The Bantu in Ancient Egypt

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THE
KISWAHILI-BANTU
RESEARCH
UNIT
FOR THE
ADVANCEMENT
OF THE
ANCIENT
EGYPTIAN
LANGUAGE

BATU, THE
BANTU
Sudanic country:
Situation Unknown
Researched By Ferg
Somo 30th June 2008
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THE BANTU IN
ANCIENT
EGYPT
For the first time ever the
set of hieroglyphics above
leaves an indelible print
which traces back the
existence of the Bantu
people during ancient
times in the Sudan and
Egypt. The following
variations in pronunciation
of the word 'Bantu' give
an insight on how the
word may have been
pronounced in different
Bantu languages. The list
of
the
various
pronunciations
was
provided
by
Israel
Ntangazwa. Some of the
variations in pronunciation
are new to me.

SOME
VARIATIONS IN
PRONUNCIATION
OF THE WORD
'BANTU' THE
PEOPLE
BANTU, BATU, ATHO,
WATU, ATU,
ACHO, BOT, BANU,
BANHU, ADU
The

hieroglyphics

spells
out the word 'BATU' in
keeping with the current
original word 'BANTU'.
The maps shown below
trace
the
possible

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migrations of the Bantu

people. The origin of the
Bantu
people
is
a
controversial issue and has
been deeply debated.

Below is an account which

questions present day
ideas about the origins of
the Bantu people. In his
book on the 'Restatement
Of Bantu Origin and Meru
History'
the
Kenyan
scholar
Alfred
M
M'Imanyara provides the
evidence for a southerly
migration from Egypt of
the Bantu people.
THE NIGER- CONGO
HYPOTHESIS
The
Niger-Congo
hypothesis developed by
Joseph
Greenberg on
Bantu languages state that
the Bantu originated in
West
Africa,
the
Cameroon, and migrated
across the the Congo basin
into Southern and East
Africa.
Guthrie on the other hand
did not commit himself but
said that the Bantu
dispersal lies within an
elliptical area towards the
centre, in the woodland
region of Katanga.
The
Niger-Congo
hypothesis needs to be
re-examined further as one
has to take into account
oral traditions from groups
of present day Kenyan
Bantu elders who recall a

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southerly migration from

Egypt.
The following sources of
accounts of migrations of
some of the Bantu
speakers in Kenya are
taken from:
i) Kenya an official
handbook
ii) Story of Africa from
earliest times, Book one,
A.J Willis
iii) Longman GHC, E.S
Atieno Odhimbo, John N.
B. N. I Were
Almost all the Bantu
people living in Kenya
speak of a migration from
up North. The people of
Marachi
location
are
known to have come from
Elgon although other clans
of the same group came
from Egypt. They came in
canoes on the River Nile
as far as Juja, Uganda and
later moved eastward into
lake
Victoria.
They
changed
course
until
Asembo and separated
with the Luo who walked
along the lake shore but
the rest crossed into South
Nyanza. They then turned
northwards and reached
Butere and then moved on
to Luanda and to Ekhomo.
The Luo people were
behind them right from
Egypt.
The people of Samia
location came from Egypt
on foot. The Abakhekhe
clan too originated from
Egypt on foot. The

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Abachoni clan originally

came from Egypt on foot.
The people of Bukusu
originally
came
from
Egypt in canoes.
Possible migration routes
of Bantu from Central
Sudan

The following article is

from Wikipidia and lists
some Bantu people who
came from Egypt:
The Luhya oral literature
of origin, suggest a
migration
into
their
present-day locations from
the north. Virtually all
sub-ethnic groups claim to
have migrated first south
from Misri, or Egypt. In
one of the Luhya dialect
the word 'Abaluhya' means
'the people of the North',
or 'Northerns'
Other sources report that
the
following
Bantu
people,
the
Luhya,
Baganda,
Nyarwanda,
Rundi of Burindi, Kikuyu,
and the Zulu all claim a

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southerly migration from

Egypt. Moreover there are
many groups of Bantu
speakers from Tanzania,
Mozambique,
Congo,
Zambia, Malawi, South
Africa, who testify a
southerly migration from
Egypt. There are even
groups of people from
West Africa who migrated
from Egypt into their
present day location.
Apart from the oral
traditions provided by
Bantu elders, the evidence
is also based on linguistic,
historical, scientific and
cultural studies done by
Cheikh Anta Diop.
The following maps are
taken from Alfred M
M'Imanyara
'The
Restatement of Bantu
Origin and Meru History'
published by Longman
Kenya, ISBN 9966 49 832
x
According to Alfred M
M'Imanyra the following
maps show the homeland
of the original Bantu
people in Egypt. This
careful information has
been
derived
from
traditional
sources
provided by Bantu elders
in the course of his
research. I would like to
support
Alfred
M
M'Imanyara's work by
sharing with him the
important discovery of the
of hieroglyphics above
which mentions a Sudanic

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town
of
unknown
situation. Clearly the town
would have to be named
after the people inhabiting
the town, the 'BANTU' or
the 'BATU', the people.
Original homeland of the
Bantu up to 1500 A.D
Dark shading: Possible
ultimate origin of the
Bantu
Cross shading: Area of
Bantu expansion into
Egypt

Bantu Migration Routes

from Cush and the Island
of Meroe

Migration of the Bantu

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Note: The settlements of

the Bantu in West Africa
may have been a result of
two streams of Bantu
emigrants: one from the
Congo basin and the other
directly from the Nile
valley.
Please feel free to
provide further evidence
on this subject. Contact
me by e-mail
References:
The Restatement Of Bantu
Origin and Meru History.
Alfred M M'Imanyara
Longman Kenya
UNESCO General History
Of Africa, Vol1,2
Egypt Before The
Pharaohs. Michael A
Hoffman
The Peopling Of Africa.
James L Newman
Ancient Egypt and Black
Africa. Dr Theophile
Obenga
Civilisation or Barbarism.
Cheikh Anta Diop
The Children Of Woot. A
history of the Kuba
People. Jan Vansina
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Indaba My Children.
VusamaZulu Credo.
Mutwa
Wikipidia
Languages Of Africa.
Joseph H. Greenberg
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Researched by Ferg
Somo 30th June 2008

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