Sample
Investigative Process Paper
The history of Egypt
has been known for many years with many people marveling at the accomplishments
that they were able to achieve. Many refer to the
country as the first true civilization, which influenced numerous other cultures
in the West. Architects marvel over the structure of
the Great Pyramids, while thousands of visitors travel to the country every
year to learn more about its history. Despite the
great accomplishments of the Egyptians, it at times has been overshadowed
by debate of what race they actually were. [To
what degree is this a claim?]
Problems
in African History is a compilation of various views of historians specializing
in the history of Egypt
and the debate over what race or ethnic group that the Egyptians belonged
to. Although the book was written with the ideas of Egyptologists from the mid 1900’s, it strongly demonstrates the
early stages of a heated dispute that is still present today. One of these
historians, Cheikh Anta Diop, devoted years to study the origins of the Egyptian
people. He dedicated most of his coursework to voicing
his opinion on the true race of the inhabitants. To
him, there was no question that the Egyptians were black and that it was these
blacks that were the first to develop innovative and unprecedented ways of
thinking. Among these accomplishments were making
huge strides in the development in the areas of medicine, agriculture, astronomy,
and mathematics. Kevin Shillington, author and editor
of History of Africa, also shares this view. By
studying the origins of farming, crop cultivation, and pastoralism performed
by the people of the Nile region, Shillington reflects
Diop’s ideas on the great contributions that the Egyptians made that would
later be used by the Western World. He notes the high
level of organization that took place in Egyptian society, which included
a class system, which allowed the government to maintain an well thought-out plan to maintain order within each
pharaoh’s province. These thoughts were also shared with Lester Brooks, author
of Great Civilizations of Ancient Africa. Brooks spends much time in the novel discussing the contributions
of Egypt
to other Western societies. Both Diop and Brooks comment on the scientific
and cultural achievements that the Egyptians obtained including hieroglyphics,
irrigation, and the development of the first twelve-month calendar. To Diop,
the denial by many Egyptologists that
the Egyptians were of a black race and were a main source of knowledge in
the Mediterranean was a form of pure racism. He supports this evidence by referring to the writers of
ancient history; the Greeks and the Romans. Such writers
mentioned were Herodotus and Diodorus. While studying
these ancient writings, Diop emphasized the fact that
many of the Greek writers mentioned that the Egyptians had many black features,
such as “full lips”, “woolly hair”, and “broad noses”. Diop
further argues, “ The evidence clearly demonstrates
that the Egyptians were black, and as the ancestors living throughout black
Africa today were the first to invent, among other things, mathematics, science,
religion, agriculture, and medicine” (7). He later
questions, “What can be the attitude of those who systematically reject the
written evidence when they also find material proof in the ruins and excavations
of Egypt
which conform to the writings of the Ancients?” ( 11). Clarence E. Walker, author of We Can’t Go Home ,
also shares this view by Diop . In the book, Walker
claims that the history of black people has been stolen by writings and
historic accounts of white, male, Western historians. He
believes, like Diop, that Egypt
was a center and the “mother” of the West. He further explains that the
people who study Egypt
in modern times are attempting to take back what European history has stolen
from the people and legacy of Egypt,
which has been reflected more by the Greeks and Romans.
Walker writes, “Consequently, this book is
an attempt to show that the true authors of Greek philosophy were not the
Greeks, but the people of North Africa, commonly called the Egyptians; and
the praise and honour falsely given to the Greeks for centuries belong to
the people of North Africa, and therefore the African Continent”( xx). Timothy Kendall, author of a book review of Kush, : The Jewel of Nubia
parallels the thoughts of of Walker.
In his review, Kendall states, “ Typically scholars denied or minimized the ‘Africanness’
of ancient Egyptians civilization and considered it part of the Near East
or Mediterranean; Nubian civilization they considered
merely an offshoot of the Egyptians” (472). Mario I. Auuilar, author of the
book review of African Images; Racism and the End of Anthropology, further reflects the ideas
of Walker. He
also states that historical perceptions of Africa have
implied that it is in fact inferior to Europe and
Asia. The thoughts of these authors reflect the opinion
of many other authors and historians; that the history of Egypt has been
often written based on a Euro centric way of thinking, meaning that the accomplishments
and the country as a whole has been disenfranchised from the entire African
continent. It is the view of these authors that African blacks have been
cheated out ‘claiming’ Egypt
as their own, and that racist historians are the one’s to blame.
Although Diop argues that history has ‘robbed’
black Africans from claiming Egypt as their own, does his conclusion also
rob the other groups of people that contributed to the success of Egypt of
their ‘ claim’ to it’s legacy? Is this not a form of reverse racism? Diop
continually argues that Western based history habitually undermines the contributions
of black Africa to Western society, but to claim that Egypt was only habited
by black Egyptians is an extreme attempt to ‘claim’ a part of history on the
behalf of blacks throughout the world. Admittedly,
the culture and traditions of Egypt were duplicated by many other ancient
civilizations, such as the Greeks and Romans, but to argue that Egypt wasn’t
heavily influenced by other civilizations in the Mediterranean area suggests
that the country was absent of migration and assimilation of other ethnic
groups. Diop’s argument lacks much evidence that would support that the Egyptians
were black and not a product of the blend of people who migrated and conquered
the area during different dynasties. Egypt
was at times under the rule of the Greeks and the Arabs, and to conclude
that these other ethnic groups had no effect on the legacy and culture of
the civilization is ignoring vast parts of Egyptian history. There are many opponents to Diop’s view, including C. G.Seligman
who was a distinguished professor at the University
of London. Seligman
formatted his Hamitic Hypothesis which stated, “the belief in a race of tall,
lean, light skinned people who originally came from Egypt or even southwest
Asia and later migrated throughout Black Africa spreading superior political
and cultural ideas that were inherent in their blood”( 7). Seligman’s views
expressed an extreme analysis that strongly opposed Diop’s idea that the Egyptians
were black. Raymond Muany, another Egyptologists, also
writes “ Although I am more than willing to admit
that there were certainly blacks in ancient Egypt,
I strongly deny that all the Egyptians were blacks, or for that matter,
that the ancestors of the inhabitants of West Africa
today came out of Egypt. I regard Egypt
as a melting pot of many races and to credit Egyptian civilization to any
one particular ethnic group is blatant racism”(
7). Although the views of these historians are on opposite poles, it is easy
to observe how historians firmly stand on their belief as of to what race,
(if any one race), that the Egyptians belonged.
In the
book We Can’t Go Home, Walker
also comments on Western Historians making little effort to celebrate the
history and accomplishments of black Africa. To demonstrate
the racist opinions of some historians regarding the African culture, Walker
quotes Friedrich Hegel’s thoughts on black’s place in history. Hegel wrote
an article entitled “Commenting on the Negroes” in Putnam’s Monthly,
which was published in 1865. In it Hegel claimed
that there was no reason to study black history because black’s had no history
to study. He further reiterated that blacks worshipped
no gods and had never ruled
a hierarchy or other organized government. He later
states that the cities of Africa were a vast accumulation
of huts and clay walls. Ending his views he stated,
“ the Negro has no history- he makes no history”(
14). Although these views were stated in the mid 1800’s, they are an example of how the writings of some affected
the thinking of many and were left in history for later generations. Although
Walker and Diop shared the opinion that the culture and intellect of the Egyptians
heavily influenced the rest of the Mediterranean area, they differ when it
comes to the question of race. Unlike Diop, Walker
views Egyptian culture as a result of various different ethnic groups assimilation into the country. He gives the following
example:
“ For example, ancient
Egyptian architecture and writings resulted when the Nile
civilization came into contact the Sumerians. Irrigation, the lifeblood
of the land of the pharaohs, also developed out of Egypt’s
contacts with Sumeria( 6).
Walker
also takes a stand against Diop’s methods of proving that the Egyptians
were black. He comments on Diop’s attempts to excavate
mummies to determine their race by measuring the amount on melanin in their
skin. Walker
disapproves of Diop’s methods saying, “Diop’s works represents the single
most unsuccessful effort on the part of a scholar to determine the racial
origins of an Egyptians notable” ( 53). He notes that the methods of measuring the amount of melanin
in a mummies skin are an unreliable and was proven
to be inconclusive.
Many historians believe that the
debate over what race the Egyptians were is one that will never be resolved.
C. Loring Brace, D. Tracer, L. Yaroch, J. Robb, K. Brandt, and R. Nelson,
authors of “ Clines and Clusters versus “race”,
A Test in the Ancient Egypt and the Case of a Death on the Nile”,
insists that this debate will forever be forgoing. They
note, “ An assessment of ‘race’ is as useless as
it is impossible. Neither clines nor clusters alone
suffice to deal with the biological nature of a widely distributed population. Both must be used… As others have noted, Egyptians are
Egyptians, and they were so in the past as well”(
Brace et al 31).
Walker’s
arguments focus mainly on Afro centrism, which he explains has suggested
that nothing of any importance has ever happened in African history. His negative opinion of Afro centrism is expressed throughout
the book. He defines Afro centrism as a “ mythology that is racist, reactionary, and essentially
therapeutic. It suggests that nothing important has happened in black history
since the time of the pharaohs and thus trivializes the history of black Americans”
( 1). This negative opinion of Afro centrism is
also shared by Mary Lefkowitaz, author of Not Out of Africa.
In 1996 a heated debate took place between Lefkowitz
and Martin Bernal, the author of Black Athena.:
The Afrosiatic Roots of Classical Culture. Bernal
is a well-known Afro centrist who
argues that traditional history has undervalued the contributions of Black
Africa to ancient Greek and Western thought. In the April issue of Blacks in Higher
Education, this debate between the two another was recorded. Lefkowitz
views paralleled those of Walker
when she noted , “It is not about race and it is
not about an attack on Afro centrism, if that means acknowledging accomplishments
of Blacks. I do not seek to deprive Africans of their
rightful heritage. But Africans do not need Greece
to have a rich heritage”(9). Bernal, who takes
a stance based on Afro centrism argues on the cultural
exchanges that took place between Egypt
and Greece. He notes that because they were two of the oldest civilizations
that occurred in such a close vicinity of each other, it was obvious that
thoughts and ideas would be exchanged between the two civilizations. He quotes,
“ We cannot look at Greece
without looking at the whole Mediterranean, and the
oldest society in that region is Egypt.
It could be a very exciting time for the classics. The interaction of the cultures can be extremely fruitful”
(9).
Because of the heated debate that
has taken place, and continues to bring much attention from scholars, the
question regarding what race the Ancient Egyptians were still is a very prevalent
issue in modern historical society. This debate has
perhaps overshadowed the accomplishments of the Egyptians and undermines the
positive influences that they passed on. This debate
makes me question the effect that it has placed on Egyptian history. I believe that the accomplishments of the Egyptians
were achieved by a diversity of people, and like Walker explains, to credit
just one race of the accomplishments that the Egyptians were able to achieve
would unfair to the numerous other ethnic groups that played a role in it’s
formation. [As it stands, is this the claim at this stage of the investigation?]
Writers
Memo
While
doing this process paper, I was a little skeptical at the onset of it. I wasn’t exactly sure what my claim was going to be, but
as I began to read more
of my sources and
sift through the information, it became clearer as to what stance I would
base my claim on. I still think that my topic needs
to be
narrowed even more,
and I need to cut out some of the excess questions that I have presented in
this process paper. I need to focus on just one question,
because if I try
to tackle more than one claim in my paper, it will be easy to get off track
and lose my audience on what I am in fact trying to prove.
This
Process Paper has
allowed me understand what direction my research is going in and it has also
allowed my to view what I need to work on.