Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985)
A scholarly challenge to conventional accounts of classical civilization, arguing for Afroasiatic influence in the formation of Greek culture.
Work Information
A starting point for a sustained challenge to classical orthodoxy.
Confirmed as the 1987 Rutgers University Press first volume. I used the original edition identifier rather than a later reissue.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Rutgers Univ Pr
- Published
- 1987-12-01
- Pages
- 608 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 15.24 x 4.32 x 22.86 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780813512778
- ISBN-10
- 0813512778
- Price
- 4000 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/History/Europe/Greece
Winner of the American Book Award, 1990. Could Greek philosophy be rooted in Egyptian thought? Is it possible that the Pythagorean theory was conceived on the shores of the Nile and the Euphrates rather than in ancient Greece? Could it be that Western civilization was born on the so-called Dark Continent? For almost two centuries, Western scholars have given little credence to the possibility of such scenarios. In Black Athena, an audacious three-volume series that strikes at the heart of today's most heated culture wars, Martin Bernal challenges Eurocentric attitudes by calling into question two of the longest-established explanations for the origins of classical civilization. The Aryan Model, which is current today, claims that Greek culture arose as the result of the conquest from the north by Indo-European speakers, or "Aryans," of the native "pre-Hellenes." The Ancient Model, which was maintained in Classical Greece, held that the native population of Greece had initially been civilized by Egyptian and Phoenician colonists and that additional Near Eastern culture had been introduced to Greece by Greeks studying in Egypt and Southwest Asia. Moving beyond these prevailing models, Bernal proposes a Revised Ancient Model, which suggests that classical civilization in fact had deep roots in Afroasiatic cultures. This long-awaited third and final volume of the series is concerned with the linguistic evidence that contradicts the Aryan Model of ancient Greece. Bernal shows how nearly 40 percent of the Greek vocabulary has been plausibly derived from two Afroasiatic languages-Ancient Egyptian and West Semitic. He also reveals how these derivations are not limited to matters of trade, but extended to the sophisticated language of politics, religion, and philosophy. This evidence, according to Bernal, confirms the fact that in Greece an Indo-European people was culturally dominated by speakers of Ancient Egyptian and West Semitic. Provocative, passionate, and colossal in scope, this volume caps a thoughtful rewriting of history that has been stirring academic and political controversy since the publication of the first volume. "A work which has much to offer the lay reader, and its multi-disciplinary sweep is refreshing: it is an important contribution to his to historiography and the sociology of knowledge, written with elegance, wit, and self-awareness... a thrilling journey... his account is as gripping a tale of scholarly detection and discovery as one could hope to find." -- Margaret Drabble, The Observer "An astonishing work, breathtaking bold in conception and passionately written... salutary, exciting, and in its historiographical aspects, convincing." -- G. W. Bowersock, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton "The next far in book.... A formidable work of intellectual history." -- Christian Science Monitor
Martin Gardiner Bernal (1937 - 2013) was Professor of Government and Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University. The first two volumes of Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (" I: The Fabrication of Ancient Greece, 1785-1985 "; and " II: The Archaeological and Documentary Evidence ") have been translated into German, Italian, Spanish, French, Swedish, Greek and Japanese. Black Athena won the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation in 1990. Martin Gardiner Bernal (1937 - 2013) was Professor of Government and Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University. The first two volumes of Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (" I: The Fabrication of Ancient Greece, 1785-1985 "; and " II: The Archaeological and Documentary Evidence ") have been translated into German, Italian, Spanish, French, Swedish, Greek and Japanese. Black Athena won the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation in 1990.
Reviews
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An In-Depth Read
Another writer recommended "Black Athena," by Martin Bernal. I found it both insightful and informative. However, I was unfamiliar with much of the material in the book. I knew Egypt was known as Kemet: Land of the Blacks. My understanding of the Phoenicians was that they had darker skin. I realized that this was Volume 1 of a series, so I intend to read the remaining volumes. According to the book, racism played an important role in Black African history. African and American history were whitewashed. Every group should be credited. The truth would eventually emerge. History would be written. Nothing could be manipulated in time. Humanity has been enriched by all races. How one group of people could think they were more intelligent than another was incomprehensible to me. Sunrise and sunset were not affected by the color of people's skin. People's skin colors did not affect the seasons. As time passed, human consciousness evolved. Racism and hatred must be eliminated. "At this point, I hope the reader who is essentially interested in the world today will gain some reward for her or his dedicated work with the last nine chapters (Bernal, 1987) I hope too that she or he will have been convinced of the contemporary relevance of history and historiography."
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Time to catch up with Black Athena
All about Academia, all about 'western culture', all about scholarship. And racism.
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Intellectually Honest!
This book is very well written and intellectually honest. Bernal draws on many sources linguistic, historical, classical, and anthropological. The student who is inquisitve about the many references to Africa (i.e. Ethiopia and Egypt) will not be suprised at the connection that Bernal makes in Black Athena. My only advice to the student of history, who might be seriously interested and in support of Bernal's work, is to note that much of the resistance to Bernal's work does not represent a lack of truth or evidence on Bernal's part but rather it represents a contradiction to a "recent" reconstruction of history that I would argue that many Greeks would not understand themselves. In particular, Bernal takes the accounts of many of the classical Greek and Roman writers, who were eyewitnesses to the old Africa, its influence, and culture, more serious than do recent historians who were not even present. This is the irony of the entire debate. I love this book and I recommend it to any intellectually honest and non-racist anywhere.
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Honesty captivates for life
Anyone can lie any time and impress some people but not for long. Black Athena has healed a thousand ailments in my soul. All of a sudden, I find scholé pleasurable again.
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Believe the people themselves...
Even though Martin Bernal is not a specialist in the field, he points out obvious class in the Aryan model. The ancient model, written by the people themselves, with illustrations made by the people themselves, obviously should count for evidence of the nature of these societies. This obviously should not be the first book you read in this subject however. Before you even bother with this book, familiarize yourself with the artifacts, go to the museum, get a cursory knowledge of ancient Egypt, The origins of Hellenistic culture, and who the Phoenicians actually were. If you haven't read Herodotus, Diodoris Sicilus, Homer, The pyramid texts, the people themselves tell you who they were. The Phoenicians were a seafaring people who mixed with everyone, look at the artifacts of Carthage. If you still want to believe these cultures didn't intermingle, it's your opinion. The only reason the other reviews will say this book is mostly opinion is his Judao-Christian interminglings and the fact that the Arysn model is so widely accepted in contemporary society. However, read books from the turn of the 19th century, it was well known who these people were.