Table Of ContentWi
A
FRICAN FRESENCE
in
^arly£urope
£dited by
van ^an Sertima
11
1?rom the library of
i?
Transaction Publishers
New Brunswick (U.S.A.) and London (U.K.)
Seventh printing, 1996.
©
Copyright 1985 by the Journal ofAfrican Civilizations Ltd.. Inc.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Con-
ventions. No part ofthis book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,
or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in
writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Transaction
—
Publishers, Rutgers The State Universitv, New Brunswick. New .tersev
08903.
ISSN 0270-2495
Library ofCongress Catalog Number: 85-28870
ISBN 0-88738-664-4 (paper)
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
Library ofCongress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
African presence in early Europe.
(Journal o—fAfrican civil—izations; vol. 7, no. 2—)
1. Euro—pe Civil—ization A—frican influences Addresses, essays, lectures.
2. Blacks Europe History Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Van Sertima,
Ivan. II. Series.
DT14.J68 vol. 7, no. 2 940'.0496 85-28870
[CB203]
ISBN 0-88738-664-4
Coverdesign by Jacqueline Patten-Van Sertima
African Presence in Early Europe
IncorporatingJOURNAL OFAFRICANCIVILIZATIONS,
November1985 (vol. 7, no. 2)
Contents
Introduction
Ivan Van Sertima 7
THEFIRSTEUROPEANS
The Evolution ofthe Caucasoid
Charles S. Finch 17
The First Invaders
Legrand Clegg II 23
AFRICANPRESENCEINTHEANCIENTMEDITERRANEANISLES
ANDMAINLAND GREECE
The African Presence in the Ancient Mediterranean Isles and
Mainland Greece
James Brunson 36
Black Athena: The African and Levantine Roots ofGreece
Martin Bernal 66
The Stolen Legacy: A Review
John A. Williams 83
Blacks in Antiquity: A Review
Asa G. Hilliard 90
AFRICANSIN THEEUROPEANRELIGIOUSHIERARCHY
African Popes
Edward Scobie 96
Black Madonnas ofEurope: Diffusion ofthe African Isis
Danita Redd 108
AFRICANPRESENCEIN WESTERNEUROPE
The African Presence in Early Europe:
The Definitional Problem
Ivan Van Sertima 134
The Moor: Light ofEurope's Dark Age
Wayne B. Chandler 144
Continued
Cairo: Science Academy ofthe Middle Ages
Beatrice Lumpkin and Siham Zitzler 176
The Black in Western Europe
Edward Scobie 190
African Women in Early Europe
Edward Scobie 203
AFRICANPRESENCEINNORTHERNEUROPE
African Presence in the Early History ofthe
British Isles and Scandinavia
Don Luke 223
The Mystery ofthe Arctic Twa: A Letter to the Editor
Legrand H. Clegg II 245
Ancient and Modern Britons: A Review Essay
Runoko Rashidi 251
AFRICANPRESENCEINEASTERNEUROPE
The Black in Pre-Revolutionary Russia
Clarence L. Holte 261
SPECIALESSAYS
African Presence in Shakespearean Drama:
Parallels Between Othello and the
Historical Leo Africanus
Rosalind Johnson 276
Race and Evolution in Prehistory
Charles S. Finch 288
The Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Edward Scobie 315
Index 333
Biographical Notes on Contributors 341
Dedication
This book is dedicated to Professor Edward Scobie, author ofBlack
Brittania, in recognition ofhis pioneering and extensive work, over
many years, in this long-neglected field.
Prof. Edward Scobie
—
Introduction:
The African Star Over Europe
This book is devoted to a chapter ofAfrican history that is little known. It
dealswiththe migration ofblack peoplesto Europeandtheirimpact upon the
cultures ofthat continent, not as the servants and colonials ofEurope but as
the fathersofits first inhabitants, thecreators ofits firstart, its firsttools, and,
in some places and historical periods, its masters and teachers, invaders and
traders, its most venerated madonnas, saints and popes. Today, the European
influence upon the remnants ofAfrican civilization iswell known. In fact, for
most ofus, it isthe only chapterofhistory that is known. Thisbook attempts
to open another chapter, wherein an important phase of the encounter be-
tween Africa and Europe is revealed, and where we may see, at least in partial
glimpses, the flash and darkening ofthe African star over Europe.
Charles Finch opens with an essay on race and evolution in prehistory. He
brings together previous lines of inquiry into a comprehensive whole and
throws the critical issues into sharp relief This is absolutely vital reading for
all scholars interested in the origins ofman and the emergence ofthe three
main races. It is very long, however, and perhaps a bit too technical for some
of our readers. I have taken the liberty, th—erefore, of excerpting the section
most relevant to our concerns in this issue "Evolution ofthe Caucasoid"
and placing it where it belongs, at the beginning ofour inquiry into the first
Europeans.
No evidence indicatesthe presence ofhomosapiens sapiens(modern man)
in Europe until about 50,000 years ago. Vast sheets ofice, about a mile thick,
had covered great parts ofEurope and, in a slightly warmer period when the
ice was retreating, we find a type ofman settled in the southwestern part of
Eurasia(Russia). Hisbonesarethatofan Africoidtype. He stayed in that area
even when the icebegan to advance again. Thisisabout40,000 yearsago. For
the next 10,000 years he is walking about in extreme cold, covered in heavy
animal skins, under an overcast sky.
Somethingbegins to happen to this man. His original black skin cannot, in
the new frigid and twilight environment, produce enough Vitamin D, so
crucial to the propermineralization ofthe bones. The ice age createsaserious
survival crisis for the Africoid inhabitants ofEurope. Black skin or melanin
cover is a decisive advantage in the tropics. It screens offintense ultraviolet
light to protect the body from the burn of the sun, but Vitamin D is still
adequately produced sincethe sunlight isso abundant. In the ice ofEurope at
that point in time, the weak and tangential sunlight, the heavy animal skins
required to protect the almost hairless body ofthe hominid from excessive
cold, the long dark spells in the caves, called for a dropping ofthe melanin
African Presence in Early Europe
shield. A skin without that covercould, in a glacial environment, more easily
assimilate the greatly reduced sunlight.
But how did this happen? Man cannot simply decide to change his skin,
even ifa shift in ecology requires it. Evolutionary changes ofthis kind which
occur in such a short time (about 10,000 years) can only be brought about by
genetic mutations. The one genetic mutation that could account for the loss
— —
ofpigmentation the change ofblack to white skin isalbinism. But genetic
—
mutations are usually dangerous to the organism. In Africa, albinism the
—
inability ofthe body to produce melanin would be a disaster. Albinos die
very early in Africa. In Europe, however, the albino lives out a full life span.
What began, therefore, as a deviation became a stabilized norm. The facial
structure also, not only the skin, underwent change. The narrowernose ofthe
Caucasoid is also related to this crisis in the ice. It is more effective in warm-
ing cold air.
Who was this African that underwent those critical changes in the ice
of Europe? The time-frame suggests it was the Africoid Grimaldi. Legrand
Clegg II deals with the invasion of Europe by these Africans around 40,000
B.C. They are among the first waves oftrue human beings to occupy Europe,
conquering the Neanderthals. They are found in layers earlier than that of
theiralbino cousins, the Caucasoid Cro-Magnons, to whom they bequeathed
the most advanced culture of the Paleolithic Age. They migrate to Europe
while the Straits of Gibraltar were non-existent and when one could cross
from Europe to Africa on dry land. Clegg introduces usto theirskeletons and
skulls, their pendants and tools, their hair-styles and dress-styles, their ad-
vanced symbol system, the remarkable rock drawings oftheir women.
While the cultures ofthe early hominid in Europe are ofgreat interest, our
deepest concern is with the role ofthe African in the latercivilizations ofthat
continent. A Bushman/Hottentot type appears not only in prehistoric Euro-
pean art. He also spread to North Africa as early as 25,000 B.C. This type,
James Brunson informsus, continuedtosurviveon theislandsofCreteaslate
asthe early Minoan period (3,100 B.C.). Around 3,150 B.C. a second infusion
of North African blood into the Mediterranean islands was precipitated by
the flight ofwhat Brunson claims were "Negroid" Libyans after the military
conquest ofLower Egypt by the Pharoah Menes. These Libyans maintained
contact with their African homeland and, between 2000 and 1,500 B.C.,
integrated freely with the natives ofCrete and of Thera (an island nearby).
Later, in another "invasion" ofthe Mediterranean and mainland Greece at
theendofthe Hyksosera, blacksappeared amongthechariot-ridingwarriors.
Brunson isan arthistorian anddrawsupon awide range ofart andartifacts
to establish not only the physical but cultural presence of Africans in the
Mediterranean andAegean IslesandCrete. Hiscaseissupportedbythe major
excavatorsin thisarea. Schliemann, afterexcavationsatTirynsand Mycenae,
declared to his colleagues: "It looksto methatthiscivilization belonged to an
