Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop and Ancient Kemet
Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop is considered to be the most respected scholar of Kemet. An Egyptologist and linguist, he had the revolutionary idea to use the scientific method to disprove the many myths surrounding ancient Kemet. He developed a way to test the levels of melanin in Egyptian mummies, which revealed that the ancient Egyptians were, indeed, Africans. He also argued that the Egyptian language was related to African dialects and can be connected to the Wolof language of today. By far, the most important theory that he sought to prove was that human life began in Africa.
Diop argued that the first civilizations emerged in the Nile Basin on the eastern coast of Africa. It is from this basin that African people fanned out across the continent and onto other lands around the 6th century BC. There exist two theories of human origin: monogenetic and polygenetic. The monogenetic view states that there is one source for mankind; man was born in one place and became different due to the climatic conditions to which he was exposed. The polygenetic opinion claims that man has several locations of origin, which would explain the physiological differences between the races. Followers of this theory believe that man was born in Africa, Europe, and Asia and there was no evolutionary or climatic development. Diop states that there are two reasons why this theory is faulty. He says that nature never strikes twice in its evolution; she doesn't create the same being twice. In addition, complete fossils have been found on the African continents, which proves that life began there. No such fossils have been found anywhere else in the world. In 1912, a British geologist attempted to prove that life had begun in England by piecing together a fake fossil supposedly found on British soil. The fabricated skull was later found to have been a fake by an English anthropologist in the 1950's. It was determined to have been constructed using the mandible and canine teeth of a monkey.
The skull analysis of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens are usually considered more accurate if the entire skull is examined, rather than certain ... ... middle of paper ... ... ated form” (IBT, 1). To figure things like this out and prove it, regions of genomes are compared with entire genomes. Before we are able to judge the human origins model, we need to be able to understand the coding of genes for traits of being human, etc.
It was commonly believed that early hominids left the jungle to live on the open plains of Africa. Called the Savannah Theory, it was strongly promoted by Professor Raymond Dart, after he gained recognition for discovering the Taung skull in 1925. The Taung skull was the first admitted link between man and ape, and Prof. Dart based his theory on the modern location of the discovered fossils. However, a report in 2000 by Marc Verhaegen claims that a savanna evolution is extremely improbable. Based on biological and physiological data, he tries to disprove the savanna theory and suggests that our evolution would more likely occur in a humid and wet setting than the dry heat of the grasslands.
On November 24, 1974, an American Anthropologist by the name of Donald Johanson and his research team, made a ground-breaking discovery that caused a mass dispute in human evolution. Dr. Johanson documented in his book, Lucy The Beginning Of Mankind, the discoveries he and his team have come across. Dr. Johanson and his team discovered a skeleton of a hominid, dated between 3.9 to 3 million years old (164). The hominid, which they referred to as Lucy, was discovered while surveying Hadar, in the Dafar region of Ethiopia (164-166). Lucy’s discovery, a 41% complete human ancestor caused a controversial alteration in the human origins. Lucy was the oldest human ancestor. During the following year, Johanson’s team discovered fossilized remains
Australopithecus afarensis who existed 3.5 million years ago and a 4.4 million year old skeleton of an Ardipithecus ramidus are the closest science has come to discovering the human lineage. Shattered Ancestry an article written by Katherine Harmon discusses the remains of two hominids found within Ethiopia. These skeletal remains have created a huge controversy within the topic of evolution questioning many assumptions that have been made referencing the human lineage. The skeleton of the Australopithecus afarensis was named Lucy and was discovered in 1974. The evidence of her walking upright on her two feet essentially guaranteed her a spot in the human lineage line. Lucy was a chimplike ape that was said to walk upright making scientists believe the human ancestry was simple. The complete skeleton found in Ethiopia of an Ardipithecus ramidus named Ardi completely changed all assumptions made from scientists about the complexity of the human lineage. These remains have encouraged researches that the human line is not the only lineage to have evolved but the chimpanzee line has undergone drastic changes as well. There are many traits that researchers have always directly linked to the human lineage however since these discoveries occurred researchers are reconsidering. The recent discoveries that have shattered what has always suggested what linked a species to the human lineage have changed the certainty of whether it is possible to confidently identify the human’s last common ancestor. Majority of scientist had forgotten that there would have been many hominid species living together at one time. New theories have been suggested since scientists revealed that the foot of a hominid found called the Burtele site was found ju...
So many Americans today are in the dark about the true origin of the African descent. From my past experiences in history classes, the teacher of coarse job is to teach from the textbook. The problem with that is the whole truth does not lie between those pages of how African culture became about. I will discuss the first king of Egypt and how his story applies today.
Egypt had the earliest large scale political economy in Africa. The Egyptians were led by Pharaohs, whose roles were appointed based off of their believed holy lineage. Pharaohs were thought to be descendants of the Egyptian goddess Isis, making them the only people fit to lead Ancient Egypt. The citizen’s strong religious views meant they eagerly followed everything their leaders commanded and this strong devotion is what made it possible to build the pyramids. Devoted Egyptians citizens built the tombs for their rulers over decade long periods as the ultimate tribute. Built from thousands of pounds of limestone many of the pyramids are still standing today. But, much like its preceding civilizations, Egypt’s greatest accomplishments were belittled because Eurocentric explorers refused to believe that black Africans could be responsible for something as grand as the pyramids. This can even be seen in modern culture, where Egyptians are portrayed as white or European, despite being rooted in Africa. The video turns to Afrocentric researcher Cheikh Anta Diop, who attempts to prove Egyptians were dark skinned by pointing to ancient pictures from the tomb of Ramses III, where Egyptians were portrayed as having dark skin like many Africans do today. Even Greeks, who knew Egypt well, believed Egyptians were black (Different but Equal). But Khapoya argues in his book that classifying Egyptians as either ‘black’ or ‘white’ is extremely inaccurate, “Ancient Egyptians had many different shades of skin color, from very light brown Mediterranean-type skins to very dark Nubian-type skins” (Khapoya, 66). Egyptians were very diverse with many different people of many different races living together. Nonetheless Egyptians, whether dark or light skinned, are Africans, and their accomplishments are ultimately African
Dr. Diop’s theory is, of course, also based on the presumption the black race was the first to inhabit the planet ("Cheikh Anta Diop." 2016). In all probability humanity began its life in an unclothed state it only stands to reason that human life most likely originated in a climate where life could be sustained without clothing. The strongest evidence points to the Central and East Africa, near the equator in the region that presently makes up Kenya, Uganda and the Sudan ("Cheikh Anta Diop." 2016). Cheikh Anta Diop argued that the earliest humans were black. Diop recognized that anthropological research in the physiology of ancient Egyptians did not provide definitive proof that they were black, but the evidence unearthed in the process did allow sound extrapolation. “Although the conclusions of these anthropological studies stop short of the full truth, they still speak unanimously of the existence of a Negro race from the most distant ages of prehistory down to the dynastic period (Ijiola 52). Diop wrote in a chapter he contributed to volume two of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) eight-volume General History of Africa. He emphasized
Humanity became fascinated with the idea of evolution with the work of Charles Darwin and the Scientific Revolution. People began hunting for fossils that would prove that man had an ape derived ancestry (Weiner, 1955). After various years of searching, a piece of physical evidence was found in England that was said to confirm the theory of evolution (Weiner, 1955).This confirmation came from Charles Dawson’s discoveries from 1908, that were announced publicly in 1912 (Thackeray, 2011). Dawson was believed to have found the fossil remains of the “missing link” between ape and human evolution, the reconstructed skull of Piltdown man (Augustine, 2006). The material was found in stratigraphical evidence and animal remains that were, at the time, adequate enough to confirm the antiquity of the remains (Weiner, 1955). In 1915, another specimen, Piltdown man II, was found further proving this theory (Augustine, 2006). However, this was merely a hoax proven by fluorine relative dating in 1953; the artifacts and bone fragments discovered turned out to be altered to fit the proposed scenario (Augustine, 2006). The skull found was actually composed of a human braincase that was younger than the complimentary orangutan lower jaw (Falk, 2011). Both sections of the skull had been stained to appear to be from the same person of the same age (Falk, 2011).The perpetrator of this act was never caught and there are many theories proposed for the motive of this hoax (Augustine, 2006). Many people have been taken into consideration for this crime, such as Chardin, Woodward, Hinton, and Dawson (Augustine, 2006). Nevertheless, the evidence that proves that Dawson is guilty of this crime against anthropology is quite substantial compared to the evidence...
Since the beginning of the human race there has been a lingering question as to the origins of man and how all living things acquired their characteristics. The two main theories that arose over time were Creationism and Evolution, both of which provided very distinct answers to this question. Creationism based its answer on the idea of a supernatural power or being that created the entire universe, man and the numerous other organisms that live within it. While, Evolution theorizes that all living things have the potential to change and grow over time into something new and different. So in other words, one theory suggests that humans and all the organisms on Earth are the result of divine design, while the other indicates that they are only the result of environmental adaption and growth. However, as neither theory is without flaw and it is only through close examination that a true understanding of man’s origins can be obtained.
...e single origin perspective but not the multiregional perspective (1988). For example, the first appearance of Homo sapiens raises problems. The newest fossils of Homo sapiens were discovered in Africa while Europe, the Far East and Australia have the oldest fossils (Stringer & Andrew 1988). If there was one linearly evolving species we should see the oldest fossils in Africa. Also, Although Europe and southwest Asia have the most complete fossil record there is an absence of Neanderthal and modern Homo sapiens transitional fossils, which goes against the idea that species evolved together (Stringer & Andrew, 1988). The fossils better describe the single origin perspective.
The Egyptian theory of salvation became the purpose of Greek philosophy. Circumstances of identity between the Egyptian and Greek systems are shown. The abolition of Greek philosophy with the Egyptian Mysteries identifies them; 4. How the African Continent gave its culture to the Western World.
Zimmer, C. (2013, December 5). Baffling 400,000-Year-Old Clue to Human Origins. New York Times, p. A10(L). Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow
Only in the past one hundred years have men finally put aside their Biblical and mythical tales about creation, and looked to the facts in order to piece together a logical explanation for the origin of mankind. In turn, men were now able to explain the enigma of their origin without the presence of a supernatural being responsible for their creation. At the head of a slew of men trying to uncover logical reasons for mans derivation was Charles Darwin. Darwin was the most accomplished of these men because he was able to put forth a logical conjecture that was based upon facts and observations. This theory, for a short time, was able to end the feud among educated men because many now put their trust in this new “theory of evolution”. Unfortunately, this revolutionary new theory threatened the religious beliefs about creation and soon a new rivalry emerged between the creationists and evolutionists.
Ancient Egyptian medicine is some of the oldest ever recorded, dating back as far as the 33rd century B.C. Egyptian medical practice was known for being highly advanced for its time, including surgery, dentistry, the famous mummification, and all around general practices. There is still so much undiscovered about what the Egyptians really knew and how they knew it, but there is a lot to learn about the ways of their medicine and just how they worked.