Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Axum (Aksum)

On October 24, 2009 the curtains went down on one of the most memorable events of the year, for those who took the time to view the exhibition, ‘Lucy’s Legacy, the Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia,’ hosted by Discovery Times Square Exposition. The exhibit provided an evolutionary narrative of our ancestral family tree,  ranging from the seven million year old Sahelanthropus tchadensis to Ardipethecus kadabba, Ardipithecus ramidus, Australopithecus anamensis, and, the star of the exhibit, Australopithecus afarensis, Dinkenesh, alias Lucy. We were reminded during the exhibit that the discovery of the skeletal remains of Dinkenesh took place the very year that Haile Selassie was overthrown. The 1974 discovery marked the end of an era, and the start of a new episode in Hominid history which propelled Ethiopia to the forefront of research in this field. Most of the fossils discovered to date,  have been found in Ethiopia, considered by some scholars to be‘ the cradle of mankind.’ Most instructive, for scholars of ancient
northeast Africa, were the numerous artifacts on display from Aksum, including some of the world’s earliest coins in silver, copper and gold. The coins represented several Ethiopian  monarchs,  including King Endubis (270-300AD),  King Kaleb ( 520 AD), King Wazena (6th century), King Halaz (575 AD),  King Gersen (600AD),  and King Armah (614 AD). On display were medicinal scrolls, book stamps, pens and locally made ink,  and  processional and hand held crosses, representing everlasting life. There were diverse  swords, spears and daggers of various dimensions, with and without sheaths, one of which was about 6 feet in length. Also on display were board games,  and musical instruments such as the bagana, an  8 or 10 string lyre,  and the sistrum, an ancient  musical instrument still used in the Ethiopian orthodox church and also used by the Egyptians.  An exquisite outfit of velvet and silk, traditionally worn by Oromo horsemen, was also on display. One of the cherished items for  viewers was a replica of the remarkable Church of Beta Giyorghis,  or, St. George’s Church, chiseled and sculptured  in the shape of a cross, being one of eleven churches attributed by some scholars to the era of King Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty. Lalibela, the city,  previously known as Roha, was  Ethiopia’s capital in the 12th and 13th century. The Aksumites were associated with Christianity from its early inception, according to Biblical references. The kingdom   later adopted Christianity officially,  just about a decade after Rome. Ethiopia is believed to be  th  host of the Ark of the Covenant, and to date has the largest Christian  Orthodox Church, built by Emperor Haile Selassie before his assassination in 1974.

The Ethiopian Aksumites constructed the largest stone monument in the world, a carved stone monolith, weighing 500 tons and 100 ft high, taller than the Egyptian pyramid of Giza, and one of the eight UNESCO heritage sites of Ethiopia. The largest existing  stela is 68 feet tall and ten stories high, inscribed with false  windows and doors. Emperor Fasilidas is credited with the establishment of Gondar in  1636, in the post -Aksumite era.  Monasteries, baths and a series of castles are among the attractions of this city, located  south of Aksum and north of Lalibela. There were ample illustrations of this wondrous monument in the exhibit.

Ethiopia is also home to the third largest Muslim population in Africa. Ethiopia’s Harar hosts  the fourth most important Islamic center after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.  Ethiopian contact with Islam dates back to 615 AD when King Armah, provided protection for exiled supporters of the Prophet Mohammed, including one of his future wives. Four Korans from Harar were on display.  There were some illustrations related to Ethiopia’s Jewish population, or Beta Israel, 20,000 of whom remain in Gondar. The interconnections between Emperor Haile Selassie, Rastafarianism and Marcus Garvey were commented on in the exhibit, and attracted  the attention of  several visitors.

The exhibit was not flawless. The timeline on display at the entrance to the exhibit  could have included more references to the rest of Africa, to situate Dinkenesh (Lucy),  and Aksum, for that matter, in the wider African story.  Yeha was founded around 900 BC,  but about 10,000 years before Yeha, Malian and Nubian pots were being fashioned in the West African and northeast African regions. About seven thousand years before Yeha, Nigeria’s famous Dufuna boat would have been constructed.  One hundred  thousand years before them all, artifacts would have been created by early South Africans at  Blombos. Aksum must therefore be placed in a wider context of African historical growth. Another observation is that during the exhibit,  the use of the Ethiopian name Dinkenesh was half hearted, with insufficient attempt to truly redefine the naming process,  in the interest of Ethiopian realities.
One area for improvement in museums and exhibits in general is in the area of donor acknowledgement. Where possible, the original source of the object should be identified,  in addition to the gift donor. The glorification of gift donors should not be done at the expense of the original village or town from which  the object came.  Finally, the exhibit’s representation of  Homo sapiens sapiens attempted to reflect diversity but failed. African representation was inadequate, weak, subdued  and peripheral. The image was a vast improvement on the old Eurocentric image of Homo sapiens sapiens,  which used to be exclusively Caucasoid in appearance, but this present image is not inclusive enough.

Three weeks before the closing of the Discovery Times Exhibition, the University of Manchester hosted a conference of great significance to scholars of Ancient Northeast Africa. The goal of the conference was to situate Egypt in its African context,  and  for that purpose,  several scholars were invited. The conference was opened by the Curator, Egypt and the Sudan at the Manchester Museum, Dr. Karen Exell. This was followed by an excellent presentation by  Dr. Shomarka Keita of the National Human Genome Center, Howard University and the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Keita  presented  an illuminating powerpoint presentation on  the peopling of the Nile Valley, making reference to linguistics, archeology and human biology. Dr.  Amon Saakana proceeded to point to the pictographic, petroglyphic and other forms of writing as they illuminated the role of Nubia in shaping the emerging Egyptian state. He emphasized that by 7000BCE,  in Nubia, there was the cult of cattle, incised drawings on rocks, and megalithic structures mapping the Orion constellation, all predating later Egyptian adoptions. Saakana’s arguments basically correlated with  those of Dr. Alain Anselin whose main argument was that Egyptian civilization originated in Naqadan cultures which were basically derived from an early African pool of cultures. Muzzolini (2001), Wendorf (2004), Friedman (2002), Le Quellec (2005), Hassan  (2002) and Kobuciewicz  (2004)  have provided relevant scholarly  research related to the Chadic, Nilo-Saharan and Nilotic foundations of Ancient Egyptian civilization, according to Dr. Anselin.

Dr. Ana Navajas-Jimenez of Oxford University looked at the African context of pharaonic power and kingship,  with emphasis on the predynastic cattle culture from which it emerged,  while  Dr. Kimani Nehusi of the University of East London focused on similarities in libation practices in ancient Egypt, and other parts of Africa and its Diaspora.  He raised the issue of cultural continuity and interconnections between the ancient northeast and the rest of the continent. In similar vein Dr. Abdul Salau would explore the linguistic interconnections between the Yoruba language and ancient Egyptian, developing farther some arguments made by J.O Lucas a few decades ago. Dr. Sally -Ann Ashton of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University, wondered whether there was the fear of a Black land, and so did Robin Walker of Black History Studies, London. Ultimately Western scholars decided to sacrifice Nubia to save Egypt from ‘Afrocentric heresy’  but the Egyptologists were prepared to compromise on Dynasty XXV and perhaps on Dynasty X11, but that was all, according to Walker,  in his incisive critique of Eurocentric methodology with respect to Egypt. The present writer, in her presentation, concluded that out of 20
World History textbooks examined,  six models emerged with respect to the identity of ancient Egypt, inclusive of  Isolationist, Eurasian, West Asian, Aegean,  Afro-Eurasian and African centered  models. She concluded that authors of World History Textbooks in the United States must ultimately situate their discussion of ancient Egypt squarely in ancient Africa for a more logical and  intelligible  analysis of ancient Egyptian society.

These memorable events represented two positive scholarly initiatives on Ancient Africa,  on both sides of the Atlantic.
 Source: http://www.africahistory.net

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