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Neelam Khan
ENG102G1/Comp and Lit.II
Professor Shabazz
Feburary 27,2017
Ancient Egypt the Cradle of Civilization

According to Cheikh Anta Diop, Universal knowledge runs from the Nile Valley toward the

rest of the world, in particular, Greece, which served as an intermediary. As a result, no thought,

no ideology is foreign to Africa which was the land of their birth. Ancient Egypt is the mother

of all civilization. The fact that this mythology is so relevant till this day is the living testimony

that ancient Egypt is the source of all knowledge in the world .The ancient Egyptian sacred text

provides a tremendous amount of information about ancient Egyptians being the one who laid

the foundation stone for Humanity. In Heru: The Resurrection, Osiris, the beneficent king of

Egypt, is killed by his jealous brother Set. He cut him in pieces and distributed them throughout

Egypt. Set becomes the king of Egypt along with his sister- wife Nephthys. Nephthys, however,

always felt sorry for her sister Isis, who wept all the time over the loss of her husband. Later on,

Isis along with Nephthys sought his body and assembled the pieces together. She then breathed

the breath of life into his body and resurrected him. They were together again. Isis gave birth

to Horus. Horus avenges his father and becomes the real king of Egypt.

Heru: The resurrection not only provides an in-depth understanding of ancient Egyptian

civilization, but also it provides remarkable evidence that strengthen our beliefs about the earliest

humans on planet earth. It has also helped us contemplate on the fact that how the ancient

Egyptian culture and norms are so relatable till this day. It's often said that most of the Western
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culture has its roots in Greek, Roman, or Judeo traditions. All three, however, seems to have

drawn its inspiration from the ancient spiritual and economic superpower of its time called,

Egypt. In Heru: The Resurrection, Punt is mentioned as an "Ancestral Homeland." E.A Wallis

Budge in his book Cleopatra's Needles says "Hathor and several other Egyptian deities including

Tehuti, Shu, Tefnuti have origins in Sudan. Another famous author Pierre Montel in his book

Eternal Egypt stressed that tradition brings Hathor and the great gods from God's land, Ta-Neter

which lay south and east of Egypt. Ta-Neter appears to have included Arabia and Punt, which is

the modern day coast of Somalia and Eritrea and is called Puntland. Hathor was also called

"Lady of The Tree," mainly Sycamore which makes it clear that Hathor was of inner African

origin. Which in turn proves that the religion of Pharaonic Egypt originated in African anterior

and spread to the rest of the black continent, then Asia and Europe. These facts clearly

demonstrate that the earliest humans were undeniably Negroids. Likewise, Crete is also

mentioned in Heru: The Ressurection. This Aegean Island of Crete served as a link between

North Africa and Europe, and it is where the African religious ideas were introduced to Europe.

We also live under the pretense that Christianity originated from Judaism. But if we critically

analyze the geneses of Christianity, we find a link between Christianity and its origins from

Kamet. The divine characters of Osirian drama can very easily be identified with Christian

drama. For instance, the Egyptian name for Ausar is Asr, which means born or created of Isis.He

is a vegetarian god or corn god identified with growth. A lunar god, because his reign of 28 years

is equal to one lunar cycle. A god of the vine. A dying god, murdered by his brother Set, and

most importantly a resurrected god Horus, identified with Lord of eternity and judge of the

dead.Isis is the virgin mother of Horus. Horus as an infant son is shown sitting in his mother Isis

lap. As a son of Ra, he appears as a rising sun, conquering the dragon of darkness. Finally, there
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is god Set, who at first a benevolent God becomes the arch enemy of Osiris and later threatens

his son Horus. According to Charles F Finch, "This composite entity Osiris-Horus is the

archetype of the gospel Jesus. Comparing the kamitic archetypal figure to Christ, we have a

being who is born of Virgin Mother. He contends against the adversary, embodies the vine, is the

"bread of life" (Osiris as corn god) and personifies the dying god who is resurrected and reigns

as the judge of the dead and Lord of Eternity. Comparing Isis to the Virgin Mary we see that she

is the virgin mother who brings forth the divine child. Set corresponds with Satan, the evil one.

Indeed, set gives his name to Satan as Set-an. "Set" as we have seen is the destructive power and

"an" in the Egyptian language is a mark of emphasis. This surprising parallelism between ancient

Kametic religion and Christianity further establishes the Kametic presence in the history of the

world".

Moving on, we know that ancient Egypt was the world's most advanced civilization. Its

culture was rich and fascinating. Egyptian religious beliefs, burial customs, art and crafts,

architecture, to this day is an object of fascination for the world. For example, if we look at their

religious beliefs we see that beneath the polytheistic traditions there was an increasing faith in a

unity of the divine, moving toward monotheism. Just like Judaism, Christianity or Islam today.

Religion was central in ancient Egyptian society. It was believed that the gods are constantly

watching the world over the people of Egypt and heard and responded to their problems. For

example, when Auset wanted to perform the Opening of the Mouth ceremony on Ausar, she

called on to the help of Ra. Ra would reveal to them the words of power needed for the

ceremony. Death was part of a journey of life. The tombs and mummies that they created were a

means of continuing it for eternity. Their burial customs were mainly based on ensuring

immortality after the death. Mummification was performed to preserve the individual physical
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body without which one could not achieve immortality. In the novel, Ausar's brother makes a

sarcophagus for him. Also, Uachetem gave instructions that Ausar's body must be hidden away

because he didn't want Tehuti to perform proper funerary rites, which could empower Ausar's

soul and could thwart Set's plans. It proves that ancient Egyptians gave us the concepts of the

afterlife, the idea of soul or judgment after the death. Ancient Egyptians were skilled builders.

Stone structures like pyramids and temples were created using simple and practical tools and

techniques. In the novel, queen mother Auset is shown to give her daily sermons in an elaborate

hall that can accommodate more than five hundred people and had 30 feet high windows. Their

art included paintings, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, and drawings on papyrus. Set, and his sister-

wife Neptys are shown to wear precious jewelry made of gold, rubies or blood stones. Egyptians

introduced Astronomy and astrology to the world. Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th

century B.C, wrote: "Egyptians were the first to find out the course of the year, having divided

the seasons into twelve parts to make up the whole." Egyptians enjoyed drinking beer, kept pets

such as cats and dogs, loved musical instruments like cymbals, drums, tambourine, or sisterim.

Hygiene was of utmost importance, and priests use to shave every day. The rites of circumcision,

which is by no means an invention of either Judaism or Islam emerges as an element of

systematic hygiene in ancient Egypt. Thus it goes without saying that ancient Egyptian culture

has affected every aspect of our society be it religious beliefs, architecture, art, medicine, food or

sports.

Moreover, Egyptian social class was structured much like the social fabric of any modern

day civilization. At the top were gods like Ra, Osiris, and Isis which were believed to control the

universe. Egyptian elevated some human being to gods. Pharaohs had absolute powers, and all

laws were at their discretion. A minister or vizier was supposed to supervise all affairs of the
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government. Scribes work along with vizier to keep government records. Right below the

pharaoh in status were powerful nobles and priests. Only nobles could hold government posts.

Priests were responsible for pleasing the gods. Nobles enjoyed the great status and also grew

wealthy from donations to the gods. All Egyptians from pharaohs to farmers gave gifts to

the gods. Next in the hierarchy were soldiers. They fought in wars or would suppress or control

domestic uprisings. During peace, soldiers also supervised the peasants, farmers, and slaves who

were involved in building such structures as pyramids and palaces. The middle class was

comprised of skilled labors such as physicians and craft person.At the bottom of this social fabric

were farmers and slaves. Social mobility was not impossible. Although the higher classes or

nobility lived in more ornate homes with greater material wealth, due to social justice and maa't

they seemed to have followed the same precepts as those lower on the social hierarchy.

The more a civilization progresses, the more rights it gives it to its female population. The

development of a society can be quickly judged by looking at the status of the women. In ancient

Egyptian society, the social standing of women was very high. Contrary to the present day

modern women who still struggles with the challenges of gender inequality, ancient Egyptian

women enjoyed complete parity and equal opportunity as men. The fact that the kametic system

was matriarchal rather patriarchal gave its women great powers. It was because the lineage or the

royal line was determined through the female. Egyptian women enjoyed a great deal of legal and

financial independence. They could buy and sell a property, serve on juries, make wills and even

enter into legal contracts. Whenever an Egyptian women worked outside, she was supposed to be

paid the same amount of money as her male colleague. Unlike Greek civilization where women

were practically owned by their husbands, the kametic women were free in their decisions about

marriages and divorces. In Heru: The resurrection, the most dominant goddess of ancient Egypt
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is Isis.Isis is shown to co-rule with her husband. She is closely associated with the power of

Pharaoh. Also, she is depicted with a miniature of the throne as a headdress and a child (Heru) in

her lap whom she was giving her throne. According to Runoko Rashidi" Millennia before the

Carthage, however, in the valley of the Nile, the Africans had strongly developed religious

concepts in which the female deity played a tremendously important part. She had all-

encompassing influence and was universally acknowledge as the greatest and ultimate seat of

power". This understanding is reaffirmed in the Husia in which God Ra, is also named as Atum

which depicts Completeness and Perfection. In this completeness and perfection, Ra contains

both male and female aspects. "Hail to you Ra, Perfect each day, Creator of all, Beneficent

Mother of divine spirits and human beings."

Ancient Egyptian history apart from giving us an understanding of the evolvement of the

human civilization also gives us a unique perspective about our origins, our identity and what are

our potentials as a human being can be. What is the origin of human beings? We ask ourselves.

We try to find this answer with explanations about evolution and natural selection. Western

scientists assert that humans evolved from apes. But there is an alternative answer to this

question also. The answer is based on religion. Every religion in the world has some form of

explanation about the creation of the universe, the earth and all sort of life on this earth. In the

Egyptian mythology, the myth of creation begins with Nun, which is the dark water of chaos.

One day a hill rose up out of the waters, this hill was called Ben-ben.On this hill stood Atum, the

first god.Atum brought forth two deities, Shu and Tefnut, representing "air" and "moisture."

These two gods gave birth to the male god Geb, who represented the earth, and the female deity

Nut, who represented the heavens. Now consider what Christianity says about creation? Genesis

says, first, the waters above were divided from the waters below. Next, the waters below were
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gathered into a single place. "The waters above" is an Egyptian concept signifying the sky.

Genesis 2:4 personify Adam and Eve as heaven and earth, and since Adam is created out of the

dust of the earth, we can equate him with the Egyptian deity Geb or Earth, and we can compare

Eve with the Egyptian goddess Nut or heaven. There are some other interesting parallels between

Geb and Nut and Adam and Eve. According to the Osiris myth, Ra, the chief deity, ordered Geb

and Nut, not to couple. They disobeyed his command and were punished. Ra ordered Shu to

separate the two bodies and declared that Nut would not be able to give birth on any day of the

year. Thoth, sympathetic to Nut's plight, helped her. Consequently, Nut gave birth to five

children, Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Genesis has a similar plot. God gave Adam and

Eve (or Earth and Heaven) a direct order. They disobey that order and one of the punishments

inflicted include difficulties with childbirth. Subsequently, Eve gave birth to three sons, Cain,

Abel, and Set. These similarities prove that Christian stories of creation were derived from

Egyptian myth of creation. Which, in turn, demonstrates that the human origins undoubtedly

began in ancient Egypt and that the earliest human beings were not evolved from ape, but were

created by God in heaven and descended to earth

Furthermore, when it comes to human identity, The Husia teaches that humans are the noble

images of God. Humans are the bearers of divinity and dignity. Because of this inherent divinity,

human beings are chosen to bring good into this world. And it's our moral obligation to reaffirm

who we are. It is our true identity that compels us to act rightful and righteously towards each

other and to the world. In the book of The Declaration of Virtues, it says" Nefer-seshem-Ra,

says: I have spoken truly and done right. I spoke justly and repeated that which was just; I seized

the night moment so as to stand well with the people. I judged between two in such a way that

would satisfy both of them. I rescued the weak from those who were stronger as much as was in
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my power. I gave bread to the hungry, clothes to the naked and bought the boat less to dry land. I

buried those who had no children and built a boat for those were without one. I respected my

father, pleased my mother and raised my sisters and brothers." These virtues serve as the basis of

Maat, for the people to follow them on personal and social levels. And it is only through maa't

that the human beings can realize themselves and achieve the status of greatness, and honor their

identity.

Ancient Egyptian teachings are preserved through the course of time to help humanity reach

its full potential. Full potential means that human beings can achieve oneness with God.

According to The Husia, human beings are born with the divine nature, which gives them the

potential to assimilate with the divine. All it needs is to be cultivated through the teachings of

maa't social practice. In Coming Forth, the risen and honest person becomes, in fact, one with

and as Osiris-the risen and justified divinity. In Egyptian theology, unlike Judeo-Christian

anthropology where one is born in sin, the human being is taken in the context unlimited

possibilities. In the early days of ancient Egyptian theology, only the kings were considered to be

someone with the potential of being in oneness with God, but later on, this godlike potential

became open to all. Principles of Maa't is the only basis for the unity of men and God. It says, In

the Book of Rising and Transformation, "My seat is with you, O' Ra, and I will not yield it to

anyone. I will ascend to the sky to you, O' Ra, My face is the face of Falcons; my wings are

those of the duck, and my talons are those of Him who dwells on Cerastes Mountain. There is no

evidence against me on earth among men and women and no accusation against me in the sky

among the powers of heaven. For I have proved false all evidence against me; indeed, I disposed

of it so that I might fly up to the sky among my brothers and sisters, the powers of heaven. I use

my arms as a goose and flap my wings like a hawk. Lo, the flier flies. O' men and women of
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earth. And so conceding with Cheikh Anta Diop ancient Egyptian kamet was indeed a

birthplace of all humanity and the epicenter of all the knowledge and aspirations.