There are many questions about the origin of man, the human race has yet to find conclusive answers for.  We know that ancient civilizations existed and flourished before some  mysteriously ceased to exist.  Relics, structures and writings have survived giving us clues about their lives. Of all of the ancient civilizations, the most inspiring and sought after remains Ancient Egypt.  The pyramids and Sphinx are marvels that have puzzled engineers for thousands of years.  Without the benefit of blueprints, we can only offer guesses as to how and why the structures were created.  But from the temples, mummies and monuments that have survived, it is evidently clear that ingenuity was one of its greatest traits.  Africa has been cited as the cradle of civilization, serving as the home to the oldest tribes known to man. The Christian Bible and Hollywood have done their part in bringing the stories to life, and in the process put Ancient Egypt on center stage.  The Pharaoh Ramses II in The Ten Commandments, beautifully played by the great Yul Brynner, has become a commonly accepted image of the real life Ramses II.  But how accurate was Brynner to his real life counterpart?  And what did the Ancient Egyptians look like?  It is tempting to think of them based on those we see in Egypt today.  But we should know that history often includes many surprising facts, some which we may have never guessed without revisiting the past.   Cheikh Anta Diop (1923-1986), of Diourbel, Senegal, was a noted historian and anthropologist, who studied the origin of the human race and in his eye-opening account, he seeks to find the truth about the role of Black Africans in the origin of civilization.

Any reader considering this book must be able to clear his/her mind of images today of the continent of Africa.  Not only are the images typically disheartening, but they have no resemblance to the time period of which Diop is speaking.  Here we go back in time thousands of years when Egypt was the most powerful nation of earth and home to  knowledge sought by truth seekers from afar.  Among these was Herodotus, credited as the first historian of the modern world.  The famed scholar recorded a journal of his travels and with regards to the Egyptians, made note of their negro appearance.  But Diop does not stop there and revisits the words of other scholars who visited the ancient kingdom and saw with their own eyes, the Egyptians and Ethiopians described by many of them as Negroes.

Some may be asking what is the point of proving that the Egyptians were negro?  That is a very good question and I do believe the book speaks for itself.  But I will say that the reason is that for thousands of years, the negro has been viewed as substandard and Africa has historically been viewed as a land of savages that needed “culture”.   Those who study history will readily know how imperialism wreaked havoc across the continent as tribes were decimated while Christianity and Islam fought for converts.  The late Harry S.  Truman once said “the only new thing in this world is the history you do not yet know”.  True words indeed.  What is key to keep mind while reading this book is that history has for too long, been written to make those of color look inferior.  But truth typically reveals much different pictures.  For those readers who are African or Black American, you may find this book hits close to home.  Personally, it confirmed many things I learned in high school regarding African culture.  But sadly, across most history textbooks, you will be hard pressed to find these facts.   Every Easter, The Ten Commandments  is played on television. The film is a cinematic masterpiece regardless of what one believes about Christ, and the performances by Charlton Heston (1923-2008) and Yul Brynner (1920-1985) made the film legendary.  But the film ignores the truth about the Ancient Egyptians and the role of Africans in the origin of civilization.  The revelations in the book in no way seek to negate the contributions to society of Ancient Greece, Germany, the Sumerians or Mesopotamia.  But the crux is that nearly all of these societies took their cues from the Egyptians who were much different from what many of us have believed for thousands of years as history was redacted or re-written.

The book is not an attempt to disparage other nations.  Diop seeks only to highlight the truth which has been hiding in plain sight.  And the artifacts, hieroglyphics and statues he uses in the book give credence to his words.  Without question, he proves that there was more to the Ancient Egyptians than many have been willing to acknowledge.   It might be worthwhile to brush up on world history, in particular the periods before Christ to keep up with Diop.  His scholar background resulted in the book being on the heavy side with dates and names.  A chart might be necessary for those readers who intend to continue down this path of research.  Nevertheless, any reader can follow along and understand the concept of the book.  Admittedly,  there are many things about Ancient Egypt that we may never answer and Diop does not profess to have all of them.   How and why the pyramids were built is still a mystery.  We may never known how Egyptian architects made exact measurements without the aid of modern technology.   Notably, in our lives today, we have many things that come from them that have been retained over time.   In short, we owe our lives to them for they are our ancestors along with the Aztecs, Mayans and other ancient civilizations that possessed incredible knowledge and customs which still amaze us today.

ISBN-10: 1556520727
ISBN-13: 978-1556520723