Black Athena Revisited

Book Overview

Was Western civilization founded by ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians? Can the ancient Egyptians usefully be called black? Did the ancient Greeks borrow religion, science, and philosophy from the Egyptians and Phoenicians? Have scholars ignored the Afroasiatic roots of Western civilization as a result of racism and anti-Semitism?
In this collection of twenty essays, leading scholars in a broad range of disciplines confront the claims made by Martin Bernal in Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization. In that work, Bernal proposed a radical reinterpretation of the roots of classical civilization, contending that ancient Greek culture derived from Egypt and Phoenicia and that European scholars have been biased against the notion of Egyptian and Phoenician influence on Western civilization. The contributors to this volume argue that Bernal's claims are exaggerated and in many cases unjustified.
Topics covered include race and physical anthropology; the question of an Egyptian invasion of Greece; the origins of Greek language, philosophy, and science; and racism and anti-Semitism in classical scholarship. In the conclusion to the volume, the editors propose an entirely new scholarly framework for understanding the relationship between the cultures of the ancient Near East and Greece and the origins of Western civilization.
The contributors are: John Baines, professor of Egyptology, University of Oxford Kathryn A. Bard, assistant professor of archaeology, Boston University C. Loring Brace, professor of anthropology and curator of biological anthropology in the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan John E. Coleman, professor of classics, Cornell University Edith Hall, lecturer in classics, University of Reading, England Jay H. Jasanoff, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Linguistics, Cornell University Richard Jenkyns, fellow and tutor, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and university lecturer in classics, University of Oxford Mary R. Lefkowitz, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities, Wellesley College Mario Liverani, professor of ancient near eastern history, Universit di Roma, 'La Sapienza' Sarah P. Morris, professor of classics, University of California at Los Angeles Robert E. Norton, associate professor of German, Vassar College Alan Nussbaum, associate professor of classics, Cornell University David O'Connor, professor of Egyptology and curator in charge of the Egyptian section of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania Robert Palter, Dana Professor Emeritus of the History of Science, Trinity College, Connecticut Guy MacLean Rogers, associate professor of Greek and Latin and history, Wellesley College Frank M. Snowden, Jr., professor of classics emeritus, Howard University Lawrence A. Tritle, associate professor of history, Loyola Marymount University Emily T. Vermeule, Samuel E. Zemurray, Jr., and Doris Zemurray Stone-Radcliffe Professor Emerita, Harvard University Frank J. Yurco, Egyptologist, Field Museum of Natural History and the University of Chicago

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807845558
• ISBN13: 9780807845554
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 2.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Just the facts ma'am

I am more of a medieval history fan, but this little controversy-want-to-be caught my attention. After reading Bernal's fiction, this book gave a refreshing take on scholarship. Various authors - thus various viewpoints- look at the evidence. Politics - or political correctness-is essentially ignored and this is quite refreshing to the reader. I urge you to read this book if only to learn how REAL scholars objectively study their work.

Real Scholarship

It was trully fun to read this book versus Bernal's. You feel Bernal really stretching the truth, unlike here where the research is evidence-based. That is true science. Bernal is pure politics, embraced by a politically-motivated minority.Enjoy.

The truth Hurts

This book absolutely undermines the fallacies of Black Athena. Whenever someone lies, just throw the truth at them. It works everytime !

A superb, academic refutation of PC drivel

I like how people who did not read this book write in to trash it. This is typical of the hysteria: "We don't like our true history, our people have been suppressed, let's change history to raise our self-esteem." Please. If you honestly go through each book and compare the same lines of argument/data, you can only conclude that Bernal is a fictional historian. It's that obvious. He surely became semi-famous in the process (coincidence?). Let's start another conspiracy....

the author's bravery is to be applauded.

it renews my faith in the human race when someone like Ms. Lefkowitz has the courage to stand up for rational thinking and logic. In response to the review from the reader in Michigan, you think Ms. Lefkowitz is blinded by her passion and YOU'RE not??????