Black Athena the Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization: The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985

by Martin Bernal

Book Overview

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,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813512778
• ISBN13: 9780813512778
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Length: 575 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Biased reviews

It is strange that so many so-called educated Europeans cannot look at the evidence presented in this book objectively. Even now when western science has proven that civilization started in Africa. No matter how far back in Greece or Rome that people search, they can find nothing older that civilization in Africa. You can't go back millions of years in Greek history and find skeletal remains, but you can in Africa. Even the early Greeks themselves told you that they got their knowledge from Egypt, which by the way was an African civilization. And by the way to prove that the Egyptions were black Africans until after many invasions people need to read the works of Cheihk Anta Diop who proved with the melanin dosage test that the Egyptian mummies were indeed black Africans. Go to your museums in Germany, France and England and you will see the artifacts that prove that the Egyptians were black. Gerald Massey, Albert Churchward and many other European scholars have also stated that civiliztion, writing, religion and the sciences started in Africa. Do your research and understand that history as it is taught today is wrong.

Great and provocative history

There are a lot of uninformed reviews on this forum, by people who clearly have not read, let alone understood the book, Black Athena. This book is not about whether the Ancient Egyptians were Black, or whether Greek civilization as it exists today and became known to the Romans was a wholesale copy of Egyptian civilization, as it obviously wasn't. So, what is Black Athena about? This book carefully sets out Martin Bernal's hypothesis, that ancient history can be seen as having been molded into specific narratives, depending on the age when that narrative was created and found it's uses. He defines three different Models or narratives, namely the Ancient Model, The Aryan Model, and his own Revised Ancient Model. He includes some suggested timelines, but basically, the Ancient Model of Greeks like Herodotus, suggested that in 15th century BC, Egyptians and Phoenicians had set up colonies in Greece and the Aegean, creating Greek civilization. The Aryan Model suggests that civilization started with the indigenous creation of a civilization in Greece, and that there were Nordic invasions of Indo-European speakers who mixed in with the non-Indo-European speaking indigenous population Bernal's Revised Ancient Model places the Egyptian and Phoenician invasions in the 21st-19th century, pushes back the introduction of the alphabet to the 17th century (from the 9th century), but maintains that there were Nordic invasions and that the indigenous population spoke a related Indo-Hittite language. All ten chapters in this book are documented to a different period and the changing perspectives and emphasis that is put on a particular origin of history or culture (from the Ancient Model In Antiquity (I), through this model's transmission during the dark ages and the renaissance (II), The Triumph of Egypt in the 17th and 18th Centuries (III) and the beginning Hostilities To Egypt In The 18th Century (IV) (long _before_ Champollion's decypherment of Egyptian in the first quarter of the 19th century). These hostilities had no small part of their origins in the existing race based slavery, colonialism and the challenges from within Europe to the transatlantic slave trade as a catalist of the need for a defense of the first two institutions. Chapters V through IX deal with the Romantic Linguistics (V) the discovery of Sanskrit as a related, Indo-European language and the rise of the Indian-Aryan model. Hellenomania (VI) deals with the rise of Greece as a fount of European civilization and ideals, under the German school of von Humboldt and Wolf. Hellenomania 2 (VII) deals with the takeup of this school of thought in England and the growing pre-eminence of the Aryan model in the middle of the 19th century. The Rise And Fall Of The Phoenicians (VIII) deals with the recognitions of the Phoenicians and the influence of antisemitism, as does chapter (IX). The book concludes with The Post-War Situation (X) and discussion of the influences of Gordon and Astour and th

Historiography at its Best

The true theme of the book is to show when and why the Ancient model of history was discarded and a new history about antiquity developed to supplant it. Bernal speaks about four models of ancient history: the Ancient model, the Aryan model, the Extreme Aryan model, and his Revised Ancient model. I found the books fascinating in the way that he shows the genesis and evolution of the Aryan model. The concept of Besserwissen (knowing better) that he talks about fits Mary Lefkowitz quite nicely. The fact is that all history is subjective and generally interpreted to serve the ultimate purpose of those writing it. For example, to me it was very clear that, due to Mr. Bernal's Jewish background, he had a slant throughout the books that showed more personal interest in the Phoenician & Hyksos studies.It is impossible for one man to totally encompass and correctly interpret such an enormous area of research, and so detail errors are probable. With that said I must say that all in all I think Bernal did a good job on his series to date and in support of his underlying theme, I feel we need to take a very close look at the rewriting of history which took place during the slave trade, slavery, colonialism, and imperialism eras and ask ourselves if learning from the writings of biased scholars of that period is correct and valid.Since this is theme of the series as well as the time Bernal spent talking about Phyrgians, Anatolians, Cretans, Hurrians, Hyksos, Mycaneans, Phoenicians, Hyksos Kemetans (Egyptians), Sea Peoples, etc., I find it amusing that the reoccurring argument from people against Black Athena is 'Were the Kemetans (Egyptians) black?' This is not even part of Bernal's work. He merely uses quotes from a variety of well-known Greek historians, scholars, and poets to affirm why he believes the Ancient model was discarded. In fact to the Afrocentric reader one thing is apparent, Bernal very seldom refers to any place or person in Kemet according to the names they used (e.g. Egypt-Kemet, Sesostris-Senwosret, Amenophis-Amenhotep, Thebes-Waset, etc..). Again, I find his work very important and fascinating. I intended to write Mr. Bernal to inquire whether or not he read `The Bible Myth' by Gary Greenberg until I noticed that he read the original manuscript. In my opinion this book is extremely plausible and provides an excellent resource for developing a solid chronology for the Kemetic Dynasties. The name Egypt is from the Greek Aigyptos which means Land of the Temple of the Spirit of Ptah. Kemet means the Black Land

An excellent, thought provoking book that breaks new ground

This is a wonderful book, that has been unfairly maligned, and is too often misunderstood. Bernal points out the POSSIBILITY that ancient Greece was colonized by the Egyptians and Phoenicians, and makes some compelling arguments to back up his theory. That's all! He isn't, as some people suggest, trying to tear down the pillars of Western Civilization! More importantly, he maintains that the ancient Egyptians were an ethnically diverse people, and that many (but certainly not all) were Black; and that Blacks should be able to share the credit for the achievements of this splendid civilization. His book is therefore not the work of a "Radical Afrocentist", but of a careful scholar, who is asking questions that the dogmatic (and sometimes racist) historical and archaeological establishments have been too long afraid to ask!

groundbreaking work of remarkable scholarship

This is the second volume of Bernal's controversial, paradigm-shifting research in the field of classical studies. Working from the thesis that Hellenic civilization was profoundly influenced by Egypt, Bernal introduces linguistic, archaeological, and even astronomical evidence in a presentation which leaves the reader dazzled. Wonderful stimulus for further study.