GESTIÓN DE PROYECTOS

Comparison Criteria to Ancient

Egptian/Nubian

and

Greek

Cultures)

Early Cultural Interactions Between Greece, Rome, Egypt and Ethiopia.

The Greek and Roman epics are form the basis of Greco-Roman mythology and religion. These scriptures make specific and important ref- erences to Ancient Egypt and Ethiopia as founda- tions for Greco-Roman divinities and a special reverence for Ethiopia as the source of proper re- ligious practice.

As Rome emerged as a powerful military force in the period just prior to the birth of Christ (200 B.C.E.-30 B.C.E.), they adopted 169/839

Greek customs, religion and art, seeing these as their legacy. Just as the Greeks adopted The Illiad

andThe Odyssey, the Romans enthusiastically em-

bracedThe Aeneidas their national epic. Vergil or Virgil (70-19 B.C.E.) was a Roman poet who wrote The Aeneid in the Latin language.[43] The Aeneid is actually a story that was written in the same form as The Odyssey and The Illiad of the

Greek writer Homer. It was widely distributed and read throughout the Roman Empire. Thus,

The Aeneid is considered to be a classical Latin masterpiece of ancient world literature, which had enormous influence on later European writers.[44] Some portions of these texts have important implications to understand the relation- ship between the Egyptians, the Ethiopians and the Indians in ancient times. (italicized portions are by Ashby)

Mixed in the bloody battle on the plain;

And swarthy Memnon in his arms he knew,

His pompous ensigns, and his Indian crew.

-The Aeneid, Book I, Vergil or

Virgil (70-19 BC)[45]

In Greek myth, Memnon was a king from Ethiopia, and was openly referred to as being “burnt of skin”, i.e. “black.”[46] He was the son of Tithonus, a Troyan (Trojan) prince, and Eos, a Greek goddess of the dawn. Tithonus and Eos represent the sky and romantic love, respectively. During the Troyan war, Memnon assisted Troy[47] with his army. Even though he fought valiantly, he was killed by Achilles. In order to comfort Memnon’s mother, Zeus, the king of the Greek gods and goddesses, made Memnon im- mortal.[48] The Greeks revered a colossal statue of the Ancient Egyptian king Amenhotep III as an image of Memnon. During the times of Greek (332 B.C.E.-30 B.C.E.) and Roman (30 171/839

B.C.E.-450 A.C.E.) conquest of Egypt, it became fashionable for Greek and Roman royalty, nobles and those of means from all over the ancient world, especially Greece, to take sightseeing trips to Egypt. The “Colossi of Memnon” were big at- tractions. The Colossi of Memnon are two massive statues that were built under Amenhotep III, 1,417-1,379 B.C.E.[49] The statues fronted a large temple[50]which is now in ruin, mostly de- pleted of its stonework by nearby Arab inhabit- ants who used them to build houses.

Thus, the association of Amenhotep III with Memnon by the Greeks, supports their contention that the Ancient Egyptians and Nubians (Ethiopi- ans) were not only related but looked alike (burnt or skin, i.e. what is today referred to as black).

This passage above is very important be- cause it establishes a connection between Greece/Rome and Ethiopia, Egypt and India. Further, it establishes that the Indians made 172/839

up the army of Memnon, that is to say, Ethiopia. Thus, in the time of Virgil, the cul- tural relationship between north-east Africa and India was so well known that it was mythically carried back in time to the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, the father of the famous king Akhnaton. Pharaoh Amenhotep III was one of the most success- ful kings of Ancient Egypt. He ruled the area from northern Sudan (Nubia) to the Eu- phrates river. The Euphrates river is formed by the confluence of the Murat Nehri and the Kara Su Rivers. It flows from East Turkey across Syria into central modern day Iraq where it joins the Tigris River. The land referred to as Mesopotamia, along the lower Euphrates, was the birthplace of the ancient civilizations of Babylonia and Assyria, and the site of the ancient cities of Sippar, Babylon, Erech, Larsa, and Ur. The length of the river is 2,235mi (3.598km).[51] So again we have support for the writings of 173/839

Herodotus and Diodorus who related the makeup of the ethnic groups in Mesopot- amia as belonging to the Ancient Egyptian- Nubian culture.

At first inspection, this relationship ap- pears to be perhaps an allusion to Virgil’s times when it is well known and accepted that there was trade and cultural exchange, not only between India and Egypt, as we and other scholars have shown, but also between India and Greece.

Also, in contrast to present day society, there is no racist concept detected or being either implied or inferred, in the Greek writ- ings. Also, there is no apparent aversion to having a personage of African descent (someone from a different ethnic group) in the Greek religion as a member of the family of Greek Gods and Goddesses. There is a re- markable feeling in reading the Greek texts 174/839

that they had no compunction about admit- ting their association with Africa and Afric- ans. The Greeks received much in terms of civilization and culture from Africa, in par- ticular, Ethiopia and Ancient Egypt. This may be likened to modern college graduates who are proud to boast of their successful at- tendance at prestigious schools. There seems to be an eagerness to admit traveling to Egypt, as if it were a stamp of approval for their entry into society as professionals in their fields.

The Pharaoh Amenhotep III (referred to as the real life Memnon by the Greeks)

The Colossi of Memnon- built under Amenhotep III, 1,417 B.C.E. -1,379 B.C.E. 59 feet tall

CHAPTER 1:

BRIEF HISTORY

OF ANCIENT