Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985, Volume 1)

Book Description

Winner of the American Book Award and a Socialist Review Book Award What is classical about Classical Civilization? In one of the most audacious works of scholarship ever written, Martin Bernal challenges the whole basis of our thinking about this question. Classical civilization, he argues, has deep roots in Afroasiatic cultures. But these Afroasiatic influences have been systematically ignored, denied, or supressed since the eighteenth century--chiefly for racist reasons. The popular view is that Greek civilization was the result of the conquest of a sophisticated but weak native population by vigorous Indo-European speakers--or Aryans--from the North. But the Classical Greeks, Bernal argues, knew nothing of this "Aryan model." They did not see their political institutions, science, philosophy, or religion as original, but rather as derived from the East in general, and Egypt in particular. Black Athena is a three-volume work. Volume 1 concentrates on the crucial period between 1785 and 1850, which saw the Romantic and racist reaction to the Enlightment and the French Revolution, and the consolidation of Northern expansion into other continents. In an unprecedented tour de force, Bernal makes meaningful links between a wide range of areas and disciplines--drama poetry, myth, theological controversy, esoteric religion, philosophy, biography, language, historical narrative, and the emergence of "modern scholarship." Martin Bernal is Professor Emeritus of Government Studies at Cornell University; he was formerly a Fellow at King's College, Cambridge.

Customer Reviews:

you cant beat em join em.......2007-06-21

im not going to get detailed at all im white and i no that the Egyptians were Black and they were the first people on earth point blank the book was like tony the tiger GGGGGGreat

Black Athena -Ancient/Classical/Modern history.......2007-04-14

A very good addition to my library attributing to my greater understanding of true history.

A previous reviewer seems to imply that this book is full of "parti pris rhetoric", and that no intelligent, reasonable person who "believes history to be something that is objective, rather then something subjective that can be changed to fulfill the ego of insecure people" should not read this book.

The fact is archeologists; historians, scientist, theologists and philosophers have never been objective in their views. Simply read the life experiences of Socrates. Anyone that thinks history is objective, will only consider it objective within their own paradigm, and therefore cannot learn outside of that paradigm. "A person who knows everything cannot learn".

To imply that this book changes objective history to a "subjective one to fulfill the ego of an insecure people", is to show a high level of egotism and insecurity; Insecurity, for fear that the very belief upon which the ego rides will be altered or destroyed. Egotism, insecurity, and greed is foundation of feudalism, classism, racism, and tribalism.

Racism is relatively new. It is less than three hundred years old. I was first told this in college by my teacher (Anglo in nature) who has a PHD in history and taught at the University of Pennsylvania. In my own research in overt and convert history, I found this to be the absolute truth. It started during the period of enlightenment, when Europe, not the Celtic/Gaulic Europeans, but rather the Germanic/Viking tribes (Anglos, Visigoths, Osigoths, Varingians, Merovingians Lombards etc) had reached a level of self-realization, best expressed in illuminism.

In the quest of their belief that they were the enlighten race and that they were descendents of the Egyptians (not fully realizing that the Egyptians were black), they began expeditions to Egypt (and other places). For, who else could have built such monolithic structures other than their ancestry?

They came back sorely disappointed. You can see many of those disappointments by the smash noses of the statues they brought back. It was at this point you begin to see the masking of ancient history, and the birth of "evolution" which is falsely attributed to Charles Darwin.

I would not have believed this until I began my own research. It was most revealing to me, not in history, but in science. Consider this, two thousand years before the existence of Greece, the Sumerians (a black civilization) had already tabulated the exponential. But, who talks about this? One thousand years prior to the Greeks, the Egyptians priest were not theorizing, but rather, practicing spontaneous generation, which is still being rejected in today's "science", even though it's naturally occurring in nature.

One of the bigger shocks in my lifetime was the understanding that the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) structure was conceive by a monk, not a chemist. The problem with any form of knowledge coming from the Orthodoxy of any field is that they have something to gain by imparting their form of knowledge, and to lose if they do not. This is the nature of human beings whether black or white, rich or poor. Like the philosophical Socrates, I consider the historian Martin Bernal a Gadfly. Without Gadflys, we would have perished long ago.

The Afroasiatic Roots outdating Classics Programs.......2007-02-03

"As a fault Bernal has muddied already muddied waters with attempting to ask the wrong questions ...and, those who have been 'refuting' him, have likewise addressed the wrong concerns. ... (but) If nothing else has come out of this debate, it is a realization that the notions of race as expressed by modern scholars reflect a modern industrial world and must be understood in that context." Eugene Cruz-Uribe

Black Athena, in a nutshell:
In Black Athena, Martin Bernal attempts to prove that the roots of Greek civilization and language came from Egypt and the Levant. Bernal argued in his first volume, 1987, that 18th and 19th century White scholarship, biasedly favored an 'Aryan/ Indo-European Model,' denying ancient Egyptian contributions. He attributed the European root search results to a racist dominated mentality. While Bernal proposal that ancient Egyptians were dark Africans, there is no proof of their Negroid classification. His work drifted to the extreme left supporting the wider allegation of Afrocentrism. The second volume of this projected four-volume work arouses fundamental questions of awe and skepticism, that touch almost every issue in American daily life: lack of logical dialogue, residual racism, failure of university programs.
To state that because Egypt is located on (NE corner of) of Africa, it is African, is merely simplistic. Does geography hold the only key to this classification? Dean Eugene Cruz-Uribe adds that, "... for many scholars that the anti-Bernal crusades that have evolved often have faulted Bernal ... and have thus downplayed the questions raised (that his outrageous theses addressed squarely one area of scholarship that Egyptologists and Classical historians had preferred not to address)".

Black Athena II:
Martin Bernal supports his thesis, by many Egyptian or Semitic roots for Greek words, while more recent discoveries in upper Egypt, indicated Phoenician alphabet could have evolved from Proto-Sinaitic into a more linear form during about the 12th century BC. The immediate offspring of Phoenician were the old Hebrew alphabet, and Aramaic, as well as Archaic Greek. No matter where and when the adoption of Egyptian signs onto a Semitic language occurred, the process of adoption is quite interesting. Bernal's striking examples, may exert a stronger potential in light of recent finds, but there is too much to be developed before his weaker cases could be supported by conclusive archeological reconstruction.
Much of the Bernal's archaeological interpretations though boldly genius, still lack solid evidential examples to convince. Bernal woven model of a "Pax Aegyptiaca" populations with cultural infilteration in the Aegean Bronze Age is no new idea. Bernal advances such cases that have been neglected or minimized by the Hellenocentricts. Bernal's blunt reconstructions go much further than warranted, comments John Lenz, "In fact he rejects a model of multiculturalism in favor of a scenario of widespread Egyptian colonization and domination."

Failure of Humanities:
How often do we hear Egyptian wisdom ignorantly depreciated by comparison with Greek philosophy? How many universities even offer courses on the ancient Near East and Egypt?
Harvard school's governing board selected a transforming leader reminiscent of Harvard's past great presidents, who set the agenda for higher education in the country and, as revered public intellectuals, dominated national debates. Dean Summers--himself a former Harvard economics wunderkind, convinced that his old school, (as mostly all ivy's) needs far more than a face lift, nothing less than a cultural revolution on campus. He initiated a review of the undergraduates study material that could ultimately help revise the definition of an effective liberal arts education program worthy of the 21st century, calling for a more interdisciplinary approach to learning as well (Bernal's self pursued agenda). Currently, humanities students major in traditional subjects, such as English or classics, while the nature of knowledge has vastly changed, many of the most exciting areas of inquiry cut across traditional disciplines, pointed the ousted dean. While the majority of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences -- which placed a pending vote of no confidence against Summers and seemed ready to move on it -- Summers still maintained strong support from some faculty members and a majority of students.

A compelling Review:
In an even handed analytical review, "Ancient Histories and Modern Humanities," By John Lenz, he concludes, "Black Athena, volume 2 is extremely heavy going and problematic. Informative and generally reasonable in tone, its scope and ambition put the work of most scholars to shame. Even hoary antiquarians will learn things, and other dedicated readers will be led into the fascinating alleyways of Aegean prehistory. Everyone, however, should read this work with extreme caution."

Revisiting the Central Claims of One-Dimensional Whiteness .......2007-01-08

"The central claims of Afrocentrism were prominently set forth in a controversial book, Black Athena, 2 vol. (1987-91), by white historian Martin Bernal. Since that time, Afrocentrism has encountered significant opposition from mainstream scholars who charge it with historical inaccuracy, scholarly ineptitude, and racism." Encyclopedia Britannica

A controversial book:
This is an earth breaking, thought provoking, and exciting book. It has been and will continue to be controversial, and polarizing as well. The author, Martin Bernal, is a professor at Cornell University, the son of John D. Bernal, who laid the foundation of molecular biology, and grandson of the great Oxford U. Egyptologist Sir Alan Gardiner. He proposes arguably that Greek civilization, was instead an off shot from Egypto-Levantine culture, rather than being the cradle of a distinguished European civilization, with its roots firmly planted in NE Africa and SW Asia. He proposes that the Greek classical civilization and philosophy is not the foundation of our western culture, thus forcing us to reconsider the roots, concepts and meaning of Western civilization itself.
The book was published in a period when America was becoming the only super power, after the long waited fall of the Soviet Union, letting conservative politicians and academics tout the uniqueness of the West and its European civilization of amalgamated Greco Roman roots.
W. J. Bennett, Regan's Secretary of Education, has argued that Americans should go back to the basics, students have to read and absorb the classic of Western civilization, rather than thinking critically about what history of science meant, or the impact of space travel and the Internet communications revolution, that rendered the world flat. Black Athena is a negative response to the new conditions which may have offset; its implications are unsettling.

One-Dimensionality and Whiteness:
This book may have linked with Marcuse's concept of the one-dimensional society and the Great Refusal, with critical race theory in order to achieve a more robust interrogation of 'whiteness'. The author of a recent paper on "Policy Futures in Education," argues that in the context of the United States, the one-dimensionality that Marcuse condemns in One-Dimensional Man is best illuminated by the concept of whiteness, in the context of white supremacy, is an ideological manifestation of dominant capitalism in the United States. The author furthers that the values Marcuse wants to break with or refuse in An Essay on Liberation can be more concretely captured if it is made clear that the ideology of whiteness represents a key part of the normative order of advanced industrial society that started to institute its legitimate roots in a mythic fable of European philosophy and heroism. The paper warns against Ms Lefkowitz, and her outdated classicists promoting whiteness in educational institutions serves to oppress race, gender, and class centered individuals and communities. Thus, the author proposes that, in the context of education, the crucial theoretical tools we have to challenge Ms Lefkowitz's glorification of the one-dimensional education and refuse whiteness in favor of a critical multicultural education.

Bernal's Greek Civilization:
Bernal's thesis for the origins of ancient Greek civilization accounts that it gradually evolved in ancient antiquity, through interactions between the local inhabitants and the Egyptians and Phoenicians colonies established in Greece at various time epochs, during the second millennium B. C. He alleges that ancient Greek culture developed out of these interactions, while Greeks continued to borrow from the Afro-Asians for the next two millennia.
Bernal's shocking theory, has radically contradicted the Indo-European framework of diffusion into Greek population by northern European Aryans who mixed with the local, pre-Hellenic inhabitants causing Greece and the Aegean world to develop a culture of the Anglo-Saxon prototype of Western civilization. The Aryan Model which was created during the first half of the nineteenth century became dominant to the present day, when challenged with Bernal, who suggested that the Aryan Model survived because it matched and adequately served the advancing ideals of capitalism in progress, racialism, and imperialism which eventually dominated the modern times. It may be excessively helpful in positive debates to be rational. Any scholar, motivated mainly by race issues ( Ms Lefkowitz, who has few qualifications other than outdated classics) could be identified as a red-neck, if she does not renounce her infallibility, being uninformed on other domains, which Bernal assesses their significance and implications, of an enormous entity of philological, archaeological, historical evidence, and critical tools of analysis and reconstruction, which Martin Bernal utilized repeatedly.

Egyptian Human Heritage:
Two books are basic to have common grounds, on the origin of Greek civilization
a. Gerald Massey's 'Book of the Beginnings,' is an essential reading for seekers of a balanced understanding of human origins, religious thought and belief, and the role of Ancient Egyptian civilization in world progress. Massey, born in England in 1828, was a radical Egyptologist, like Bernal's grandfather, has maintained that Africa was the source of "the greatest civilization in the world." According to Massey, all evidence cries aloud its proclamation that Africa was the birthplace of the non-articulate and Egypt the mouthpiece of the articulate man."
Greek Plato, wrote in Timaeus, "The wisdom of the Egyptians was a proverb with the Greeks, who felt themselves children beside this ancient race." Later, Herodotus, another informed Greek has demonstrated that Greece borrowed from Egypt all the elements of her civilization, and that Egypt was the cradle of civilization. The Late Nobel laureate, Naguib Mahfouz, who read the second book, namely, 'The Dawn of conscience,' by the great American Orientalist James H. Breasted was right in saying, "Egyptian civilization was beyond any doubt a great culture that encompassed the entire ancient world. The fact that we may have come to know it once more through the mediation of Western explorers and scientists does not make it any less ours. How could it be? It is the heritage of all humanity."

Betrnal's Mortal Sins:
Martin Bernal, by trespassing the boundaries of established disciplines and using inter discipline evidence that is not usually handled in the same language, Bernal has advanced academic tactics that are doomed heretical to those ultra orthodox who resent incursions into their outdated domains by uninitiated novices, who lack the curia's approval credentials. Monoply academics in their intrenched disciplines would menace most of Black Athena's novel arguments and reconstruction methodology. In the debates that followed, criticizing Martin's analyses and undermining his interpretations of the vast pieces of evidence, he has undoubtedly earned intellectual audience in and outside the academia.

Prophetic Review:
In his 1988 compelling review, Thomas C. Patterson, made a prophecy concluding, "But in the end he will win the war, if he has not in fact already done so. One reason for this is the tightness and logic of his arguments. Another is that, while scholars in the various relevant fields may view Bernal as an outsider or an interloper, they cannot easily dismiss him as a crank or a crackpot, since he has adopted the methods of the various disciplines and followed their established, generally agreed upon procedures and canons for evaluating evidence."

If you like parti pris rhetoric then you'll love this book!.......2006-10-13

Do you like to be lied to? Do you like propaganda and ill concieved agendas shoved down your throat? Do you like people who state theories as facts and then offer no evidence to substantiate their claims? Do you want to read a book which very existence would make Herodotus turn over in his grave and cause anyone who believes an accurate potrayl of history to be important to feel nothing but deep despair? If your answer was yes to one or more of these questions then you'll probably really enjoy this book. However if you're an intelligent and reasonable person who believes history to be something that is objective, rather then something subjective that can be changed to fulfill the ego of insecure people then this book probably isn't for you. However, if you are interested in the outlandish Afrocentric claims to Greek antiquity then I would recommend reading 'Not Out Of Africa' by Mary Lefkowitz.

The Complete Greek Tragedies: Euripides V: Electra, The Phoenician Women, The Bacchae

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Very fine version
Excellent for undergraduates
What Electra Complex?

The Complete Greek Tragedies: Euripides V: Electra, The Phoenician Women, The Bacchae
Euripides
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Greek & Roman | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0226307840

Book Description

In nine paperback volumes, the Grene and Lattimore editions offer the most comprehensive selection of the Greek tragedies available in English. Over the years these authoritative, critically acclaimed editions have been the preferred choice of over three million readers for personal libraries and individual study as well as for classroom use.

Customer Reviews:

Very fine version.......2007-08-19

The three plays presented in "Euripides V" are all important works: Electra, The Phoenician Women, and The Bacchae.

The editors are David Grene (who translated and provided the Introduction to "The History" by Herodotus) and Richmond Lattimore. Both are well reputed scholars of the classics. Before each play, they provide useful context and critical evaluations of the work. Emily Townsend Vermeule provides a competent translation.

The works stand or fall on the basis of the original quality of the plays and the competence of the translation. As such, each of the plays is worthwhile. The editors do a nice job of providing critical analysis (note some of the comparisons between Sophocles and Euripides).

In the end, this is a useful version of the three plays and a nice entree to the work of one of the great Greek tragedians. The work closes with a nice chronology of the plays of Euripides. In the final analysis, well done.

Excellent for undergraduates.......2000-05-15

A readable translation of the plays of Euripides. Enough historical background is given in the foreword and the introductions to each play that the reader has a better grasp of the meaning of the play to those who viewed in antiquity. A bit conservative in the translation at times but nonetheless well done.

What Electra Complex?.......2000-05-08

Euripides V contains some of the most popular and famous tragedies by the Greek playwrite Euripiedes. Electra, the first play, is a must for anyone studying or interested in mythology and tragedies. The Phoenician Women adn The Bacchae are also wonderful plays that prime examples of what Greek tragedies are all about. Even if this is your first time reading tragedies, as was mine, the introduction by Grene and Lattimore pave the road for the stories.

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Politically Correct History
Fantastic!
This is NOT a scholarly/historical work, but a quasi-fictional idealization of the Phoenicians
judging a book by its cover
Hard to Resist These Phoenicians

Phoenicians: Lebanon's Epic Heritage
Sanford Holst
Manufacturer: Cambridge & Boston Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Early Civilization | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1887263306

Product Description

This is the most complete history of the Phoenicians to date, including new research contributed by leading scholars of the Mediterranean. Since the Phoenicians were closely involved with the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians in many of the great events of antiquity, this detailed account brings those epic events to life as never before. These shipbuilders from Lebanon became famous sea traders whose cedar was used in early Egyptian temples and placed in the Great Pyramids. They were involved with the beautiful Minoan civilization on Crete, and with the Sea Peoples who influenced the fall of the Mycenaeans and Hittites. They founded colonies as far as Spain and Morocco, and circulated the first alphabet. They competed with the rising Classical Greeks, and lost some cities to Alexander the Great. Successful campaigns by Hannibal of Carthage were followed by a conclusive loss to newly-emerging Rome. Remnants of their history were woven into the romantic legends of Isis & Osiris, Aphrodite & Adonis, Europa & Zeus, Dido & Aeneas. This book has 113 ancient and modern sources, including Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristotle, Diodorus, Livy and Pliny -- freshened with many maps and pictures. Author Sanford Holst is widely regarded as one of the leading experts on the Phoenician people. Antoine Khoury Harb is a highly respected professor of history and archaeology in Lebanon.

Customer Reviews:

Politically Correct History.......2007-08-07

This is a very good introduction to the ancient society called Phoenician; for those who have not studied it. "Those" would be most of us who were schooled in the West, and taught to believe that the only important history is Greco/Roman, Anglo/Saxon, and Judeo/Christian.

As a retired professor, I know first hand about the pressure to support the dominant myths of a society. There is also the pressure to support ones own acedemic discipline, to the exclusion of the findings of related disciplines. Failing these, one does not get grants, rank, or tenure.

A convergence of the findings of History, Cultural and Physical Anthropology, Archeology, Genetics, Geology, Linguistics, and Folklore presents compelling evidence for an expanded view.

The mysterious "Indo-Europeans" stemmed from the earliest civilization around what is now called the Black Sea. They were displaced by the deluge at the end of the last Ice Age, when the Bosporus suddenly broke and precipitously flooded the inland lake that was there prior.

The descendents of these people came to be called many names by others; most notably (herein) Phoenicians in the south and Celts in the northwest. Those remaining near the vastly expanded Black Sea also were called many things by others; among them, Scythians and Thracians.

These people established trade routes and settlements ranging from China, throughout Europe, the Levant, and to the Western Hemisphere! Their language, culture, and genes are a part of the heritage in all of these places.

I would like to implore Mr. Holst to expand his history, perhaps in a second volume. He is probably in a position to be independent of political correctness. In the meantime, let me recommend to those interested: "Sailing to Paradise", Jim Bailey, Simon & Shuster, 1994

Fantastic!.......2007-07-17

After reading Sanford Holst's book, I went to Greece to get my own experiences with the world he described. I found his work to be quite accurate and factual. This is not surprising because the book lists 113 sources, and it also drew from his trips to archaeological sites in the Mediterranean.

This book seems to have a strong effect on people. Maybe that is because it presents new evidence which clears up some misconceptions about the ancient Mediterranean. For example, the Greeks made great contributions, and I have seen some of their fabulous work. But they only occupied Crete and Thera many years after the great volcano eruption, the one which covered the beautiful fresco paintings of Thera. Many people love the Greeks so much they wish those wonderful frescoes were Greek. But many sources--including Holst--present the facts clearly. Among these facts are that the written language (Linear A) used on Crete and Thera before the eruption was not Greek. Only after the eruption, when the Mycenaean Greeks conquered Crete and the other islands, did Greek writing appear there (Linear B). The frescoes of Thera were sealed under volcanic ash many years before that happened. It is definitely eye-opening . . . if one does not allow previous misconceptions to get in the way.

This is NOT a scholarly/historical work, but a quasi-fictional idealization of the Phoenicians.......2007-07-12

I bought this book believing that it was a scholarly (or at least solidly written) account of the history of the Phoenicians. IT IS NOTHING OF THE SORT! Do not buy this book if this is what you are looking for. This is a quasi-fictionalized account of the Phoenicians with a great deal of the author's 21st century feminist/socialist ideals diffused throughout the text. The author is trying to paint a romanticized notion of the Phoenicians and their links to the citizens of modern Lebanon, while at the same time trying to sell the notion that they possessed many attributes of 21st century society (i.e. Holst claims that the Phoenicians had a great respect for the contributions of women, a great ability to work together for the common good, were not warlike, and had a great deal of religious and cultural tolerance - he is basically claming that they are the exact opposite of everyone other pre-Roman society. A real socialist fantasia!). This is not a book about the Phoenicians, but about how they should have been from a feminist/socialist perspective. There were a few glimmers of info in this book, but you are better of reading the Wikipedia page. I hate to pan books in my reviews, but this is a total waste of time and money.

judging a book by its cover.......2007-07-11

On the cover of this book is a detail from one of the frescoes found on the Greek, Aegean island of Thera (Santorini). This site was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1623 BC. It is not "Phoenician", or Lebanese!

On Thera, scenes/decorations depicted on wall frescoes are replicated on the daggers which have been found in the shaft graves of the Greek mainland city of Mycenae. Indeed, the same type of dagger has been found on Thera. Ships depicted on one of the frescoes on Thera are identical to ships depicted on signet rings, as per examples from graves on the Greek mainland site of Tyrins. Boar's tusk helmets depicted on another fresco at Thera are attested to on the entire Greek mainland as well as on Krete and are described in great detail as being worn by the Greeks besieging Troy in Homer's Iliad. A lady depicted on an adjacent fresco to the one pictured on the cover wears ear rings identical to those which are found in another of the shaft graves at Mycenae. The writing of Mycenaeans, known as "Linear B", was translated in 1954 by the Englishman Michael Ventris: it is Greek & dates to the 15th century BC. How do Mycenaean/Greek motifs come to be used as illustrating the world of Lebanese/Phoenicians? This book is propaganda. You don't have to go beyond the front cover to realise this.

Hard to Resist These Phoenicians.......2007-05-24

Throughout his book, Mr. Holst expresses his deep love for the ancient Phoenicians, which is understandable since this was a genuinely fascinating culture. Most importantly, they were the princes of the commercial trading world for three thousand years and acomplished this with no standing military. Amazingly, they survived just about every other Mediterranean/Near East peoples during their long tenure.

Caveat: the author so dearly loves these Phoenicians that he gushes unreservedly, almost embarassingly. Not only did these people invent navagation, the alphabet, and the Minoan civilization, but they had the only politically and economically egalitarian culture in the world. Well, maybe this is all true, but the archeological record is not so certain as Mr. Holst asserts.

He also skirts an extremely serious matter in which the Phoenicians are implicated - slave trading. These were the most skilled and far-roving traders in history and their primary objective was making money through exchange of goods. Slaves were goods of course and there was an insatiable market for them throughout antiquity. Although this trade was undoubtedly contiguous to Phoenician dominance of international business, Holst flatly refuses to address it at all (though he does acknowleges the existence of slavery). It's as if an admission of such acts would tarnish these gods of trade too painfully.

Other than those complaints, this book makes for riveting reading. It is easy to visualize the world the Phoenicians inhabited and a colorful, chaotic, enchanting one it was. I'd live in it for sure, as long as I could be the trader and not the traded.

Black Athena Writes Back: Martin Bernal Responds to His Critics

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European mythology is not history ,it's PROPAGANDA
SEMITIC ATHENA, not black Athena
RACIST GARBAGE!!!
No More Western Arrogance
Not Literally Black!

Black Athena Writes Back: Martin Bernal Responds to His Critics
Martin Bernal , and Martin Bernal
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Greece | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0822327171

Book Description

In Black Athena Writes Back Martin Bernal responds to the passionate debates set off by the 1987 publication of his book Black Athena. Producing a shock wave of reaction from scholars, Black Athena argued that the development of Greek civilization was heavily influenced by Afroasiatic civilizations. Moreover, Bernal asserted that this knowledge had been deliberately obscured by the rampant racism of nineteenth-century Europeans who could not abide the notion that Greek societyâfor centuries recognized as the originating culture of Europeâhad its origins in Africa and Southwest Asia.
The subsequent rancor among classicists over Bernal’s theory and accusations was picked up in the popular media, and his suggestion that Greek culture had its origin in Africa was widely derided. In a report on 60 Minutes, for example, it was suggested that Bernal’s hypothesis was essentially an attempt to provide blacks with self-esteem so that they would feel included in the march of progress.
In Black Athena Writes Back Bernal provides additional documentation to back up his thesis, as well as offering persuasive explanations of why traditional scholarship on the subject remains inaccurate and why specific arguments lobbed against his theories are themselves faulty.
Black Athena Writes Back requires no prior familiarity with either the Black Athena hypothesis or with the arguments advanced against it. It will be essential reading for those who have been following this long-running debate, as well as for those just discovering this fascinating subject.

Customer Reviews:

European mythology is not history ,it's PROPAGANDA.......2007-07-28

Exactly, European Mythology is not history,it's white supremacist propaganda. We are all aware of Europeans & their weapons of mass deception. They don't have any credibility with the origanal peoples anymore & are loosing credibilty with their own people. The legendary lying lore of white superiority is over & if you can't handle the truth that your racist ancestors have been supressing & distorting for the last 600yrs,then you have only your self to blame for your ignorance & arrogance. Don'trust these colonizers of history & people. You can't even tell the truth about amerikkkan foriegn or domestic policy maybe that's why wilfully ignorant amerikkans still think that Saddam had something to do with the 911 attacks. We can't trust a historical liar who can't acknowledge the truth. They can't even admit that racism and white priviledge is alive & well & that the legacy has been preserved in amerikkkas institutions wich still haunts us today. Europeans CAN NOT BE TRUSTED PERIOD !

SEMITIC ATHENA, not black Athena.......2006-01-14

That's right. The Egyptians and Phoenicians were Semitic/Hamitic,
NOT negroid. Egypt was only breifly ruled by negroid peoples at the invasion of the southern Nubians. Anybody who knows anything about the Ancient Hellenes, knows that they learnt a vast amount from the Egyptians and Phoenicians. I mean are language via Latin and Greek is related to the Phoenician alphabet via Egypt's...Duh!

If this author is criticizing a Eurocentric archetype, than he should equally criticize his afrocentric archetype. Greek culture, though it was heavily benefited from Asia and Africa is neither Euro or Afrocentric....it is Ancient Hellenic. We are projecting inept models and types on the Ancient Greeks!!!!!!!

Unless any of you people have studied a history book, Western Civilization is not apart of Ancient Greek Civilization, they are seperate. Furthermore what is wonderous about the Greeks is that they severed themselves from Asian/African cruelty and theocratic madness to form their own 'UNIQUE' culture in the first place!!!

Greece was not governed by a system religion or priestly caste which retained all the knowledge from the common man. THIS IS THE TRUE REBELLION AND MIRACLE IN HISTORY: THAT THE GREEKS WERE ABLE TO GROW FROM AND THEN REBEL AGAINST THE STERILE, THEOCRATIC CULTURES OF ASIA AND AFRICA TO FORM SOMETHING TOTALLY NEW!

RACIST GARBAGE!!!.......2005-06-16

It is funny reading the five-star reviewers. They have the least amount of knowledge in the field of classics, and yet they can make claims like the "Greeks learned everything in the science from the Egyptians who had mastered all of science first". Really? As I classics major myself who studied both the Greek as well as the Near Eastern histories I can assert that Greece absorbed very little from Egypt; and moreover, Greeks via the Hellenistic Empire of Alexander influenced Egypt far more. Bernal claims that the period of Egyptian involvment in Greece was during the proto-greek stage of the Myceneans, and the dark age that soon followed, which by the way is the most inconclusive period in Greek history. Yet, Bernal, a "scholar" not even trained in the Classics, can claim that this is obviosly because of western ignorance and rascism, that chooses to hide this shameful history. He claims that the Hyskos were a semitic people that invaded the Aegean region in time lending the Greeks their culture etc. First, the Hyskos where a minor group who are only mentioned in respect to Israelite history as they both are said to have entered Egypt at the same time. Bernal leaves out the fact that Egypt and the entire Levant was invaded by "Sea People" who originated form Ionia and the Aegean Islands and were the remnant of the Mycenean Age Homer wrote about. These Sea People devestated Egypt and the Levant, and actually forged colonies. The Egyptians named them the Peleset, who later are known as the Philistines. However they are Myceneans.
Further, Egypt was a theocracy with very little to offer the world in the sciences. The great breakthroughs came in the Classical and Hellenistic Age where Astronomy and Calculus flourished to name a few. Prior to this period the only other notable contributions came from the Babylonians in Mesopotamia.

Furthermore, SEMITIC PEOPLE ARE CAUCASIAN AS WELL.

Meaning Babylonians, Assyrians, Hebrews, Hyskos, Sumerians, and most likely Egyptians, a fact that can be seen in the present day inhabitants. While Arabic has been absorbed, this does not mean the aboriginal inhabitants have been erased. Furthermore, Bernal claims these eurocentric view is centered on a Greco-Roman model of western civilization; however western scholars are first to point out the contributions of other middle eastern peoples, like the the Mesopotamians, the Hittite, and the Persian. The latter two spoke indo-european by the way, in the midst of the so-called "black" semitic language he so readily attempts to usurp. In fact the word Arryan is the derived from the word Iran, as it literally mean the "land of the Arryans". Caucasians do not dwell soley in western Europe; in fact it might be better for these Afrocentric revisionists to expand their propaganda to calibrate for the entire Caucasian world which stretches into a Eurasian model going as far as the Russian steppes and Iranian peripheries.
Furthemore, this idea of Egypt as black is derived on the premise of non-european otherness, where because someone is not European it automatically means they are not white, and because they are not white that natuarally means they fall into the black camp. The whole train of though is ludicrous.

No More Western Arrogance .......2005-01-19

In Black Athens Bernal argued that Greek history had been written when racism was dominating Europe. The origins of "super", "pure" races had to be super and pure. We're still under the influence of this racist history. In the opening ceremony of 2004 Athens Olympic games, the NBC speaker had said "now the sport is returning to where it originated", as if there was no sport elsewhere in the world. European civilization advanced our world, and its origin Greece started everything from nothing. This is the idea Bernal criticizes.
But Can you name a civilization which didn't take from others? Building a civiliziation is all about trading ideas. But we were given the impression that Greeks created philosophy, art, mathematics and everything else out of nothing.
But didn't Phthogoras study in Egypt? Didn't Phoenicians invent the alphabet and give it to the Greeks? While even Herodotus mentions Egyptians colonizing Greece, how can we not appreciate Bernal's Black Athens and his this reply? Sure few of us have the sophistication to evaluate his and his opponents' evidence. But Bernal has a rock solid thesis which makes perfect sense. 19th and 20th centuries were the ages of positivism where there was a pure science (physics), where there were pure races. White race was drunk of its supremacy over blacks, native Americans, Indians and was justifying its ruthless colonization with the theory of evolution. Of course when the origin of Europe had to be pure, not contaminated by "backward" African Egyptians, and Semitic Phoenicians and Asians. This was the European-Western arrogance and it still exists today (e.g. current US policy in Iraq, EU Christian Democrats' statements against Turkey's EU membership). The truth is, Greece learned from Egyptians and Phoenicians, contributed to it, and gave it to the world.

Not Literally Black!.......2003-12-05

People may dislike Bernal's writing style, but that doesn't mean they should ignore his ideas.

By naming his books "Black Athena" Bernal doesn't mean that AthenaÑthe symbol of the Athenians and their culture, which we call Greek cultureÑwas imagined as black. More likely he believes she was a light mediterranean brown. Even the famous classicist Bernard Knox (a professor who wrote introductory essays to Robert Fagel's translations of The Illiad and Odyssey) conceeds this point in his ironic essay collection "The Oldest of the Dead White European Males" when he politely describes Greeks as an olive colored people.

Bernal's use of black in "Black Athena" refers to the historical misconception of her skin color by Romantics, Racists, and ImperialistsÑ who were not necessarily the same people! It also refers to the poetically and politically motivated misunderstanding of the historical origins of Greek myth, culture, and language. Not to say that Athena wasn't a Greek Goddess but rather that Greek ideas of Gods and Nature have significant (and uncredited) roots in more ancient civilizations (whether Egyptian, Sumerian, or more broadly Afro-Asiatic).

Bernal is attempting to undermine the false popular idea (especially among people who specialize in the study of the Greco-Roman Classics) thatÑ poetically speakingÑ Greek culture just sprang out of the ground like Cadmus' dragon teeth. Oh wait, no; actually, that myth tells of how a Phonecian, who we classify as Afroasiatic, brought literacy to the Greeks. Other ancient Greek sources attest to having recieved the basic tools of Greek Culture from their neighbors, why should we disbelieve them? Then there's etymology...

Of course, Afroasiatic roots do not detract from the genius of Greek theater, literature, and philosophy! That would be like saying Newton was an idiot because he didn't invent numbers. That would be like saying Shakespeare was worthless because he didn't create the theater, because he learnt from the literary examples of Geoffery Chaucer, Christopher Marlow, and Ben Johnson, because the subject matter of his plays were shaped by thousands of years of preceeding history, and because his plots were not original.

Clearly parents have a large role in the raising of children, but posterity does not praise parents for their childrens accomplishmentsÑ not with great artists, scientists, or statesmen. Though they lay the foundations of a child's moral, literary, and technological culture, what is built on those foundation is not their own. Ultimately Shakespeare's father was not Shakespeare, but who would believe that Shakespeare's family had no influence on his intellectual development? Likewise, using and improving the brilliant ideas of neighbors and ancestors does not rob scientific progress or artistic excellence of value. Is it more important that an idea is perfectly original? none are, or that it is good? Cultural innovators keep their worth when credit is given where credit is due, and their supporters have their importance recognized too.

Book Description

The ancient Phoenician civilization is still shrouded in mystery. Scholars question when the Phoenicians became powerful, where they came from, and how they came to be such brilliant navigators and merchants that they colonized much of the Mediterranean rim. This detailed study of the Phoenicians is filled with important essays and illustrations that trace the rise and fall, the art and customs, the trade and exploration, and the rich legacy of this fascinating culture.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Book for a Great Civilization!.......2004-07-08

This book is perhaps the most comprehensive guide to the world of the Phoenicians. Considering there are few books on this subject to begin with, there is not a great deal i can say in terms of how this is vastly different. If you've managed to find your way to this book, i highly recommend it.

This book has many advantages over others. Not least the fact that it's actually a compilation of the works and studies of a number of scholars. Among them are Sabatino Moscati, Maria Eugenia Aubet and others who have written extensively on this subject both directly and indirectly. The composition is such that it is often possible to identify regions of conflicting viewpoints. Though contradictory at times, this aspect is actually helpful in illustrating the present ambiguity with regards to many areas of the subject. A lost civilization in many respects, a great deal of cross-referencing is needed and this is where the book has a dinstict advantage. Particularly interesting is that the book draws from a variety of backgrounds so that the works of modern Cypriots, Italians, Arabs and Spanish are included. This aspect alone is enough to suggest that the book is without bias of any kind. This is not to say that it is manual of distinct essays, but rather a book with different scholars contributing to the many chapters.

The content is equally excellent. Here the Phoenicians are described from their Canaanite origins to the ventures of Hannibal. A true civilization with character and identity, they were far more than the great navigators of antiquity. The book clearly outlines everything from art and religion to trade and political institutions. Their ventures enabled them to contact and influence every known civilization one could name, and the book even goes as far as summarising their relationships with Greeks, Etruscans and Egyptians.

The book is overwhelming with detail, and has a good selection of coloured illustrations. I have read a number of books on this subject and this is definitely my favourite. For those who know nothing of this subject, i truely believe that the ancient world cannot be fully understood without some knowledge of this great civilization.

The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies and Trade

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Very thorough.
A Worthwhile Voyage

The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies and Trade
Maria Eugenia Aubet
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521795435

Book Description

This updated version of Maria Eugenia Aubet's highly praised book (1993) incorporates the most recent research findings on the ancient civilization of Phoenicia and includes an updated bibliography. The Phoenicians established the first trading system in the Mediterranean basin between the eighth and sixth centuries B.C. Continuous archaeological research over the past decades has transformed our understanding of Phoenicia, its colonies and their relationship to local communities. First Edition Hb (1993): 0-521-41141-6 First Edition Pb (1996): 0-521-56598-7

Customer Reviews:

Very thorough........2001-06-10

This is an interesting book which describes the Phoenician expansion into the Western Mediterranean from the eighth to sixth centuries B.C. The focus is the Iberian Phoenician settlements on either side of the Pillars of Hercules with Gadir (Cadiz) as the main attraction. As the written record of the Phoenicians themselves did not survive, this work relies primarily on archaeological information and the small body of sources written by the Phoenicians' neighboring cultures (the Greek Homer's epic poetry, the Jewish Old Testament, etc.).

There is much discussion about the social, political, and economic reasons for the Phoenician expansion westward. In addition, the form which this expansion took - from informal trade to outright colonization is explored. A large part of the book is devoted to the competing historical theories regarding this expansion in which the author is obviously well-grounded.

Who engaged in the trade and expansion- the palace, the temple, or independent merchants? How was it organized? What were the ships like? What were the commodities traded? How were Phoenician relations with the indigenous peoples handled? All these questions are answered.

There is obviously comparison between the original Phoenician settlements in the West and those of her daughter colony Carthage which succeeded them. The emphasis in this work is on the Phoenician period rather than the following Punic period of settlement. This is done to give the Phoenicians' initial accomplishments in the West due credit rather than have them overshadowed by Carthage.

With the book's emphasis on the Iberian peninsula, the Phoenician enclaves in the central Mediterranean such as on Malta, Sicily, and Sardinia do not get much attention. I would have enjoyed more comparison between the Phoenician settlements and the subsequent Greek colonies in the West as well.

An interesting read on a little-known but highly-influential ancient people. And don't forget to thank them for this alphabet while you're at it.

A Worthwhile Voyage.......2000-12-19

In their day the Phoenicians were the quintessential mariners and explorers, planting colonies throughout the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and more controversially elsewhere along Africa's coasts and probably in the Far East along the monsoon trade route.

This survey work of what is known today about the Phoenicians is the first one in years I believe. Like many maritime peoples, the Phoenicians were often conquered and, given their extensive use of papyrus, their archives have not survived. Since ancient times and to the present day various historians with axes to grind have badmouthed these people.

This isn't the most riveting text I've ever read.

See also Lionel Casson's "The Ancient Mariners", "Travel In The Ancient World", and "Everyday life in ancient Rome", Michael Grant's "The Etruscans" (out of print), and Barry Fell's "America B.C.", as well as websites that show up in a search for the phrase "The Periplus".

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Worthy Activities

Why the Bible is not cited in the bibliography

Outstanding resource!

Ancient Israelites and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide
Marian Broida
Manufacturer: Chicago Review Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide

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The Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions: Internet-Linked (World Cultures)

ASIN: 1556524579

Book Description

Children can try their hand at re-creating ancient Israelite culture—along with the cultures of their neighbors, the Philistines and Phoenicians—in a way that will provide perspective on current events. The book covers a key period from the Israelites’ settlement in Canaan in 1200 B.C.E. to their return from exile in Babylonia in 538 B.C.E. This part of the Middle East—no larger than modern-day Michigan—was the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. More than 35 projects include stomping grapes into juice, building a model Phoenician trading ship, making a Philistine headdress, and writing on a broken clay pot. Israelites', Phoenicians', and Philistines' writing and languages, the way they built their homes, the food they ate, the clothes they wore, and the work they did, and of course, their many interesting stories, are all explored.

Customer Reviews:

Worthy Activities.......2007-07-12

I have found this book to be informative and useful. It is written from a "non-religious" perspective. The content information is more suitable for upper elementary (complex sentences and higher vocabulary), but the pictures and activities would interest those in the lower grades. We have not yet done any of the activities, but I've been impressed as I read through them. Most of them are practical, easy, and seem worth the time to do.

Why the Bible is not cited in the bibliography.......2005-01-25

I find it laughable that a reviewer complains that the Bible is not cited in the bibliography of this book. It is assumed that the Bible is used in such a work, and anyone familiar with the Bible knows exactly what comes from the Bible and what doesn't. It is a sine qua non that the author of such a book is completely familiar with the Bible, as well as the readers. I suppose next the reviewers will complain if there is not at least one English dictionary cited in the bibliography.

Outstanding resource!.......2004-05-03

What a pleasant surprise! This book could be used for religious OR public school. It not only gives insights as to how people lived in ancient times, but helps students recreate aspects of it so that they can relate it to their lives of today. The book explains how life was, and then allows students to create food, clothing and housing models so that they can see how those ancient cultures influenced our culture today.

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Upside Down You're Turning Me

Phoenicians (Peoples of the Past)
Glenn E. Markoe
Manufacturer: British Museum Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0714127671

Book Description

One of the great enigmas of the ancient world, the Phoenicians were both lauded and despised in antiquity. They were celebrated as learned scribes who passed on the modern alphabet, as skilled seafarers and explorers, and as gifted artisans and engineers. Historical sources show they were also perceived as unscrupulous profiteers and cheaters, and as a morally corrupt race of people who prostituted their daughters and butchered their infant children in sacrifices to their gods. But who were the real Phoenicians, and what do we know of their origins and culture?
The heartland of the Phoenician empire consisted of a narrow coastal strip between the Lebanon mountains and the Mediterranean sea, a slightly extended version of modern Lebanon. The Phoenicians who lived along this coastline explored and colonized far away lands. But in many ways the Phoenician civilization is lost and many facts about it are unknown since not a single Phoenician manuscript has survived in the original or in translation. Digging deep into the historical and archaeological sources, Glenn Markoe reconstructs what we presently know about these mysterious people and their maritime culture. He fleshes out Phoenicia, giving accounts of its history, cities, economy, language and literature, religion, and its commercial expansion abroad.
This richly illustrated book includes photographs of Phoenician artifacts and excavations, along with many maps and drawings. Unlike other works that have treated the Phoenician culture as an Early Iron Age phenomenon, Markoe focuses on the continuity in tradition that characterized Phoenician history over a period of more than 1200 years, from the beginning of the Late Bronze Age (c 1550 b.c.)--when Phoenician cities first emerged--to the start of the Hellenistic period around 300 b.c. This book provides a comprehensive, unified view of a culture consisting of many disparate ethnic and geographical entities.

Customer Reviews:

Upside Down You're Turning Me.......2002-10-31

This otherwise well-written and lavishly illustrated book contains a major disappointment for serious students of Phoenician history: A photograph of the famous Nora Stele from Sardinia, one of the oldest Phoenician inscriptions, is printed upside down! Not only that, but the inscriptions's allusion to the biblical Tarshish has been cropped from the photo. This important inscription should have been reproduced in its entirety and right side up.

The Phoenicians: Mysterious Sea People (Ancient Civilizations)

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The Phoenicians: Mysterious Sea People (Ancient Civilizations)
Katherine Reece
Manufacturer: Rourke Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1595152369

History of Civilization: The Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Hittites (The Hebrews, Phoenicians and Hittites)

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History of Civilization: The Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Hittites (The Hebrews, Phoenicians and Hittites)
Marilyn Chase , and Martha Kuhn
Manufacturer: Milliken Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1558635149

Product Description

Color Overheads Included!! The Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Hittites contains 12 full-color transparencies, 4 reproducible pages, and a richly detailed teachers guide. Among the topics covered in this volume are the geography of Anatolia, the Hittite religion, the geography of Phoenicia and Palestine, the Phoenician religion, the development of the alphabet, Abraham and Moses, Kind David, King Solomon, and the Hebrew religion.

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