: And thou
shalt love the LORD thy GOD
with all thine heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy might.”
[Deuteronomy 6:4-6]

GREAT COMMANDMENT
OF JUDAISM
• The people of Israel were instructed to
teach there children diligently all of
the law and to tell them that they keep
the law in remembrance of their
deliverance by God from bondage in
Egypt. The recounting of their history
was very important as it is to all
people- past, present and future.

ISRAELI HOLIDAYS

• Sabbath: Begins Friday at
sundown and ends Saturday at
sundown. Each Sabbath no work
could be done.

ISRAELI HOLIDAYS
• Passover/Feast of Unleaven Bread:
Held for seven days during which
time no bread with a leavening
agent could be eaten. Used to
remind them of their deliverance
from Egypt and to signal the coming
of Christ who would become the
sacrifice for mankind’s sins.

ISRAELI HOLIDAYS
• Yom Habikkurim/First-fruits: A
Harvest offering was made to
God the first day following the
end of Passover. Symbolized the
day upon which Christ would be
resurrected.

ISRAELI HOLIDAYS
• Shavout/Feast of Weeks: A Harvest
offering was made to God fifty days
after Passover. This is the Feast of
Pentecost. The fields were not to be
picked clean but food was to be left for
the poor and needy. This is the day
upon which the Holy Spirit was given.

ISRAELI HOLIDAYS
• Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement: On
the tenth day of the seventh month of
each year, the High Priest of Israel
would offer a sacrifice for the nation.
Today, it is held by observing one day
of fasting and attendance at synagogue.
It symbolized the future day of
atonement presided over by Christ the
High Priest.

ISRAELI HOLIDAYS
• Rosh Hashanah/Feast of Trumpets:
Signaled the beginning the New Year.
During the seventh month, first day of
the month the Shofar, a Ram’s Horn
Trumpet was blown to proclaim a
gathering for worship. Symbolizes
blowing of the trumpets at the return of
Christ and the resurrection of the
Blessed Dead.

ISRAELI HOLIDAYS

• Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles-
Booths: Held on the fifteenth day of
the seventh month to remind Israel
of the wilderness wandering of 40
years. Symbolizes the ushering in of
the Kingdom of God after the return
of Christ.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• Many parallels can be drawn between
Judaism and African Religions.
• Both religious groups have a primary
creator, initiation rites, a focus on the
community and family, a respect for
nature and the story of a great flood.
• These similarities evidence that the
origin of these two groups are somehow
interconnected.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• Monotheism was first brought into
existence by the Kushites. It later
reemerged during the reign of
Amenhotep or Akhenaton IV.
Under his rule, religion was changed
from polytheism to monotheism by
the worship of the deity Amen-Ra or
Aten.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• Moses was a great Egyptian Israelite
leader who was responsible for
bringing the Ten Commandments to
the Israelites. He was versed in all of
the knowledge and wisdom of the
Egyptians, having grown up in the
house of the Pharoah.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• The similarities between the
Negative Confessions of the
Egyptian Pert-Em-Hru, [Book of
Coming Forth By Day] and the
Ten Commandments suggest
that the moral standards of the
Israelites were used in Egypt and
Ethiopia before Moses’ birth.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• While Moses introduced the
worship of Yahweh to his
Hebrew followers, it’s
etymology lies with the
Egyptian moon god Yah,
other wise known as Ausar.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• Judaism was practiced extensively in
Egypt following the collapse of the
Kingdom of Judah in 586 B.C.E.
• Today a Hebrew Temple exists in
Cairo, Egypt.
• Documents in synagogue archives in
Cairo show the names of old Jewish
communities south of the Atlas
Mountains in Western Africa.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• There is also an Ethiopian
Synagogue in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
• King Solomon married the Queen of
Sheba [Ethiopia] and fathered
Menelik I.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• The Queen of Sheba & Menelik I,
returned to Ethiopia with several
Israeli Priests and a replica of the
Ark of the Covenant. Ethiopia
converted to Judaism.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• King Solomon’s Temple, also
called the First Temple of Israel,
was designed according to the
ground plan of an Egyptian
Temple, by Hiram, a Phoenician
Architect/Master-Builder.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• King Solomon built the First
Temple for the worship of the One
True God.
• When Jerusalem was conquered by
the Babylonians in 586 BCE, the
First Temple was destroyed and this
caused many Israelite exiles to
emigrate throughout Africa.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• There is evidence of an African
Jewish presence from the records
of Portuguese an other
Europeans who visited Africa in
the 14th & 15th Centuries.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• The existence of Falashas-
Ethiopian Jews, have been traced
back to the time of th creation of
the First Temple.
• The founders of the Falashas are
believed to be either descendants
of King Solomon or the Israeli
Tribe of Dan.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• Falasha: means “moved” or
“gone into exile.”
• The Ethiopian Jews, a small
minority in Northwest Ethiopia,
have been known by this name
since the European Middle Ages.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• The Lemba are the Jews of
Southern Africa, who inhabit the
Venda territory and part of
southern Zimbabwe.
• Some 40,000 Lember have
Jewish roots.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• The Lemba, keep Kosher,
circumcise, and have strict
purity and funeral laws.
• The tribal symbol of the Lemba
is the Star of David with an
elephant inside.

JUDAISM & AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
• The Lemba and the Falashas are
the only known tribes to have a
bush piano. Both groups are also
artisans who are carpenters,
potters, and in earlier times,
metal workers. These similarities
indicate common origins.

THE DECLINE OF JUDAISM
IN AFRICA
• Due to the disapearance of many
Jewish communities, the only Jews
in Africa one hears about today are
the Falashas in Ethiopia. Although
intermarriage spread Jewish
influence for a while, eventually it
caused Judaism to dissipate.

IN AFRICA
• The existence of Judaism was
further decreased by Christian
missionaries. Also, Jews were
viewed as a threat by Muslim
rulers and consequently faced
either conversion or death.

IN AFRICA
• The remainder of Africans who
chose to continue practicing
Judaism fled to North Africa,
Egypt, Sudan, Southern Africa,
Cameron and other parts of
West Africa.

IX
CHRISTIAN
TRADITIONS OF
AFRICA & ARABIA

EGYPT & CHRISTIANITY
• St. Augustine [Early Christian
Writer]: “…The Christian
religion has existed among the
Ancients [Egypt & Ethiopia] and
was not absent from the
beginning of the human race
until Christ came in the flesh.”
[Retract I, 13]

• The Ancient Egyptians were the
principal contributors to the African
Origins of Christianity.
• The Egyptian idea of “The Neter”
was the origin of Monotheism.
• Pharaoh Akhenaten (1400 B.C.E.)
built upon this idea with the single
deity Ra, symbolized by the sun.

• The Creation Stories of Ausar
and Auset are the origin of the
ideas of:
• Resurrection
• Dual conflicts between good
and evil
• God’s sacrifice for humanity

• The Eucharist of Roman Catholicism
originates with the African Nilotics of
the Sudan, who believed humans
became whatever they ate.
• The idea of the After-life being based
on ethical behavior in this life is found
throughout the “Pert-Em-Hru”, The
Book of Coming Forth By Day.

• Amenhotep IV, 10th Pharaoh of
the XVIII Dynasty, changed his
name to Akhenaten.
• He began worshipping Aten
around 1400 B.C.E.
• Aten was the Sun God and
was made the Supreme God
of Egypt.

EGYPT & CHRISTIANITY:
THE MYSTERY SYSTEM
• Ausar raised from the dead
by his wife Auset.
• Ausar arises on the physical
plain in the form of his son,
Horus and battles his
murderer, his brother Set.

EGYPT & CHRISTIANITY:
THE MYSTERY SYSTEM
• Dual struggles between Good
& Evil, Light & Darkness,
God & Devil.
• Contributions: Divine
sacrifice-Gods give a physical
part of themselves so that
Humanity may survive.

THE IMPERIAL CONTEXT
OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY

• Following the assassination of
Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE),
“Dictator for Life,” Rome
becomes an empire ruled by
Augustus Octavian (63 BCE-
14 CE) and his successors.

• As Augustus (Revered One),
Octavian is regarded as the “Son
of God (Apollo).”
• Under the early emperors, Pax
Romana (Roman Peace) quiets
conflicts, brings prosperity, and
expands Roman power
throughout the world.

LIFE UNDER THE
EMPERORS
• Unlike the Republican era,
women enjoy many economic
freedoms, but are forbidden
to hold office, can be killed by
their husbands if adulterous,
and usually do not receive an
education.

LIFE UNDER THE
EMPERORS
• Politicians are exiled or executed at
the whim of emperors, leading to a
decline of interest in public service.
• Slaves work at all levels of society
and represent approximately 1/3 of
Roman subjects.
• Dominant value: pietas (dutiful
performance of social and spiritual
obligations).

ROMAN RELIGION
• Polytheistic – Greek and Roman
deities seen as interchangeable;
amalgamated into one pantheon.
• Pluralistic – religious diversity
generally tolerated, unless seen
as threat to stability of state.

ROMAN RELIGION
• Patriotic – religious activity
intended to secure blessings of
gods for the state.
• Patriarchal – organized around
male authorities (pontiff, priest;
paterfamilias, male head of
household).

NEW
RELIGIONS
IN
AN OLD
WORLD

NEW RELIGIONS IN
AN OLD WORLD
• As empire grows less stable
after 200 C.E., more Romans
question traditional religion.
“Mystery Religions” become
popular.

MYSTERY RELIGION
BELIEFS
• Feature Miracle-Performing
Founders.
• Offer secret knowledge.
• Promise individual salvation
and eternal life.

MYSTERY RELIGION
BELIEFS
• Develop religious activities
independent of family and
state.
• Focus on savior deities who
die and come back to life.
• Often connected with “exotic”
cultures of Near East.

JESUS OF NAZARETH
(4 B.C.E.-29 C.E.?)
• Jesus was born poor in Roman-
occupied Palestine.
• He becomes a wandering rabbi
who healed the sick and taught
the Hebrew scriptures.

JESUS OF NAZARETH
(4 B.C.E.-29 C.E.?)
• His teachings included the
necessity of moral perfection,
casual attitude toward ritual
purity, “blessedness” of
society’s outcasts, and
nonviolence as best means of
resolving social conflicts.

JESUS OF NAZARETH
(4 B.C.E.-29 C.E.?)
• He was executed by the Romans for
being a potential threat to economic
and political stability in Palestine.
• He was identified as the resurrected
Messiah (Greek translation:
Christos) by his followers in
accordance with the Hebrew
Scriptures and in fulfillment of
Prophecy.

WHO IS JESUS?

• … God’s “suffering servant”
who bears the sins of Israel
(Isaiah 55:6) …
• … God himself, incarnated “in
the form of a slave”
(Philippians 2:6-7) …

WHO IS JESUS?
• … “Raised from the dead”
(1 Corinthians 15:20) and
“ascended” to God (John
20:17) …
• These images of Jesus
gradually become known as
“orthodox” (right-believing).

WHO IS JESUS?

• Other early Christians hold
different views of Jesus as…
• … Teacher of secret knowledge
(Greek gnosis) that only the
initiated can understand (Gospel
of Thomas 70).

WHO IS JESUS?
• … The new god who has come to
sweep away Jewish tradition,
including the Hebrew Bible and
the Jewish God who made this
corrupt material world (Gospel of
Marcion 6:17-42).

WHO IS JESUS?
• Such“heterodox” (differently-
believing) views compete with
“orthodox” views for several
centuries.

THE GROWTH OF
CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS
• Within three hundred years of
Jesus’ execution, Christianity’s
status changes from obscure
Jewish sect to persecuted
Gentile faith to official Roman
religion.

THE GROWTH OF
• 313: Emperor Constantine (274?-
337) ends persecution of
Christianity and embraces faith.
• 395: Emperor Theodosius I (346-
395) establishes orthodox
Christianity as empire’s sole
faith.

THE GROWTH OF
• Christian institutions model
themselves on imperial
structures, complete with
Pontifex Maximus (High
Priest) based in Rome.

THE GROWTH OF
• The collapse of the Western
Roman Empire in 476 leaves
Western Europe sparsely
populated, poor, and
vulnerable to invasions.

THE GROWTH OF
• The Eastern Roman
(Byzantine) Empire, ruled
from Constantinople (modern
Istanbul), endures in spite of
territorial losses to Islamic
forces..

THE GROWTH OF
• “Christendom” (Christian
West) loosely unified by rule
of Germanic kings and
increasingly powerful Pope
(Bishop of Rome).

WHY DID CHRISTIANITY
SUCCEED?
• Roman persecution was sporadic,
allowing Christianity to become
publicly acceptable in some areas.
• Unlike paganism, Christianity
encouraged prosyletization and
conversion, and seemed simpler and
more unified.

WHY DID CHRISTIANITY
SUCCEED?
• Christianity offered strong,
egalitarian, humane
community in a mass society
driven by class distinctions
and peppered with cruelty
and violence.

AFRICA & CHRISTIANITY
• Today the oldest Christian
institutions are found in
Ethiopia, which converted from
Judaism to Christianity in 34
A.D. The Coptic Church the
result of the evangelism of Mark
is all that remains of many
Christian institutions of Egypt &
the Sudan.

CHRISTIAN COPTIC
ORTHODOX CHURCH
• Copt: is derived from the Greek
word Aigyptos [Egyptian:
Hikuptah - House of the Ka of
Ptah]
• Coptic Christianity is based on
the teachings of St. Mark and is
over nineteen centuries old.

CHRISTIAN COPTIC
ORTHODOX CHURCH
• The Copt St. Athanasius: wrote
the Nicene Creed, which is recited
many churches throughout the
world.
• Catechetical School of Alexandria
is the oldest school in the world.

CHRISTIAN COPTIC
ORTHODOX CHURCH
• Monasticism [Monks and
Monasteries]: first formed in
Egypt. Shaped Priests
character of submission and
humbleness.

CHRISTIAN COPTIC
ORTHODOX CHURCH
• Many African peoples
contributed to the creation and
development of Christianity,
primarily the Egyptians, who
gave Monotheism, Nicene Creed,
and the Eucharist sacraments.

CHRISTIAN COPTIC
ORTHODOX CHURCH
• African churches and religious
leaders have continued to
influence the Christian faith
for the last 2000 years.

X
ISLAMIC TRADITIONS
OF AFRICA & ARABIA

THE PRE-ISLAMIC WEST
• By 600 C.E., the Roman Empire, once
unified and in control of entire
Mediterranean region,was since 300s
C.E., now divided into the eastern
empire [centered at Constantinople-
modern day Istanbul, Turkey] and the
western empire [centered at Rome,
Italy] and was increasingly incapable of
ruling this vast multiethnic territory.


• Christianity, now identified
with Roman power, was
widespread throughout
western Asia, northern
Africa, and southern Europe.

• The Arabian peninsula was
on the periphery of the
Roman Christian world, but
was at the center of the trade
routes and commercial
interests of the Eastern and
Western empires.

THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
570 C.E. - 632 C.E.

• Muhammad was born in 570 C.E. in
the Arabian city of Mecca, which was
home to the diverse religious influences
of Christianity, Judaism, and local
Arabic polytheism.
• In 610 C.E. he experienced revelations
from Allah (name of one Arab deity)
beginning with “Night of Power.” This
event was later transcribed in Quran.

• Muhammad sees himself as the final
messenger of the one God revealed in
the Hebrew Bible and the Christian
New Testament.
• His persecution by local Arab leaders
(Quaraishites: Arab Priests) leads to
his escape (Hijra) from Mecca to
Medina and Abyssinia in 622 C.E.,
from which his followers conquer
Mecca in 630 C.E.

ISLAM IN NORTH AFRICA
• By 647 C.E., North Africa is
religiously unstable. In theory it
is controlled by the Pope of the
Roman Empire. In reality it is
ruled by the House of Heraclius.
• The political an religious
uncertainty leave North Africa
ripe for Islamic conquest.

• Due to the efforts of Uqabah
ibn Nafi and the Community
at Kairawan by 670 C.E., the
Islamic conquest had reached
the Atlantic Ocean and Africa
was declared and Islamic
continent.

• In 711 C.E., Tarik-bin-Ziad, and
African led the North African army
which invaded and conquered Spain.
The Rock of Gibraltar is named for
him [Jebel-u-Tarik: The Mountain
of Tarik]. His exploits are
commemorated in the Turkish
classic Tarik-bin-Zaid.


• By 732 C.E. the Islamic
Empire was larger than Rome
had been at it’s zenith.

ISLAM IN WEST AFRICA
• Islam spread into West Africa due to
the trans-Saharan trade routes.
• During the 11th Century the Kings of
the Empire of Ghana, employed
Muslim interpreters, ministers, and
treasurers. This was important for
international relations.

ISLAM IN WEST AFRICA
• It was common for the rulers of
the Ghana, Mali and Songhay
Empires to bring Islam back to
their people. Although many
people did not convert. Some
rulers only feigned conversion
for the sake of trade relations.

ISLAM & TRADITIONAL
AFRICAN RELIGION
• Islam appealed to Africans
because they could integrate it
with traditional religion.
• Islam also had religious
intermediaries similar to healers
and fetishists of traditional
religion.

ISLAM & TRADITIONAL
AFRICAN RELIGION
• Islam, like traditional religion
also had a sense of community
and spirituality that was
integral to everyday life. It
was more than just a
“religion”.

ISLAMIC & EUROPEAN
SLAVERY
• European/American Slavery:
• Resulted from Kidnapping
& Straight Purchase
• Was linked to Race &
Color.
• Social stigma remains
after many generations.

ISLAMIC & EUROPEAN
SLAVERY
• Islamic Slavery
• Resulted from Prisoners of
War who refused to convert
and from Raids on settled
communities for the sake of
obtaining slaves.

ISLAMIC & EUROPEAN
SLAVERY
• Was linked to unbelievers.
• Generally, once freed
became a full member of
society; however, Racial
stigma persisted.

MUSLIMS SLAVES IN
AMERICA
• Many Muslims became enslaved
in America during the 1700s
because:
• African Wars: rebellions
against Muslim leaders. The
captives were sold as slaves to
Europeans.

MUSLIMS SLAVES IN
AMERICA
• Kidnapping of Africans by
Europeans: mostly Muslims
because of their mobility.
They often traveled to spread
Islam and gain knowledge.

MUSLIMS SLAVES IN
AMERICA
• Muslim slaves looked down on the
Christian slaveholders, because
they used forced conversion to
justify slavery.
• Christians considered African
Muslim slaves superior to non-
Muslim slaves. Justified superiority
by saying they are Arab not
African.

MUSLIMS SLAVES IN
AMERICA
• African Muslims came from a
Literate culture, while other
Africans came from
predominantly Oral cultures.
• Under slavery, learning to
read and write was
punishable by death.

MUSLIMS SLAVES IN
AMERICA
• Muslims used their literacy to gain
freedom, by writing letters to family
so they could buy their freedom.
• They wrote autobiographies, which
since they could read would not be
changed by others.
• They helped spread plans of
rebellions.

MUSLIMS SLAVES IN
AMERICA
• Legislation was passed which
prohibited the importation of
Muslim slaves due to their
role in revolts.

WHO IS A MUSLIM?
• Muslim: derived from Arabic Islam,
which means “Submission to the One
God.”
• A Muslim is “one who submits” to
Allah (God) through the revelation
(Quran) given to humanity through
His Prophet and final messenger,
Muhammad.

WHO IS A MUSLIM?
• A Muslim is anyone who can say
and believe the Shahada, or
“Profession of Faith”:
• There is no God, but Allah.
• Muhammad is Allah’s
Prophet.

THE “FIVE PILLARS”
OF ISLAM
• Shahada: profession of faith
in Allah as sole deity and
Muhammad as final
messenger. The culmination
of Hebrew Bible and New
Testament prophecy.

OF ISLAM
• Salat: ritual prayer five times
daily (morning, noon,
afternoon, sunset, dusk) while
prostrated in direction of
Mecca – customarily solitary,
but communal on Fridays at
noon in masjid (mosque).

OF ISLAM
• Zakat: charity – a “loan to
God” representing 2.5% of
one’s income, donated by
those 16 years and older who
can afford it.

OF ISLAM
• Ramadan (Sawm): abstinence
from food, drink, sex,
stimulants during daylight
hours of ninth lunar month in
commemoration of the
Prophet’s “Night of Power.”

OF ISLAM

• Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca to
be made by every Muslim at
least once in a lifetime.

MUSLIM LIFESTYLE

• Dress Code: covered themselves
completely. Women wore the
Hijab and showed no aspect of
their body. Enslaved Muslims in
America, recreated same clothes
worn in Africa.

MUSLIM LIFESTYLE
• Names: In North & West Africa,
African converts would take on Arabic
Names and learn to read and write
Arabic so as to read the Quran in its
original language. Enslaved Africans
in America, despite having European
nicknames, kept their own name to
preserve their identity.

MUSLIM LIFESTYLE
• Muslims cannot drink alcohol
nor eat pork.
• When a Muslim slaughters
and animal, he must say
“Bismillah” (In the name of
Allah).

THE GROWTH OF ISLAMIC
INSTITUTIONS

INSTITUTIONS
• After the Prophet’s death,
power struggles between his
Caliphs (deputies) lead to
deaths of fourth Caliph, Ali
(600-661), Muhammad’s
cousin, and Husayn (626-680),
Muhammad’s grandson.

INSTITUTIONS
• Sunni (“traditional”)
Muslims: revere first four
caliphs and emphasize Islamic
unity through Shari’a (law).

INSTITUTIONS
• Shi’a (“factional”) Muslims:
honor Ali and Husayn as
martyrs and emphasize
authority of various Imams
(religious leaders).

THE ISLAMICIZATION OF
THE WEST
• 634: Army of the caliph
conquers Mesopotamia and
Palestine.
• 635: Damascus, capital of
Syria, conquered.
• 644: Egypt and Persia
conquered.

THE WEST
• 700s: Most of northern Africa, Spain,
Portugal, Italy, and India conquered by
Abbasid Empire, based in Baghdad
(756-1055).
• Within a century of Muhammad’s
death, much of the formerly Roman
Christian world is under Islamic rule.

THE WEST
• Gradually, most formerly
Christian and pagan
communities become Islamic.
• Islamic scholars translated
and preserved Greek
philosophy and science, while
Europe was steeped in
superstition.

THE WEST
• Christians and Jews were
tolerated as Ahl al-kitāb
(“People of the Book”) and
therefore dhimmī (protected
peoples).
• A tax (jizya) levied on non-
Muslims under Islamic rule.

THE WEST
• Slavery was restricted to non-
Muslims and children of
existing slaves. Converts to
Islam were emancipated. The
Islamic Conquests also began
the 1000 year Trans-Saharan
Slave Trade.

WHY DID ISLAM SUCCEED?
• Culture: Islamic rulers
encouraged literature,
philosophy, and science.
• Politics: power vacuum due to
decline of Persian and
Byzantine empires provided
atmosphere that allowed the
Islamic Conquests.

• Religion: Christian doctrine
was too complex. Christian
disputes were too bitter to
retain the allegiance of many
Christians. Many Christian
“heretics” converted to Islam.

• Society: in most cases, Islamic
rulers were less oppressive
and more humane than
Byzantine or Persian rulers.

THE AGE OF CRUSADES
1095 C.E. -1291 C.E.

• By the 11th century, the Byzantine
Empire faced increasing challenges
from the Seljuk (Muslim) Empire,
and requested help from the West.

THE AGE OF CRUSADES
1095 C.E. -1291 C.E.
• 1095: Pope Urban II urges
Western Christians to attack and
invade Muslim held territories in
Southwest Asia in order to
recapture them for Christendom,
offering “immediate remission of
sins” to those who die in battle.

THE AGE OF CRUSADES
1095 C.E. - 1291 C.E.
• 1099: An army of mostly
Frankish (French) Christians
massacres the population of
Jerusalem and establishes
independent Crusader states in
Southwest Asia, undermining
Byzantine and Muslim power in
the region.

THE AGE OF CRUSADES
1095 C.E. - 1291 C.E.
• 1144: Edessa (in modern Turkey)
overthrows Crusader rule and
returns to Muslim control,
prompting second Crusade.
• 1187: Jerusalem recaptured by
Muslim forces, triggering third
Crusade led by kings of England,
France, and Germany.

THE AGE OF CRUSADES
1095 C.E. -1291 C.E.

• 1204: Western Christian forces
capture Constantinople and
establish short-lived Latin
Empire in East (1204-1261).

THE AGE OF CRUSADES
1095 C.E. - 1291 C.E.
• 1291: Acre, last stronghold of
Crusaders in Southwest Asia,
recaptured by Muslim forces.
• Christian persecution of Jews,
heretics, and homosexuals
increases during Crusades.

RISE OF THE SUFI TRADITION
• Soon after Prophet’s death,
some Muslims become critical
of what they see as
worldliness and the
corruption of the Caliphs.

RISE OF THE SUFI TRADITION
• Wearing plain blue wool (Sūf)
clothing, these Sufis preach:
Tawakkul (absolute trust in Allah)…
which arises from Tawhid (absolute
oneness of Allah)…expressed
through Faqr (“poverty,” both
material and spiritual)… which leads
to Fanā (“annihilation” of self in the
presence of almighty Allah).

THEMES IN SUFI THOUGHT

• As Sufism expands
throughout the Muslim world,
it encounters criticism from
other Muslims.

• In response, Abu Hamid al-
Ghazali (1058-1111), most
famous Sufi theologian,
defines 4 major points of
Sufism.

• 1. islām (“surrender,
submission” to God in all aspects
of life).
• 2. īmān (“faith” in God and his
Prophet, Muhammad).
• 3. ihsān (“serving God as if one
were seeing Him” at all times).


• 4. ishrāq (“illumination” of
the soul, leading it from dark
materiality to light
spirituality).

• Sufi teachers (Shaikhs) and
their disciples (Tarīqa)
devoted to Dhikr
(“remembrance”) of Allah
through chanting, dancing,
fasting, music, poetry, and
prayer.

• The poetry of Sufi writer Jalal
Al-Din Rūmī (1207-1273) is
known as “the Quran in
Persian.”
• Rūmī’s basic theme: love, not
fear, should define relationship
between humanity and God.

EGYPT & PHILOSOPY
• Greek Philosophy is nothing
more than Egyptian Philosophy.
All of the Greek Scholars were
taught by the Savants of Egypt
and Ethiopia. When Egypt was
conquered by Greece in 332 B.C.
the Greeks were only then
allowed total access to the
wisdom of Egypt.

EGYPT & PHILOSOPY
• Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, &
Aristotle are a few of the many
Greeks who studied in Ancient
Egypt being instructed by the
learned African Priests. Socrates
was executed for corrupting the
Athenian youth with the foreign
teachings from Africa.

ANCIENT EGYPT: TODAY
• Why is this not widely known today?
– The Conquest, Enslavement &
Colonization of Africa by Europe
and Arabia led to the denial of the
accomplishments of the Ancient
Ethiopians & to the Ancient
Egyptians being “changed” from
Black to White in Textbooks and
Movies.

• Many Europeans, Asians, and
Africans have written books on
this topic, but their work is not
widely used in Western
Education. Since the 1500’s
there has been a systematic
European usurpation of African
contributions to World
Civilization.

• Today if one states that Ancient
Egypt was a Black Civilization &
that Philosophy, Science, Art &
Religion began in Ethiopia, they
will be met with ridicule & denial
from All Races of Men. This is
caused by the Eurocentric focus
of education today.

• For those that accept the truth of
the African Origins of
Civilization in Ethiopia, Egypt &
the World, one question arises:
• How have Africans who erected
the Pyramids, invented writing
& established philosophy,
religion & civilization fallen so
far?

FROM PYRAMIDS TO
ENSLAVEMENT TO GHETTOS:
HOW?

XI
ARABIAN & EUROPEAN
CONQUEST OF AFRICA
640 C.E. - 1994 C.E.
C.E

THE PROBLEM OF THE
COLOR LINE
• In 1903 Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, African-
American sociologist, historian,
author, and activist, wrote his famous
book, The Souls of Black Folks. In this
book he declared that the problem of
the 20th Century was the problem of
race relations.

DR. W.E.B. DUBOIS [1868 - 1963]

THE PROBLEM OF THE
COLOR LINE
• Dr. DuBois: “THE PROBLEM OF
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY is
the problem of the color-line,-the
relation of the darker and lighter
races of men in Asia and Africa, in
America and the islands of the sea.”

THE PROBLEM OF THE
COLOR LINE
• This problem of the 20th and
21rst Century began to rear its
head in 630 C.E. with Islamic
conquest of North Africa from
640 C.E. to 711 C.E.

THE PROBLEM OF THE
COLOR LINE
• The Islamic conquest of
northern Africa ushered in a
1000 year period of Trans-
Saharan slave trading. The
Islamic conquest was followed
by European encroachments.

THE EUROPEAN SLAVE
TRADE
• The Slave trade began as early as the
15th century. The Portuguese were the
first major European slave traders,
followed by the Spanish, Dutch, French
and British.
• West African peoples were sold or
captured for “export” to the Americas
and other colonies.

THE “SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA
• During the 19th century, France,
Britain and other European colonial
powers fought for the acquisition of
African territory. This feverish wave
of interest in the African continent
and its resources came to be known as
the “Scramble for Africa.” It marked
the second wave of European
colonization which began in the
Americas in the 15th century.

BERLIN CONFERENCE 1884-1885
• France, Britain, and Germany were
the three main Imperialist Powers in
Africa during the late eighteen
hundreds. In February 1885, the
main European powers signed the
Berlin Act, which formalized the
process of the partitioning of Africa.
The Act included the guidelines of
how each country was to define its
territories.

FRENCH IMPERIAL
EXPANSION
• The French negotiated treaties with
several African leaders from a
powerful military position. France
focused on the military direction of the
expansion by going fort to fort and
taking over control.

FRENCH IMPERIAL
EXPANSION
• By using military means of obtaining
territory, they were securing
themselves economically. The French,
harsh in their administration and
attempts to increase their economic
footholds, used forced labour and
imprisonment of Africans to maintain
and expand their interests.

FRENCH IMPERIAL
EXPANSION
• Whenever the French were able
they fostered production of
groundnuts and cotton and
imposed taxation on the native
inhabitants.

BRITISH IMPERIAL
EXPANSION
• Britain’s imperialistic activities in
Africa from 1869 to 1912 had several
motives. The public motive was to
“convert the Natives to Christianity.
Really, Britain wanted to colonize,
find new markets and materials, and
spread the English style of
government. They also wanted to
protect their land holdings from
German or French invasion.

BRITISH IMPERIAL
EXPANSION
• The Suez Canal: The British
wanted to protect the Suez Canal
in East Africa along with the
route to the east. Control over
the Suez Canal provided
financial dominance and comfort
since it guarded trade routes and
colonies to the East.

BRITISH IMPERIAL
EXPANSION
• At the same time, British colonists in
South Africa were interested in
extending their possessions
northwards, particularly since gold and
diamonds had been found in the
interior of the region. One colonial
leader, Cecil Rhodes, dreamt of
building a railway right across Africa,
from Cairo in the north to the Cape in
the south.

BRITISH IMPERIAL
EXPANSION
• Any obstacles, such as the tough
Boer settlers who did not like British
rule, would have to be brushed out of
the way. The Boers were descendants
of Dutch colonists who had arrived
in the Cape long before the British.
It took the British two difficult wars,
in 1895 and 1899-1902, to defeat
them.

ANTI-IMPERIALISM
• The “White Man’s Burden” and the
accompanying “civilizing mission”
illustrate that European Imperialism
was as much a militaristic operation as
an ideological system. All ideological
systems have their supporters and
detractors. Here is an excerpt from one
such group who denounced both U.S.
and European forms of Imperialism:

ANTI-IMPERIALIST
LEAGUE 1901
Let us not be misled by names.
Imperialism is not a question of
crowns and scepters, of names and
titles. It is a system of government.
Where a man or body of
men...claims the absolute right to
rule a people….

ANTI-IMPERIALIST
LEAGUE 1901
…To compel the submission of that
people by brute force, to decide what
rights they shall have, what taxes they
shall pay, what judges shall
administer their laws, what men shall
govern them,--all without
responsibility to the people thus
governed--this is imperialism, the
antithesis of free government".

PROCESS OF
DECOLONIZATION
• The process of de-colonization (the
rejection and dismantling of the
colonial infrastructure) has, from
the perspective of colonized
peoples, been an ongoing struggle
from the inception of colonial rule.

PROCESS OF
DECOLONIZATION
• Historians and Theorists contend
that the process of colonization
and imperial rule was not simply a
militaristic venture but also an
ideological one. Any attempt to
resist European rule has
necessarily also been both physical
and ideological

WHAT DID COLONIZATION
SEEK TO MAINTAIN?
• A) A racial hierarchy of white
superiority and racial segregation
(Apartheid).

SEEK TO MAINTAIN?
• B) A system of economic domination
and exploitation that benefited the few
and oppressed the majority through
taxation; forced acquisition of lands
and the subsequent dispossession of
the native inhabitants from their own
lands; the refusal of access and
recourse to the very legal structure
under which one has come to be
governed; the denial of basic human
rights.

SEEK TO MAINTAIN?
• C) An indoctrination of cultural
superiority through the imposition
of European languages and, upon its
implementation, an education
system, at the expense and
belittlement of indigenous
languages, cultures and knowledge
systems.

•BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASK BY
FRANTZ FANON

• According to Fanon, the African has
been taught to regard white skin as the
symbol of a superior culture and
civilization. To see the human race in
this way is to see the world only
“through European eyes.” Ironically,
this “Eurocentric” perspective includes
the way the African is perceived (as a
social subordinate, or worse, as a
“savage” to be “civilized”). Thus, the
African internalizes and accepts as
normal the European’s view of
him/herself (the African).

• This, in turn, produces a form of self-
loathing and the desire to efface all that
constitutes African identity in
preference for European identity.
However, by virtue of his/her obvious
blackness, the African is denied full
and equal participation in white society
no matter how proficiently he imitates
white society or rejects his own society.
In other words, the African is made to
desire something he/she can never fully
attain.

• For Fanon, therefore, the African can
never be free unless he/she is able to
reject the “white mask” (the symbol
for seeing the world from a
Eurocentric perspective). He/She can
only be free once he/she reclaims
Black identity not as a symbol of
shame but as a symbol of
empowerment, of selfhood and
consciousness.

• Moreover, Fanon states that the
white man is as much “enslaved”
by this perspective as the black
man, for the white man can only
exist in his “negation” of the black
man. The white man’s sense of self-
worth is dependent on maintaining
the perception of the black man as
the inferior “other.”

• In other words, neither can share a
“common humanity” that unites
their consciousness. At the end of
his study, Fanon states, “I want the
world to recognize, with me, the
open door of every consciousness.”

EGYPT: TODAY
• The Priests of Ancient Egypt &
the Prophets of Ancient Israel
wrote that the Denial of the One
True God, a Belief in the
Supremacy of Man,
Lasciviousness, and a Desire for
material gratification led to the
Divine debasement of the
Egyptians & their Descendants.

EGYPT: TODAY
• Scholars today state that the
present state of Africans resulted
from centuries of conquest,
enslavement, colonization &
exploitation beginning in 341
B.C.E.

REBIRTH
WHAT IS
NEEDED NOW
IS A
RENAISSANCE
OR REBIRTH
LED BY THE
PRESENT
GENERATION.

DR. FRANTZ FANON

• “EACH GENERATION
MUST FIND OUT ITS
HISTORICAL MISSION
AND EITHER FULFILL IT
OR BETRAY IT.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY
• What They Never Told You In History
Class [1983] Indus K. Kush.
• Africa: Mother of Western Civilization
[1971] Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan.
• Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization
[1992] Anthony T. Browder.
• Destruction of Black Civilization: Great
Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000
A.D. [1974] Dr. Chancellor Williams.

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