Ancient Africa

Preface on Writing

"Baines (John Baines, an Egyptologist at Oxford University), however, posits a third possibility: that the two systems developed independently at about the same time. And if Harappa is included, then the evidence suggests that three separate systems with their own evolutionary paths began to mature nearly simultaneously (c 3400 BCE). That would appear a stunning coincidence, but some researchers say contact with other groups, combined with an indigenous need to convey more complex information, might have been the not-so-coincidental common ingredients that made the Near East and the Indus advance so quickly."

Lawler, Andrew. "Writing Gets A Rewrite." Science 292.5526 (2001): 2418. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Aug. 2012.

See also: Evolutionary Love by Peirce (simultaneous developments of the human mind are a common feature in the evolution of consciousness)

Philosophy in Ancient Africa
In ancient Egypt the scribes of the House of Life carried forward the nation's knowledge by means of their chief craft: writing. The House of Life was where scribes learned how to unlock the secrets that were stored in the House of Books, and how to register the secrets that they discovered. It was the national classroom attached to the national archive.--gm

Welcome to the House of Life

'Every pure-priest who enters god's words, who is skilled in writing, and enlightened in the House of Life, who finds the [inscriptions?] of the gods, who enters the documents of the House of Books, who interprets the mysteries of the Souls of Ra (= sacred books), who is skilled in the work of the ancestors, who opens the heart to what is on the wall, who carves chapels and interprets mysteries when coming to Rosetau (= the cemetery), everyone who enters the sacred land' 43

African Philosophy in the Ancient World (Moses, started Jan. 2008)

Based on Diop, Hilliard, Karenga, Obenga, and Van Sertima

BASIC TIMELINE

The Golden Ages of Kemet
 * 3,100 First Dynasty (already highly developed culture of Nubian / Ethiopian roots)
 * King Narmer (Menes) establishes Memphis by rerouting the Nile (Chandler 135 JAC)

2,700 – 2,160 bce First Golden Age “Old Kingdom”
 * Third Dynasty: Zoser's “Step Pyramid” built by Imhotep / First Stone Structure / Elephantine Temple referenced in Unis text below
 * Fourth Dynasty: Pyramids of Giza (Khufu's Great Pyramid)
 * Fifth Dynasty: Heliopolitan – Re – Sun;
 * Palermo Stone King List (2400 BCE)
 * Vizier Ptah-hotep
 * Precepts at Fordham Ancient History Sourcebook;
 * Precepts arranged by topic following Lichtheim;
 * Transliteration after Devaud 1916 with red section headings as found in Papyrus Prisse
 * With preface by by Wim van den Dungen;
 * Translated by Battiscombe G. Gunn, also includes Instructions of Kagemi, Amenemope Google Book or Scribd
 * Source Text: Prisse Papyrus / View Original at Gallica
 * also Karenga on Maat (JAC 1989) and (Maat 2004)
 * Asante's reflections on Maat and Human Communication
 * Background on Ptah and the Memphite Theology at kheper.net and sofiatopia.org / Shabaka Text
 * Close reading of Shabaka Text at sofiatopia.org
 * Pyramid Texts of King Unas, last king of the 5th dynasty (See Obenga JAC)
 * Pyramid Texts Online (2340 BCE) keyword: Maat
 * Presented by van den Dungen sofiatopia
 * Allen - 2005 translation at Google Books and "Reading a Pyramid" at scribd
 * "the corpus of Unis's texts was regarded as the most canonical by the Egyptians themselves" (Allen 2005 15)
 * Osirian Revolution of Vith Dynasty begins in Memphis, sweeps across the kingdom (Diop 141 CB)
 * Evidence of religious reform in the changed scope of "ba" or personal soul that voyages to redemption see notes of Liotta Noche-Dowdy
 * First Intermediate Period
 * 2,040 – 1,784 bce Second Golden Age “Middle Kingdom”
 * 11th & 12th Kingdoms: Thebes - Karnak
 * Restoration of the Temple of Osiris at Abydos with public stairway (see photos, and comparison of "flower of life" theme, and Nassim Haramein's interpretation)
 * Khun-Anup the Eloquent Peasant / Fordham Version
 * see Chike Jeffers on Eloquent Peasant as Political Philosophy Classic.
 * Sen Worset: King Cecrops, founder of Athens, builder of “white chapel” at Karnak, earliest surviving *:remnant of the great university at Ipet Isut / Karnak (Hilliard 219 JAC)

Hyksos Invasion Second Intermediate Period
 * 1,554 – 1,070 bce Grand Golden Age “New Kingdom”


 * 18th & 19th Dynasties
 * Hatshepsut and Moses?
 * Pi-Ramses capital built at eastern delta (Moses?)
 * Negative Confessions of Ani (Ch. 125)
 * Amen-hotep, son of Hapu: great builder of Ipet Isut (Karnak Temple) University (Hilliard)
 * Akh – en – aten: Aten Temple (Moses?)
 * Amenemope Amen-em-opet / Humanistic Texts Edition / (Compare to Proverbs Here / or Here (search Amen)) / See James Roger Black's Dissertation on the Instructions of Amenemope (2002:pdf format)
 * House of Books / House of Life

TOPICS


 * Obenga (291 JAC)
 * Nun
 * Kheper
 * [Ptah (heart – word) / Ka]
 * Atum (self-created creator) / Ra (sun – light) / Today
 * Osiris / Horus
 * Diop (311 CB)
 * Shu (humidity) & Tefnut (air)
 * Geb (earth) & Nut (fire, light)
 * Osiris / Isis
 * Seth / Nephthys
 * (Four elements / Good & Evil)
 * Obenga (304 JAC)
 * Existence
 * Obenga (310 JAC)
 * Word (Ptah)
 * Karenga (JAC)
 * Maat

SOURCES


 * Diop, Cheikh Anta. Civilization or Barbarism (Brooklyn: Lawrence Hill, 1991.
 * Van Sertima, Ivan. Egypt Revisisted.  Journal of African Civilizations 10 (Summer 1989) (New *:Brunswick: Transaction, 1993).  Find Karenga, Hilliard, and Obenga here.
 * Pritchard, James B. The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures (Princeton, 1958).
 * and kindly do not forget, Pritchard taught King -- gm

SEE ALSO

Four Egyptian Theologies