After Champollion's discovery, Ancient Egypt began to play a central role in the ideological construction of White supremacy based on pseudo-science because prominent white scholars attempted to rationalize the enduring biological inferiority of Black people from antiquity to the present and to advocate for a polygenetic origin of the human race. In the U.S., the collaboration between three scholars, George Gliddon, who pioneers the formal introduction of Egyptology to the U.S. post-Champollion, and prominent medical doctors Samuel Morton and Josiah Nott were at the forefront of this vigorous race science that Nott referred to as "niggerology." Martin Delany, who I have written about as the first African American to attempt to present and translate Egyptian hieroglyphs, offered his own critique of this pseudo-race science in his publication Principia of Ethnology (1879). 

In France, the scholar Arthur De Gobineau was viewed as a major authority in the emerging racist pseudo-science and published a major work entitled The Inequality of the Human Races. I focus most of this lesson on a little-known Haitian scholar, Anthropologist, Egyptologist, Lawyer, Diplomat, and Pan-Africanist named Antenor Firmin who wrote a book as a direct response to De Gobineau's racist ideas in a major work entitled The Equality of the Human Races: A Positivist Anthropology (1885). Firmin sought to intervene and refute these racist ideas with exclusive logical explanations not grounded in any sense of appeals to religion. As Haitian, Firmin was thoroughly conversant with the importance of Haitian independence in 1804 and how this modern moment struck a severe blow at the edifice of White supremacy. This is one of the most important works by a scholar of African descent in the 19th century and in every way, he should be elevated as a pioneering Black scholar of Medu Netcher based on his discussions in this work on Kemet. I reference a major issue of The Journal of Pan-African Studies edited by Gershom Williams in Winter 2014 devoted to examining the importance of Antenor Firmin. In this issue, Theophile Obenga provides the first assessment of Firmin's work in the area of Egyptology and I also reference the article by Celucien Joseph which compares and situates Firmin's ideas within contemporary Afrocentric discourse. I conclude by allowing Firmin to speak for himself and directly quote various passages to ground his progressive ideas of not only a conception of anthropology not wedded to ideas of racial hierarchy and overreliance on physical measurement linked to intellectual capacity, but also ideas historically and culturally grounded to support and advance, like Delany, the "regeneration of the African race."

The link to the whole journal issue devoted to Antenor Firmin.

1. Antenor Firmin- The Equality of the Human Races- Introduction, Ch. 9 and 17
2. Celucien Joseph- Antenor Firmin, the Egyptian Question, and Afrocentric Imagination
3. Theophile Obenga- Homage to Antenor Firmin
4. Samuel Morton- Crania Aegyptiaca- Conclusions
5. Asa Hilliard- The Meaning of KMT History for Education 2025

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Influenced by many scholars, principally Arthur Schomburg, William Leo Hansberry, and Willis Nathan Huggins, Clarke carries this expansive Pan-African view of history throughout the 20th century and intentionally connects it to scholars both on the African continent and diaspora. Clarke is the one that formally introduces African American audiences to the work of Cheikh Anta Diop who would have a deep influence on intellectual work of the last quarter of the 20th century and beyond. Clarke's intellectual battle inside the African Studies Association (ASA) and ultimate creation of The African Heritage Studies Association (AHSA) highlights the very real political implications of the importance of cultivating the necessary skills to take ownership of the study of the African past. 

I use Ch. 7 and 8 in Greg Carr's dissertation entitled "African Philosophy of History in the Contemporary Era" to help to both frame and ground this discussion. I have also attached articles by John Henrik Clarke on the following themes referenced in this lesson: 1. The importance of Nile Valley Civilizations; 2. the influence of Arthur Schomburg on his conception of history; 3. his view of African Studies in the 20th century; 4. the battle within the African Studies Association (ASA) in 1969 which led to the creation of The African Heritage Studies Association (AHSA). 

Assignments

1.  John Henrik Clarke- The Influence of Arthur Schomburg on My Concept of Africana Studies
2.  John Henrik Clarke- African Studies in the United States
3.  John Henrik Clarke- Contribution of Nile Valley Civilization to World Civilization
4.  John Henrik Clarke- African Heritage Studies Association Conflict with ASA
5.  Greg Carr Dissertation- African Philosophy of History in the Contemporary Era

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The finding of the tomb of Tutankhamun was also important for African Americans and was widely covered in the Black Press. The Negro Society for Historical Research founded by Arthur Schomburg. John Edward Bruce, and William Ferris helped to subsidize Alain Locke, prominent philosopher and Harlem Renaissance scholar who taught at Howard University, to go to Egypt to explicitly view this tomb and to come back with a report in December of 1923. While in Egypt, Locke made many connections with the Coptic community, Egyptian authorities, and major entities like IFAO (Institute Francais d'archeologie Orientale) headed by George Foucart. Locke envisioned a partnership with IFAO to systematically train Howard students in comparative archaeology and this idea was supported, at least in print, by Foucart, but it never materialized. I attach the chapter on Locke's trip to Egypt from Jeffrey Stewart's biography entitled The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke. 

The major African American authority on African antiquity and indeed a pioneer of African Studies in the US was unquestionably William Leo Hansberry. In addition to reading books in his father's library, he was inspired by the specific work entitled The Negro (1915) by W.E.B. DuBois. In this work, DuBois provides a narrative, but expansive treatment of the scope of the African past that was liberally peppered with many sources at the end of the chapters for further study. DuBois situated the African past within a global sense of African identity and he constantly demonstrated a deep appreciation and engagement with a wide range of scholarship and research techniques in advancing his Pan-African intellectual and political goals and objectives. I have attached my article on comparing some of the ideas of DuBois with Cheikh Anta Diop. 

Hansberry left Atlanta University for Harvard University to be at a place that offered him greater access to all of the sources contained in DuBois' The Negro. While at Harvard, he was guided by the prominent physical anthropologist Edward Hooton and Hansberry conducted a thorough survey of the major archaeological and anthropological studies of the past 100 years in Egypt, Asia, and Southern Europe in addition to looking at studies of the past 25 years in Nubia, the Sudan, Rhodesia, and Nigeria. While at Harvard, Hansberry took Egyptian History from the prominent Egyptologist George Reisner. Hansberry directly and thoroughly confronted Reisner in the classroom regarding his racial views of Nile Valley populations. Hansberry was recruited to come to Howard University by Jesse Moorland, member of the Board of Trustees and avid collector of Africana books. Hansberry started his tenure at Howard during the 1922-23 academic year and he created the African Civilization Section inside the History department and trained thousands of students over the span of his career at an extremely high level. Hansberry was also very active in the community spreading this knowledge in and through a wide array of Black institutions. I have attached the wonderful dissertation on Hansberry written by Kwame Alford. For this lesson, I heavily draw on information contained within the first 3 chapters. 

Assignments

1. Jeffrey Stewart- Egypt Bound in The New Negro- The Life of Alain Locke
2. Kwame Alford- William Leo Hansberry
3. W.E.B. DuBois and Cheikh Anta Diop on the Origins and Race of the Ancient Egyptians

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I begin this lesson with a reference to an important textbook written by the pioneering American Egyptologist James Henry Breasted entitled Ancient Times, A History of the Early World (1916, 1935). In the article by Lindsay Ambridge, "Imperialism and Racial Geography in James Henry Breasted's Ancient Times..." Breasted is cited as saying that this school textbook was reaching over 100,000 youth in the early 1920's indicative of its broad and deep impact. In terms of "racial geography," Breasted situated Kemet within a broad region that he called "the Great White Race" which also encompassed parts of Europe and Western Asia. Breasted linked the Kemetic past to the ideological and political project of modern Euro-American imperialism. 

I attach a piece by William Leo Hansberry on "Ancient Designations for Ethiopia" which provides some useful background information to understand the evolution and complexity of this concept over time. When examining texts, it is important to understand how concepts are being defined and applied in crafting historical narratives. African American scholars were well aware of the continuity and impact of the spreading of these types of racist ideas by Euro-American scholas and they self-consciously and consistently wrote and published their own textbooks from their respective internal frames of reference and perspectives explicitly targeted towards younger audiences. I spend most of this lesson highlighting the production of important textbooks by African Americans in the early 20th century that include significant sections on Nile Valley Civilizations. I begin with two African American women, Leila Amos Pendleton's A Narrative of the Negro (1912) and Drusilla Dunjee Houston's Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire (1926). I attach both of these books and I also include an important chapter 5 from a work by Stephen Hall entitled "A Faithful Account of the Race: African-American Historical Writing in Nineteenth-Century America (2009). This chapter has an important section entitled "Women of Mark: African American Women and Historical Writing" (pp.174-187). Peggy Brooks-Bertram has been instrumental in elevating the work of Houston and I have included her very insightful editorial overview of her life and work

I conclude this lesson with a discussion of the textbook produced by Willis N. Huggins and John G. Jackson entitled An Introduction to African Civilizations With Main Currents in Ethiopian History (1937). This textbook was widely read in the African American community and was updated by John G. Jackson in 1970. I have included this updated book in this lesson. I attach a whole issue of a newsletter entitled The Kemetic Voice produced by the Kemetic Institute under the leadership of Jacob Carruthers. This issue features an insightful, full-length examination of John Jackson's life and work by Larry Crowe supplemented by shorter narratives written by Jacob Carruthers and John Henrik Clarke respectively. Jackson's scholarship has been especially influential in the area of comparative religion. (i.e. Christianity Before Christ (1985); Man, God,and Civilization) For an intellectual comparison, I mention and attach the Master's Dissertation entitled "Pagan Survivals in Christianity" by Benjamin E. Mays, the great theologian, educator and leader who influenced and inspired Martin Luther King, Jr.

Assignments

1. John G. Jackson- Introduction to African Civilizations
2. Peggy Brooks-Bertram- Introduction in Drusillia Dunjee Houston- Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire
3. Larry Crowe- John G. Jackson in Kemetic Voice- January 1994
4. Stephen Hall- A Faithful Account of the Race- Ch. 5 African-American History in Post-Reconstruction America
5. Benjamin Mays- Pagan Survivals in Christianity
6. Leila Amos Pendleton A Narrative of the Negro
7. Drusilla Dunjee Houston- Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire 1926
8. Lindsay Ambridge- Imperialism and Racial Geography in James Henry Breasteds The Ancient Times
9. William Leo Hansberry- Ancient Designations for Ethiopia

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This lesson focuses on examining and highlighting the importance of George G.M. James work entitled Stolen Legacy (1954), but more importantly, utilizing the work as a springboard to introduce primary source information from Kemet that seek to both bring new light on some of the issues raised in his book and to transcend some of the conceptual and historical limitations of his research. I begin this lesson by referencing a New York Times article (2021) on the agenda of a modern Black Classics Professor at Princeton University named Dan-el Padilla Peralta. The article is entitled "He Wants to Save Classics From Whiteness. Can the Field Survive?" The article highlights Peralta's view that Classics has been central and instrumental to the invention of whiteness and he seeks to critically and politically interrogate and challenge his discipline to be more self-reflective in admitting to its role in advancing and perpetuating the ideology of white supremacy in the hopes of dismantling it. On political grounds, George G.M. James was engaged in a similar project with Stolen Legacy and he is very honest about this in his book. 

James advances the argument that the "Egyptian Mystery System" not only influenced Greek philosophy, but was actually the source of many major Greek philosophical ideas, especially in the works of Aristotle and Plato. I begin my discussion of some of these ideas in James work focusing on James' themes of Greek dependency on prior Kemetic scholarship and questions around authorial authenticity of some Greek philosophical texts, chiefly Aristotle. At the end of this lesson, I highlight some of Jacob Carruthers engagement with and critique of James work in a chapter called "Modern Thinking About African Thought" in his work Mdw nTr: Divine Speech (1995) (p.20)

Although James engages some Greek philosophical texts, a variety of secondary literature, select references to Kemetic texts (i.e. the Memphite Theology, the Book of the Dead), his primary intellectual and textual frame resides within Freemasonry. There are a number of important works referenced in Freemasonry, the most widely used being Charles Vail, Ancient Mysteries and Modern Masonry. In Egyptologist John Baines article entitled "Restricted Knowledge, Hierarchy, and Decorum: Modern Perceptions and Ancient Institutions," he highlights the dynamic of the field distancing itself from the frame of Freemasonry after Champollion's efforts of decipherment, yet he says that the questions around secrets, mysteries, and initiation in Kemet that are raised within the frame of Freemasonry are relevant and important to explore and indeed, have been explored by a select number of Egyptologists which I will focus more on in the next lesson. Because texts in the Greco-Roman period are the primary focus of these questions, there is an implicit assumption that there is no conversation to really have about Kemetic texts before this period that can be effectively brought to bear on these issues. 

I provide key vocabulary on the concepts of secrets, mysteries, and initiation in Kemet and I discuss an important base title (Master of Secrets) which has many extensions (i.e. Master of Secrets of X) throughout Kemetic history. I will discuss this title in greater detail in the next lesson, but in this lesson I reveal an important primary text of Amenemhat, a High Priest of Amun and Master of Secrets in Karnak during the reign of Amenhotep II. To my knowledge, this text and other texts like these that I am aware of have not been examined at all and incorporated into these types of discussions, at least in the English language. In this text in his tomb (Theban Tomb -TT 97), Amenemhat narratively captures the essence of his life story and his advancement within the priesthood and the initiation and secrecy that were an important part of this process. In other words, my argument is that this conversation is not just about making inferences about secrets, mysteries, and initiations in Kemet based exclusively upon the reading of various titles and spiritual texts (i.e. the Book of Coming Forth By Day, the Amduat) although even these kinds of intellectual explorations are rare and important in the field. In this lesson, I sought to bring the text of the High Priest of Amun Amenemhat to the forefront as a model to deconstruct what I consider as fundamental inaccurate assumptions in existing literature around these questions and to open the door to call for more wholistic explorations that really reflect the Kemetic worldview. 

Assignments

1. Amenemhat- High Priest of Amun and Master of Secrets in Karnak under Amenhotep II- Glyphs and Translation
2. Penelope Wilson- A Ptolemaic Lexicon- Entry for the Word Secret, Mystery

3. George G.M. James- Stolen Legacy
4. New York Times Article- Feb. 2, 2021 on Dan-el Pailla Peralta- He Wants to Save Classics from Whiteness. Can the Field Survive
5. Jacob Carruthers- Modern African Thinking About African Thought
6. John Baines- Restricted Knowledge, Hierarchy, and Decorum

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There are key texts in late antiquity used to discuss secrets, mysteries and initiation in Kemet, most notable Plutarch's On Isis and Osiris (late 1st c. AD) and Apuleius Metamorphoses, Book 11 (late 2nd c. AD). I highlight Plutarch's quest to understand the deeper meaning behind the myths of Isis and Osiris and the mysteries and this approach influences orientations like Freemasonry which is the dominant frame of James' work, relying heavily on Charles Vail, Ancient Mysteries and Modern Masonry. Apuleius Metamorphoses is usually singled out for its unique and personal insight into an initiation into the Mysteries of Isis and then Osiris. Both texts really speak to the idea of mysteries and initiation in Kemet as a cosmic journey to higher divine consciousness, but the key question is can we see this in Kemetic texts and the answer is yes. In addition to the Memphite Theology, James also alludes to the Book of the Dead as a major source of evidence and I attempt to provide deeper and more nuanced support for this line of inquiry in referencing some modern Egyptological literature, most notably Jan Assmann's Death and Initiation in the Funerary Religion of Ancient Egypt. 

In secrets, mysteries, and initiation in Kemet, Anubis is of central importance because he embodies all of the skills and knowledge needed to mediate the crossroads of transitions to different realms and higher consciousness. It's not an accident that he is often shown in Black and Gold color, clearly implying the movement from darkness to light not just in the earth, the sky, and the underworld (i.e. the duat), but also within ourselves. I discuss the work of Terence DuQuesne and Kjell Rydstrom on Anubis and the title Master of Secrets and I also provide you with a summary of my published intellectual contribution on these matters.

There is a lot to say on this topic and hopefully these two lessons have provided sufficient evidence that intellectual explorations of Kemetic data should not be so easily dismissed and diminished because the information is there. 

Assignments

1. Jan Assmann- Death and Initiation in the Funerary Religion of Ancient Egypt

2. Kjell Rydstrom- In Charge of Secrets- the 3000 Year Evolution of a Title

3. Terence DuQuesne- Anubis Master of Secrets and the Egyptian Conception of Mysteries

4. Mario Beatty- Expanding the Meaning of the Word Sesheta

5. Mario Beatty- Master of Secrets Article

6. Theophile Obenga- African Philosophy During the Period of the Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt and Black Africa

7. Apuleius- Metamorphoses- Book 11- On Isis Initiation

8. Charles Vail- Ancient Mysteries and Modern Masonry

9. Plutarch- On Isis and Osiris

10. James Henry Breasted- The Philosophy of a Memphite Priest

11. William Leo Hansberry- Review of George G.M. James Stolen Legacy

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I begin this lesson on Yosef ben-Jochannan with a musical selection by Gary Bartz NTU Troop entitled "Celestial Blues," a very appropriate song to capture the spirit of Black Power in the Harlem environment and beyond at the time that Dr. Ben is emerging as a prolific and national scholar in the early 1970's. I include a recent interview with Gary Bartz on his new musical release "Damage Control," a compilation of his cover of songs that inspire him and help him spiritually navigate a toxic U.S. socio-political environment for the Black community. 

Through his many books, his pioneering Kemet Study Tours since 1957, and his prolific and powerful lectures nationally and internationally, Dr. Ben was revered by the Black community and on June 14, 2019, the corner of 125th Street and Adamy Clayton Powell Boulevard was renamed Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan Way in honor of his life and work. Born in northern Ethiopia among the Beta Israel Jewish community, Dr. Ben was especially inspired by his father to deeply study the African past and particularly his African heritage in the Nile Valley. He also gives a great deal of credit to Marcus Garvey and George G.M. James for inspiring him. This lifelong search eventually led him to question the origins of important spiritual ideas and practices in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and looking to Nile Valley Civilizations to provide a foundational historical and cultural orientation for these discussions. I will elaborate more on this theme in the next lesson.

In this lesson, I highlight six key tenets of Dr. Ben's Historical Analysis in his own words through a major interview with him for the 1974 Black History Month Issue of Black World Magazine (formerly Negro Digest) conducted by Carole Parks, the Associate Editor. I enclose the first chapter from Jonathan Fenderson's book Building the Black Arts Movement: Hoyt Fuller and the Cultural Politics of the 1960's to provide you with a more in-depth background of her importance and the politics at play in the transition of the magazine from Negro Digest to the Black World (see pp. 43-53). I also discuss the importance of Dr. Ben's educational analysis through referencing his work Cultural Genocide in the Black and African Studies Curriculum. I close the lesson by highlighting Dr. Ben's constant praise of the African/Black Woman in his works, specifically referencing Black Man of the Nile and his Family (p. XXXVI). I have attached both of these books to this lesson.

Assignments
1. Yosef ben-Jochannan- Black Man of the Nile and His Family
2. Jonathan Fenderson- Building the Black Arts Movement- Hoyt Fuller and the Cultural Politics of the 1960s- Ch. 1
3. Yossef Ben-Jochannan- Cultural Genocide and the Black and African Studies Curriculum
4. Carole Parks Interview with Yosef ben-Jochannan- Black World February 1974
5. Downbeat November 2025- Chillin with Gary Bartz

This lesson continues our discussion on the work of Yosef ben-Jochannan by specifically focusing on his major book on African Origins of Major "Western Religions." I devote most of the session to explaining and contextualizing the first chapter in the book entitled "Shango: A Source of African Religions." Dr. Ben's approach involves both deconstruction and reconstruction. He attempts to deconstruct the negative framing of important features of African spiritual systems (i.e. "idol" worship, libations, sacrifice, burning incense, trance possession, etc.) by demonstrating similarities with features found within the Judeo-Christian religious tradition. In reconstructing the importance of African spirituality, he highlights the cosmologies of various African cultures (i.e. Yoruba, Igbo, Bantu, Kikuyu, Dogon) and how these ideas transmit to the African diaspora in forms such as Vodun (Haiti), Santeria (Cuba), and Brazil (Candomble). He also, of course, examines the African influence on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam through the lens of major personalities in each faith: St. Augustine (Christianity), Moses (Judaism), and Bilal (Islam). 

Because he was born and raised in a Jewish community in Ethiopia, his scholarly insights into Judaism as it relates to Kemet historically and spiritually are deeply personal and indeed, in this work we see many critical and innovative insights in this area. I have attached work by Donald Redford (Egypt, Canaan, and Israel), Shirly Ben-Dor Evian (The Past and Future of "Biblical Egyptology"), and Thomas Romer ("The Role of Egypt in the Formation of the Hebrew Bible) referenced by me in this lesson to help contextualize some of Dr. Ben's ideas.  

In matters of religion, Dr. Ben cajoles us to transcend "religious bigotry" in order to have more mature conversations around spirituality that do not begin with the assumption of African inferiority. 

Assignments
1. Donald Redford - Egypt, Canaan, and Israel- Ch. 10
2. Thomas Romer - The Role of Egypt in the Formation of the Hebrew Bible
3. Shirley Ben-Dor Evian - The Past and Future of Biblical Egyptology
4. The Instruction of Amenemope

I begin this lesson with giving honor to Carter G. Woodson at the start of Black History Month 2026, marking the 100th anniversary of the celebration. I highlight two perpetual pillars of misinformation that need to be continually challenged and corrected in discussing the purpose of the creation of Negro History Week. The first is the false notion that somehow the celebration was relegated to the shortest month of the year and that one week or even one month is/was a very limited idea for the study of Black history. In reality, Woodson saw Negro History week as just the culmination of the whole year of deep study and an opportunity to reflect and highlight findings from that study. The second is the false notion that Woodson created the week to celebrate the "Negro" in American history. In reality, Woodson aimed at studying "the Negro in History," not the Negro in American History meaning that he emphasized both the historical and global dimensions of the study that, at once, transcended, yet included, the American experience. This was the same intellectual position articulated by Arthur Schomburg, W.E.B. DuBois, John Edward Bruce, John Henrik Clarke, and many others. I provide you with the curriculum lesson for the School District of Philadelphia authored and compiled by Greg Carr to provide an accurate entry point to evaluating Woodson's contribution. 

After discussing Woodson, I shift to discussing an important historical issue that unites the intellectual interests of Yosef ben-Jochannan and Charles Finch: the Kemetic influence on Christianity through discussing the goddess Isis as the forerunner and prototype for the Virgin Mary. I use ben-Jochannan's work entitled The Need for a Black Bible to contextualize his ideas. For Finch, I primarily use a chapter in his book on the Echoes of the Old Darkland entitled "The Great Mother and the Origin of Human Culture." Both were significantly influenced by scholars like Gerald Massey who explored this topic by presenting exhaustive parallels utilizing primarily the Book of Coming Forth By Day and selected Gnostic texts. 

Although Massey's work is virtually invisible in the field of Egyptology, I bring to your attention a very important modern work on this issue by E.R. Witt entitled Isis in the Ancient World. Although Witt covered much more terrain than Massey respecting history, archaeology, and literary texts, he really reaches the same conclusion which is that the essence and development of the Virgin Mary in Christian theology and practice can not be coherently understood without a deep, engaged knowledge of and reference to the power of Isis as her worship spread across the Mediterranean. Witt's work provides many avenues for further research for those interested in this topic and I actually think it's the most important work that we have on this topic written in English. I provide you with 3 chapters from Witt's work utilized and referenced for this session. For further context, I provide the opening chapter from Jill Kamil's work on Christianity in the Land of Pharoahs entitled "Worship of the Holy Virgin and the Holy Family in Egypt" which provides a concrete sense of how early Christians were really shadowing, mirroring, and continuing many ancient African rituals under a new name. 

And lastly, I provide you with a chapter by Miguel John Versluys entitled "Understanding Egypt in Egypt and Beyond" in Laurent Bricault and Miguel John Versluys, Isis on the Nile: Egyptian Gods in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt. Although this piece does not directly deal with the Kemetic influence on Christianity, I reference and provide this piece for you to recognize the expansive worship of Isis in the Greco-Roman world which obviously nourished many ideas and ritual practices from an emergent Christianity. 

Assignments

1. AAMod Lesson3 Carter_G_Woodson
2. Adam Nicolson - Gods Secretaries- The Making of the King James Bible
3. Charles Finch - The Kamitic Genesis of Christianity
4. Charles Finch - The Great Mother and the Origin of Human Culture
5. Yosef ben-Jochannan - The Need for a Black Bible- Introduction and Conclusion
6. R.E. Witt - Healing the Sick in Isis in the Ancient World
7. Jill Kamil - Worship of the Holy Virgin and the Holy Family in Egypt in Christianity in the Land of the Pharoahs
8. R.E. Witt - Isis in the Ancient World
9. Miguel John Versluys - Understanding Egypt in Egypt and Beyond in Isis on the Nile- Egyptian Gods in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt

During the funeral service for John Edward Bruce, Arthur Schomburg praised his fundamental role in founding The Negro Society for Historical Research (1911) that he said “was the first to force the public to recognize the black man’s part in developing Ethiopian and Egyptian civilization and to teach black men that they had a history of which they could well be proud.” As an editor of Garvey's The Negro World newspaper, Bruce made sure that Ethiopian and Egyptian civilization would be highlighted continuously. In the very first full issue of The Negro World, Bruce focused on the importance of the work of Count Volney, Ruins of Empires (1791) in unapologetically asserting the Africanity of Nile Valley Civilizations which was very rare for a white writer at that time. Bruce elevates the specific English translation of this work from the French by the progressive publisher Peter Eckler who claims to have remedied the deficiencies of prior English translations that intentionally extracted the passages in Volney's work that had a positive view of the important influence of African people in antiquity. The masthead of the Negro World was the Sphinx, a powerful visual ancient African image and Volney himself used this image to remark that "the Ancient Egyptians were true Negroes of the species of all the indigenous of Africa."

On the African continent among French-speaking Africans, Cheikh Anta Diop also, like Bruce, highlighted the importance of Volney in standing against the tide of the Western racist ideology that viewed African people as empty of history and contributions to the progress of humanity in the arts and sciences. I provide you with Cheikh Anta Diop's important chapter in The African Origin of Civilization entitled "Modern Falsification of History" which begins with a reference to Volney. I also provide you with a chapter in Theophile Obenga's biography of Cheikh Anta Diop entitled "Volney and the Sphinx." 

What is probably lesser known about Volney is that his earlier work Journey in Syria and Egypt (1787) where he meticulously described the geographical terrain, customs, and monuments of Egypt was heavily used by Napoleon Bonaparte in his invasion of Egypt which ultimately sets the stage for the ultimate development of modern Egyptology with the decipherment efforts of Jean Francois-Champollion. I provide a chapter from Paul Strathern's book on Napoleon in Egypt and also an excerpt from James Curl's Egyptomania to more closely examine Volney within the context of French imperialism. 

Assignments

1. James Curl- Napoleon Invasion of Egypt in his Egyptomania
2. Theophile Obenga - Volney and the Sphinx in his Cheikh Anta Diop - Volney and the Sphinx
3. Count Volney - The Ruins of Empires - Ch. 4 - The Exposition and Ch. 21 - Problem of Religious Contradictions
4. Paul Strathern - The Origins of the Egyptian Campaign in his Napoleon in Egypt
5. Cheikh Anta Diop - Modern Falsification of History in The African Origin of Civilization
6. Christiane Zivie-Coche- Sphinx - The History of a Monument - Ch. 1
7. William Seraile - Bruce Grit

This lesson was inspired by the recent release of Haile Gerima's documentary film entitled Black Lions, Roman Wolves on the topic of Ethiopian and Pan-African resistance to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 (Part II: Invasion). Ethiopia and Egypt have largely served as twin pillars in anchoring discussions of the ancient African past, present, and future. The victory of Ethiopia against the Italian aggressors in the 1896 Battle of Adwa led by Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taytu was a victory not only for Ethiopia, but for the African World against European imperialism and colonization. I use and highlight the work by Africana Studies scholar Wosene Yefru entitled The Nile Valley Civilization: A Historiographical Commentary on Ancient Africa (2016) to contextualize the meaning of Adwa within the long view of Ethiopian history. Yefru is from Ethiopia, he received his PhD in African Studies at Howard University working closely under Joseph Harris in the History department and he went on to serve as a faculty member in the Africana Studies Department at Tennessee State University beginning in 1995. While there, he pioneered a dynamic Summer Studies Research Program to Kemet (p.210-211) and this book reflects his whole personal life and academic career in thinking deeply about Nile Valley Civilization past and present. 

This book starts off with him talking about family oral histories passed down from his father who knew Menelik II and Empress Taytu intimately, lived in the Royal residence and served faithfully and competently at the Royal Court. This type of personal account really underscores the importance of conducting family histories and writing important events down for future generations. Yefru's father understood the importance of passing on his historical and cultural memory to his children although Yefru admits that he did not fully understand the magnitude of what was being shared by his father until adulthood. I provide you with both the Preface and Epilogue which is a very extensive personal and professional look at Menelik, Adwa, and Haile Selassie among many other historical and contemporary issues although I only focused on a select number of pages in the lesson (p. xvi, xxiii, xxiv, xxv, 210-211, 220-234, 301, 305-308, 316, 328, 332).

Yefru highlights a passage on p.316 that said that Menelik II appeared with a replica of the Tabot (i.e. Ark of the Covenant) before the battle and victory against the Italians on March 1st, emphasizing the Divine guidance. Yefru explores the origin and meaning of the Ethiopian Ark of the Covenant and based upon his studies, he concluded that the Ark's origins lay in Kemet, asserting that "both conceptually and philologically, the ark was entirely a Kemetic creation to commemorate Osiris's casket." This is the same position taken by Scott Noegel in his important article entitled "The Egyptian Origin of the Ark of the Covenant" which I have introduced in a previous lesson, but I provide some additional context for this lesson. 

Gerima's film introduces the importance of Ethiopia's fight against the Italians in the African Diaspora, specifically in the US. I emphasize the important role of the Garvey movement in heightening this historical and political consciousness. I use select articles in The African Times and Orient Review (ATOR) edited by Duse Mohamed Ali (1866-1945) to highlight Marcus Garvey to provide a small glimpse of what he was writing and reading before coming to US. I cite the end of Garvey's article in the October 1913 issue on Jamaica prophesying that the Africans in the West Indies "will be the instruments of uniting a scattered race...." (p.158-160) In the same issue, a writer named Sothis (i.e. Sirius) in a column entitled "An Outlook of the World: From the African Point of View" (p.154-155) said "let every Ethiopian wherever he may be, realise that he has his part to play, as only he can, in working out the destiny of the great race to which he belongs...." From the ATOR, Garvey learned a lot about African Americans and I am sure that he was extremely impressed with the advances made in all industries by African Americans in such a short period of time coming out of slavery. I provide a reprint in the ATOR May 1913 issue of a column by Monroe Nathan Work, prominent scholar and founder of the Department of Records and Research at Tuskegee Institute in 1908. This column was entitled "The Negro's Economic Progress" (p.336) and really shows the ultimate genius of Garvey in helping African Americans to see and exercise their own collective power within a global context all under the banner of fighting for Ethiopia, i.e. a deep sense of the African past applied to building the future. 

Assignments
1. Wosene Yefru- The Nile Valley Civilization- Preface- Ch.6- Kemetic Root of Ancient Ethiopian Historiography- and Epilogue
2. Scott Noegel- The Egyptian Origin of the Ark of the Covenant
3. Saheed Adejumobi- Northeast Africa
4. African Times and Orient Review- Monroe Work on Economic Progress
5. Mustafa Abdelwahid- Duse Mohamed Ali
6. African Times and Orient Review- Marcus Garvey and Ethiopia message