This presentation was inspired by the Sudanese people that I met while in Egypt. They know they that are the true descendants of the pharaohs, however the modern Egyptians are darn near ready to fight when the truth of Kemet’s African origins is mentioned. I’ll address their reasons for this is another presentation. Today, I’ll make it clear that the pharaonic culture came into Egypt from the place that the Arabs named Sudan, which in Arabic means “Land of the Blacks”. You might also want to see my video called “Ethiopia and The Gift of the Nile”. I’ll put the link in the description box.
There are a few important details that it would benefit you to know. Firstly, the Africans of Sudan fought off the Romans that ruled Egypt after the Greeks. Also, Sudan fought off the Arab hordes until the early 16th century – nearly 1000 years after Egypt gave way to the Arabs.
The second detail of extreme importance is that there is a hugely significant difference between the borders of Ancient Kemet with Ancient Nubia, and the border of modern Egypt with modern Sudan. Borders in Antiquity were not as rigid as they are today. Throughout most of Ancient History the border between these two lands was the 1st Cataract. In 1899 Arabic Egypt, along with their British overlords, moved the border 168 miles/270 kilometers south into Sudan. Consequently, land that had been Sudanic became modern Egyptian. From their the Arabs and their overlords shamelessly began to revise history.
THE EVIDENCE FROM QUSTUL
Qustul was an archeological site that was in Sudan before the border was moved in 1899. It is now within the border of modern Egypt. The early civilizations of Qustul had a great cultural influence on Kemet. One of these influences is the concept of divine kingship, which means that the Pharaoh was thought of as a divine representative of God – he is “Heru on Earth”. Kemet was an elaboration of the political entities that emerged in the lands south of the Ancient border like Qustul – not a culture that emerged from the Asia.
The representation of the king as a hawk also has a Nubian origin and the best evidence for this was found in a cemetery in Nubia in 1964 by Keith Seele. This cemetery is underwater today because of the building of the High Aswan Dam that was finished in 1970, however the evidence supports the conclusion of an “up south” origin of Kemetic civilization and Pharaonic rule. An incense burner was found at Qustul that has several images that provide insight into the world of Pharaonic culture. It is generally accepted that the incense burner is about 800 years older than the accepted date of 3100 BC, which is commonly accepted as the date that the two lands of Kemet were united. From the left to the right, the incense burner possesses images of a serekh, which is a symbol for kingship that was later borrowed by Kemites. You can also see a bound captive. Next a man is wearing the crown that would later be used as the crown of Upper Egypt. The beard is apparent and so is a flail. Just in front of him is a hawk standing atop a castle is a symbol of kingship. If you are ever in Chicago, Illinois in the United States you should see the Qustul incense burner for yourself at the Oriental Institute Museum.
THE GEBEL SHEIKH SULEIMAN RELIEF
There are other pieces of evidence that suggests a movement of pharaonic culture down the Nile from modern Sudan to what is today called Egypt. The Gebel Sheikh Suleiman relief that was found in Sudan about 49 kilometers/30 miles south of Qustul is one of the Sudanic monuments that provides valuable information. On the monument, from the left to the right, there is a hawk atop a castle, a bound captive who is bound with the symbol for Ta Seti “Land of the Bow”, and also there appears to be two birds atop what became the hieroglyphic determinative for “city” or “state”. The art features slain enemies, just as it would hundreds of years later in Kemet.
THE BULL PALATTE
Some of the same iconography is featured on the Bull Palette, like the serekh and the hawk. There appears to have been competition for rulership between centralized states throughout the region. These competing states appear to have used the same iconography for kingship, like the hawk and the bull. This indicates that there was an extremely long cultural history that emerged throughout the region, long before the artifacts that we have found. A clear example of this is the similarities between the Bull Palette, which is currently housed at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France and the Narmer Palette, which you will see when you visit the Cairo Museum in Cairo, Egypt. Both of these artifacts are thought to have been used as palettes to mix makeup.
The Bull Palette is thought to have been created in the centuries leading up to the 1st Dynasty, which began when Pharaoh Narmer united “The Two Lands”. The obverse side of the palette features a fortified city or state with a lion and a vessel, or vase, inside. I surmise that this indicates an area that is protected by a monarch, and also the presence of a settled community. On the front side at the bottom appears to be a fortified city with a bird within it. It is difficult to determine since the palette has been broken and the whole of it cannot be pieced together. Near the top on this side of the palette is a vivid image of a bull killing a man. This symbolizes a king destroying his enemies.
The reverse side depicts this same scene of the bull vanquishing his enemy. The only difference is that the head of the enemy can be seen. This appears to be a foreigner from outside Africa, as indicated by the enemy’s hair. The vanquished man has hair quite similar to the Asiatic captives featured at the entrance of Ramses ll temple at Abu Simbel. This same enemy is depicted towards the bottom in a vulnerable position. Towards the center of the reverse side there are five images all of which are connected to a rope by an arm and fist. The first two are two hippopotami, the third is an ibis bird, which was anthropomorphized as the deity Djehuty, who is most often referred to by the Greek variant Thoth. The fourth is the Heru/Horus falcon, and the fifth is thought to be a symbol for the deity Min. The Bull Palette was found at Nekhen, which is currently known by its Greek name Hierakonpolis.
THE NARMER PALETTE
The Narmer Palette was found in the same city as the Bull Palette; however, it relates to a time after the Bull Palette. On both sides of the Narmer Palette, towards the bottom, there is a bull ravaging his enemies. It is apparent that these men are the same enemies that are towards the bottom of the Bull Palette. There is a serekh at the top of both sides in the center. In this serekh is the hieroglyphic spelling of the name “Narmer”, with the catfish making the sound “nar” and the chisel making the sound “mer”. The center of the palette depicts a dramatic scene of Narmer holding an enemy by the hair with his left hand, while holding up a mace with his right hand. Here he is wearing the “hedjet”, which is the bulb-like white crown of Upper Kemet. On this side, there is also a picture of a hawk holding a tool that is forced into the nose of an enemy. This enemy is thought to be from a marshland, perhaps near the mouth of the Hapi, where it flows into the Mediterranean. On the reverse side of the palette, Narmer is presented with the “deshret”, which is the red crown of Lower Kemet. Before him are four standard bearers with an animal skin, a canine, and two hawks. Once again, there is a serekh with a hawk on it. What follows next is a slew of dead bodies, presented in a way that signifies bodies slain in war. You must see this palette for yourself at the Cairo Museum!
The artifacts reveal that even though there may have been rival kings that were competing for dominance, the hieroglyphs and concepts that were associated with Kemet existed long before Kemet came into existence – long before Narmer united the two lands. If you look just beyond the smoke screen that was created by western and Arabic Egyptologists it becomes apparent that the Nubians of Ta Seti and Sudan are the true descendants of Kemet. The absurd claim of a mixed-race oasis emerging out of nowhere in Africa is only anti-black propaganda.