Full Description
The discipline of Egyptology has been criticised for being too insular, with little awareness of the development of archaeologies elsewhere. It has remained theoretically underdeveloped. For example the role of Ancient Egypt within Africa has rarely been considered jointly by Egyptologists and Africanists. Egypt's own view of itself has been neglected; views of it in the ancient past, in more recent times and today have remained underexposed. "Encounters with Ancient Egypt" is a series of eight books which addresses these issues. The books interrelate, inform and illuminate one another and will appeal to a wide market including academics, students and the general public interested in Archaeology, Egyptology, Anthropology, Architecture, Design and History. Geographically, Egypt is clearly on the African continent, yet Ancient Egypt is routinely regarded as a non-African cultural form. The significance of Ancient Egypt for the rest of Africa is a hotly debated issue with complex ramifications. This book considers how Ancient Egypt was dislocated from Africa, drawing on a wide range of sources. It examines key issues such as the evidence for actual contacts between Egypt and other early African cultures, and how influential, or not, Egypt was on them. Some scholars argue that to its north Egypt's influence on Mediterranean civilization was downplayed by western scholarship. Further afield, on the African continent perceptions of Ancient Egypt were coloured by biblical sources, emphasizing the persecution of the Israelites. An extensive selection of fresh insights are provided, several focusing on cultural interactions between Egypt and Nubia from 1000 BCE to 500 CE, developing a nuanced picture of these interactions and describing the limitations of an 'Egyptological' approach to them.
Contents
Locating Ancient Egypt in Africa: modern theories,past realities; Afrocentrism and Historical Models for the Foundation of Ancient Greece; Attributing Colour to the Ancient Egyptians: reflections on Black Athena; The Unity of Africa; Ancient Egypt and the Source of the Nile; Views of Ancient Egypt from a West African Perspective; Cheikh Anta Diop and Ancient Egypt in Africa; Ancient Egypt, Missionaries and Christianity in Southern Africa; Landscapes of Knowledge, Idioms of Power: the African foundations of ancient Egyptian civilization reconsidered; Ancient Egypt in the Sudanese Middle Nile: a case of mistaken identity?; On the Priestly Origin of the Napatan Kings: the adaptation, demise and resurrection of ideas in writing Nubian history; Pharaonic or Sudanic? Models for Meroitic society and change.
