As a layperson who loves reading about ancient Egypt, and ancient cultures in general, this was great! I feel like many folks are taught history as if different places exist in their own bubbles, but this piece really demonstrates the connection and spread of ideas between these civilizations.
As someone that is Sudanese this touched me. I’ve always knew that Kush had a major impact in the Mediterranean world considering that so many classical writers spoke so highly of Kush. But about racism and the curse of ham in the medieval world. Reading about what medieval Arabs writers wrote about black Africans, a lot of early medieval Arab writers tried to justify their hate for black Africans by using the curse of ham (aka saying that hams descendants were cursed with black skin) and I’ve always just assumed that this was Due to the slave trading of black Africans in the arab world. Cause prior to the 7th century the african states of Axum and kush were spoken of very highly by classical writers and both had a impact on the world, but with the arrival of Islam, you see many medieval writers express there anti black racism by using the curse of ham (al-Jahiz also says that before the advent of Islam, arabs looked up to Axumites/abyssinians and the “Zanj” but after the advent of Islam, arabs began to express more anti-black sentiments). What you wrote about the curse of Ham explains a lot and now, makes a lot more sense to why a lot of early arab writers all of the sudden started using the curse of ham theory (what’s also interesting is that a few Arab writers such as Ibn Khaldun, Al-Jahiz and Ibn al-jawzi all criticise the curse of ham theory and say that it’s not proven). And the Talmuds also explain why Europeans started using the curse of Ham theory as well. This theory clearly has a long legacy concerning certain origins to anti-black sentiments. It was also acknowledged by Ahmed-Baba too, a Timbuktu scholar. But other than that, this article on the kushite impact on the world is fascinating. I feel like Kush doesn’t get the attention it deserves, and I know many that study Kush and Nubia feel the same way. Either way thank you for this wonderful read. It was really eye opening and I am looking forward to other articles you put out in the future.
yes, kush was the nation (and people) that classical writers were praising and it was also the exact nation (and people) that early racist writings were referring to, the book by David Goldenberg goes into detail perfectly about the "curse of ham" it traces it ultimately to philo's mistranslation and miss-association of "ham" with "heat" and thus with blackness, by the time the midrash and talmuds were being made in the 4th century, the association had crystalized to identifying Ham with blackness and removing his other descendants such as Egypt to make the association of blackness more direct, but more important was the association of the curse with slavery, while most slaves in the eastern Mediterranean weren't black, most black people in the region came there as slaves in contrast to how they first arrived on the scene in the 8th century as soldiers, generals and kings (not to sound cliché), by the time the arabs were adding their own views to the established racist canon, the slave trade in their lands had increased significantly and the ideology of the curse of ham and kush's blackness all fitted together in the social-political paradigm well enough to reinforce each other, when westafrican and eastafrican muslim writers were beginning to enter the discourse on the rest of the world's views on race, they found it nearly impossible to go against the consensus, this is why many early african writers sound defensive in their attempt at showing the rest of the ulama that they were equal to them, which is how you get the statements like "Though I be frizzle-haired, coal-black of skin, My generosity and honor shine yet brighter" that an afro arab wrote in response to a racist remarks by arab poets , even by muhammad's own time in the 7th century, there was already sentiments of african inferiority relative to the arabs which is why he needed to state that “White has no preference over black, nor black over white" these are all clearly very defensive statements made against a firmly established ideology of racial hierarchy, ill write an article about it some time but as informative as they are, i dislike discourses on race in african history because it inevitably means not centering african societies or people, but instead giving weight to opinions of people whom africans in general had little contact with at the time. that aside, john hunwick wrote an excellent essay on black people and race in medieval islamic societies titled "Arab Views of Black Africans and Slavery" https://glc.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/events/race/Hunwick.pdf
As a layperson who loves reading about ancient Egypt, and ancient cultures in general, this was great! I feel like many folks are taught history as if different places exist in their own bubbles, but this piece really demonstrates the connection and spread of ideas between these civilizations.
thank you!
As someone that is Sudanese this touched me. I’ve always knew that Kush had a major impact in the Mediterranean world considering that so many classical writers spoke so highly of Kush. But about racism and the curse of ham in the medieval world. Reading about what medieval Arabs writers wrote about black Africans, a lot of early medieval Arab writers tried to justify their hate for black Africans by using the curse of ham (aka saying that hams descendants were cursed with black skin) and I’ve always just assumed that this was Due to the slave trading of black Africans in the arab world. Cause prior to the 7th century the african states of Axum and kush were spoken of very highly by classical writers and both had a impact on the world, but with the arrival of Islam, you see many medieval writers express there anti black racism by using the curse of ham (al-Jahiz also says that before the advent of Islam, arabs looked up to Axumites/abyssinians and the “Zanj” but after the advent of Islam, arabs began to express more anti-black sentiments). What you wrote about the curse of Ham explains a lot and now, makes a lot more sense to why a lot of early arab writers all of the sudden started using the curse of ham theory (what’s also interesting is that a few Arab writers such as Ibn Khaldun, Al-Jahiz and Ibn al-jawzi all criticise the curse of ham theory and say that it’s not proven). And the Talmuds also explain why Europeans started using the curse of Ham theory as well. This theory clearly has a long legacy concerning certain origins to anti-black sentiments. It was also acknowledged by Ahmed-Baba too, a Timbuktu scholar. But other than that, this article on the kushite impact on the world is fascinating. I feel like Kush doesn’t get the attention it deserves, and I know many that study Kush and Nubia feel the same way. Either way thank you for this wonderful read. It was really eye opening and I am looking forward to other articles you put out in the future.
yes, kush was the nation (and people) that classical writers were praising and it was also the exact nation (and people) that early racist writings were referring to, the book by David Goldenberg goes into detail perfectly about the "curse of ham" it traces it ultimately to philo's mistranslation and miss-association of "ham" with "heat" and thus with blackness, by the time the midrash and talmuds were being made in the 4th century, the association had crystalized to identifying Ham with blackness and removing his other descendants such as Egypt to make the association of blackness more direct, but more important was the association of the curse with slavery, while most slaves in the eastern Mediterranean weren't black, most black people in the region came there as slaves in contrast to how they first arrived on the scene in the 8th century as soldiers, generals and kings (not to sound cliché), by the time the arabs were adding their own views to the established racist canon, the slave trade in their lands had increased significantly and the ideology of the curse of ham and kush's blackness all fitted together in the social-political paradigm well enough to reinforce each other, when westafrican and eastafrican muslim writers were beginning to enter the discourse on the rest of the world's views on race, they found it nearly impossible to go against the consensus, this is why many early african writers sound defensive in their attempt at showing the rest of the ulama that they were equal to them, which is how you get the statements like "Though I be frizzle-haired, coal-black of skin, My generosity and honor shine yet brighter" that an afro arab wrote in response to a racist remarks by arab poets , even by muhammad's own time in the 7th century, there was already sentiments of african inferiority relative to the arabs which is why he needed to state that “White has no preference over black, nor black over white" these are all clearly very defensive statements made against a firmly established ideology of racial hierarchy, ill write an article about it some time but as informative as they are, i dislike discourses on race in african history because it inevitably means not centering african societies or people, but instead giving weight to opinions of people whom africans in general had little contact with at the time. that aside, john hunwick wrote an excellent essay on black people and race in medieval islamic societies titled "Arab Views of Black Africans and Slavery" https://glc.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/events/race/Hunwick.pdf
Thanks again for a great article. I'll be donating to your paypal by the 25th! Happy Holidays Isaac!
and happy holidays to you too
thank you so much for the appreciation