History and Culture of Libya(Northwestern Africa) (Asians, Lincoln, European)
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The eastern Libyans: an essay by Oric Bates is not fluff however and many of the positions he held in his text still is being referenced to this day.
Along with the above classic by Bates, Libya Antiqua and Marshall's Constructing the Self and the Other in Cyrenaica from Cultural identity in the Roman Empire are the best (and sadly,the only) English sources for info on the complex and varied relationships between the Hellene city-states of the Libyan Pentapolis (5 ancient city-states of what is now Cyrenaica, Libya) and the local Libyan tribesmen.
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Originally Posted by kovert
11 Islamic Maghreb
The Making of a Mediterranean Emirate is a great text and I for one, am glad the text makes it CLEAR that the rulers and the population of Ifriqika (roughly modern Tunisia, sometimes including parts of modern Libya and Algeria) were Amazigh, as most Anglophone texts (and it doesn't matter whether the author has a name like Connor O'Hara or Malik Abdul) would misleadlingly Arabize the population. Overall excellent text.
13 Saharan History Islamic Period
a. 1st and foremost I recommend reading H.T. Norris's excellent book, Saharan myth and saga. Norris puts things in historical context as he traces Saharan history through early Arabic texts to modern times. He also does an excellent job in introducing Anglophones to the most powerful tribe in pre-colonial Mauritania history, the descendants of the famous Almoravide Lamtuna: the Anbat Zenaga/Idaw 'Ish. Norris has other great books and articles but I suggest read the text mentioned above first.
c. The Western Sahara and the Dictionary of the Western Sahara by Tony Hodges are the best English works I have come across dealing with the Western Sahara, north of modern Mauritania. A couple of suggestions though. With Hodges you can skip John Mercer as his works were generally poorly edited but one might want to give his Canary Islands text a glance. 2nd, DO NOT PICK the 2nd edition of Dictionary as Anthony pretty much does a lousy job with his "revisions". 13a-c will help put things in their proper historical context as the upcoming books require them as a prerequisite.
d. I can't praise Ghislaine Lydon's On Trans-Saharan Trails enough. A great introduction to the western Sahara with a focus on the most powerful tribe of the western Sahara as a whole, the Shillah speaking descendants of the Sanhaja tribes of Haskura, Gazula and Lamta: the Tiknah! The Early State also has a great essay on the Gazula and Lamta of southern Morocco and the western Sahara.
The above four texts are the basic prequesites before engaging in any study of the Islamic period in the Sahara.
I would further recommend New evidence on the origins of the Kunta for it is one of the few Anglophone gems that does not marginalize if not completely erase the Amazigh tribes from history. Excellent source for the Zenaga/Sanhadja tribes of modern Mauritania and the Western Sahara. It comes in 2 parts.
Latest update: I have reread Cook's gunpowder text and it does mention that the Hafsid dynasty of Tunisia (descendants of the Masmudi Amazigh governors from the Almohad empire) did have European mercenaries as well as an infrastructure to locally support the production of firearms, at least as late as the 1470's.
Poetry, politics and polemics is not only a great series of essays on the relationship between the northern and southern Maghrib (some islamic texts did not distinguish Andalusia from northwestern Africa), there is also more confirmation of the early use of gunpowder weapons by the Marinid rulers of the furthest Maghrib, a dynasty (dawla) of Zanatiya/Butr Amazigh. Still, this does not explain why the southern Maghrib would later so outdated in the use of firearms for much of the 15th and 16th centuries.
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Originally Posted by kovert
Just check out this one about Barbary, if you're interested.
I believe this translation of A Compleat History of the Piratical States of Barbary was likewise done Joseph Morgan, who paraphrased/translated earlier works on Barbary for Anglophones, just like in the quoted link above.
Much like from what I've read from extracts of Leo Africanus and Marmol, Laugier de Tassy (original French author) and Morgan make a distinction between "Arabs" and "Moors" but do not distinguish the African Moors from the Andalusi Moors, who were expelled from the Iberian peninsula. The Andalusi (at least the Muslims in particular) were seen as the descendants of the African Moors who intermarried heavily with the Iberians.
According to Brett, mountains like the Djurdjura of Kabylia begun to be heavily populated by the 13th & 14th century (see p. 134 & 158).
Now this was right about the time Andalusian refugees like the ancestors of the historian Ibn Khaldun began to flee Iberia because of the Reconquest (examples here and here).
Given what Brett wrote about on p 158 and what Richardson wrote on p. 83, it appears the displacement of the Berbers to the mountains, they have so famously become associated with, was due to the Andalusian influx that occurred after the Reconquest and particularly the massive expulsion that occurred over the century following the 1490's.
This is very interesting because Leo Africanus is careful to distinguish the Arabians, despite them being in Africa for 500 years (from their invasion in the 11th century up to the period when Leo was alive of course), he clearly points out that they're not natives and distinguishes from indigenous Moors/Africans.
Yet he does not distinguish between the people of Granada (last bastion of Islamic Iberia) and those of northern African calling them and himself both Moores. Leo felt as much African as Granadan, he saw no contradiction between the two.
This is why I asked about that Schatzmiller article because I want to find out more about the relations between the Moores/Berbers of the two shores of the Mediterranean.
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Originally Posted by kovert
Actually Manolon, I meant that most books I have read have repeated the same line that the Arab invasion (like the Banu Hilal) that started in the 11th century were what caused the Berbers to flee the coastal and plains area to head for the hills for cover.
From what I recently discovered it appears that it was the Andalusian refugees who were the actual culprits that forced the local Maghrebi Berbers to form strong holds up in the mountains.
As for the Riffis, it seems there were tensions between them and the Andalusian refugees but there was also cooperation and intermarriage
(see p. 207-209).
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Originally Posted by kovert
Yep, it does look like many Andalusi refugees inhabited even the mountainous areas such as those around the kingdom of Fez and those of the Rif.
There were many Andalusis who seemed to be doing well for themselves dealing with the Berber tribes of the Atlas mountains and the Moroccan Atlantic coastal areas as well.
The relationship between the Andalusi refugees in Morocco with the Berbers seem to have been different than the situation in Algeria which appears to have been much more antagonistic and violent.
Still got to find out how things went down in Tunisia & Libya.
Relations between the Amazigh and the Ottomans seemed to have also been somewhat strained in the area of Tripoli based on the account from Miss Tully.
It appears that relations between the African and Andalusi Moors were "relatively" less strained in the areas of modern Morocco and Tunisia(From Muslim Spain to Barbary).
And speaking on major demographic movements:
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Originally Posted by kovert
Interesting that you mention this, as at one time in the early modern period (roughly between the 1400s-1800s), the Barbary lands might have received just as much or more British migrants than the New World.
I would also recommend Garcais's text where he mentions European migration (in the millions) as slaves, merchants, converts and mercenaries and one must not also forget the millions of Iberian Muslims and Jews that sought refuge in Barbary from 1492-1620's.
Its amazing that the same forces of slavery, political & religious persecution, and lack of social mobility that drove migration to the New World also occurred in Barbary but there is not as much attention paid to barbary as the New World.
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Originally Posted by kovert
I would expect there to be more of an overlap between Sicilians and Iberians with North Africans (particularly those from the coastal Atlantic & Mediterranean areas).
Ibn Khaldun wrote that it was due to Andalusi settlement particularly during the Almoravid period (though cities like Fez owed their development to Andalusi immigration centuries earlier) that sedentary civilization once again flourished along the coastal Maghreb.
It was also during this time that refugees fleeing from Norman won Sicily settled in Tunisia (see p. 34).
The success of the Reconquista after the fall of the Alhomadies in the mid 13th century along with the fall of Granada in the late 15th century caused many Andalusis to flee to North Africa.
According to royal records of Spain, 3 million and 2 million Moriscos and Jews respectively were expulsed during the last wave of refugees during the 17th century.
Unless the southern Iberians and Sicilians were either genetically distinct from their northern counterparts and/or there were major population influxes into the northerly areas, there should be much greater genetic overlap between the people of the 2 shores of the Mediterranean.
Europe Through Arab Eyes gives the number of Moriscos expelled from Iberia an estimate of around 900,000 or so.
John Ogilby, writing in the 1670's, gives a number of over a million.
Several Voyages to Barbary, also written centuries ago, gives at least 600,000 families, which at 3-4 individuals per family rounds off at around 2 million.
For those that doubt such displacement on such a scale could happen, Julia Clancy's Mediterraneans: North Africa and Europe in an age of migration, c. 1800-1900 Misr experienced major immigration from the areas of what is now Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Palestine during the 1800's. There was also another exodus of Muslims, in the millions, from christian European controlled areas to the Ottoman empire.
It seemed like the colonialism of the 19th century was not just about violence toward non-Europeans. There were mass expulsions, particularly targeted toward Muslims and Jews, but also toward other religious minorities and towards Europe's own "undesirables". Whether they were Catholic or Greek Orthodox; political dissidents, real or imagined; urban poor and working class; or just from rural, underdeveloped and overpopulated areas (especially of southern Mediterranean Europe and its islands), the elites of Britain, France and other powers saw northern Africa as dumping ground for undesirables.
This is a perspective on colonialism I never before have been exposed to. It was just as much about subjugating the internal Other as it was dominating and/or exterminating the external Other. I guess the powers that were thought they could kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Not only can you get rid of the riff raff but if you're lucky, the cats you send over to the colonies and the local rebel rousers might finish each other off. Although off topic and theme, I wonder if the settlement of Israel was in some ways a continuation of christian Europe policy of relocating the religious internal Other.
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Originally Posted by kovert
The Tuareg is another good text for learning about the veiled Tamashaq speakers.
The Tuaregs by H.T. Norris is a great companion text to the above.
The seeds of plant and animal manipulation appear among the inhabitants of coastal Northwestern Africa and the Nile River (see p. 149 for barley and 136 and 150 for sheep) Ehret believes these ideas along with the ancestors of the Semitic speakers spread from northeastern Africa into southwestern Asia, giving rise to the Mushabians and the later Natufians (see p. 38).
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Originally Posted by kovert
From the Lancaster paper: "That the Mashubian blended with the Kebaran, and that the Natufian is descended from this mixture, is not particularly controversial, but it is not unanimously agreed upon within archaeology that either the Natufian or the Mashubian cultures are best explained as being wholly or partly from Africa as Ehret proposes. This is the theory presented in, for example, Bar-Yosef (1987) based upon lithic technologies.5 Bar-Yosef (personal communication) also believes that evidence for the early introduction of the Sycamore Fig, into the Levant around the time of the Natufian gives additional strength to this theory.6
5. In particular, Bar-Yosef mentions the microburin technique and “microlithic forms such as arched backed bladelets and La Mouillahpoints”. See Barker (2002): “Though linguistic scholars debatewhether the language originated in North Africa or the Levant, we can at least point to the similarities in the respective archaeological records of the Natufian culture of the Levant and of contemporary foragers in coastal North Africa across the late Pleistocene and early Holocene boundary.”
6. Bones of the Egyptian fruit bat, which eats figs, are found in the Levant only from the Natufian onwards. The Sycamore Fig () appears to have been first introduced to the Nile region from its native habitat much further south in Africa.The Egyptian and Levantine versions of this plant are parthenocarpic, requiring the help of man to reproduce. The closest place where a wild wasp helps fertilize these figs is in Sudan. Stored parthenocarpic fig remains (have been found in Gilgal I, an early Neolithicvillage, located in the Lower Jordan Valley, and dating to 11400 to 11200 years ago (Kislev et al., 2006)."
Eventually academia is going to have get over their denial and acknowledge the Sahara as one of the earliest cradles of civilization.
This is a great summary of archaeological work on the "Neolithic" like culture of the Kubbaniyans (by Wilma Wetterstrom), who pioneered some experiments, even before the Sebillians (later Nile valley), Nafutians (Levant) and Capsians (from the southernmost parts of the Tell into the northern stretch of the Sahara).
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Originally Posted by kovert
Getting back to the origins and early distribution of the Semitic languages, I believe I might have found an important clue.
What is now known as the Maadi culture of Lower Egypt lasted from about 4000 B.C.E. - 3500 B.C.E. This culture also has produced the earliest evidence for the domesticated donkey. The donkey is a crucial animal in order to conduct trade while traveling through arid lands, thus enabling the Maadians to gain wealth by conducting long distance trade.
Michael Hoffman in his paradigm breaking book, Egypt Before The Pharaohs, noted the importance of the donkey to long distance trade as well as how trade routes, or rather the desire to gain control of trade routes can eventually lead to state formations. Hoffman also recognized the important role desert bedouin tribes played in all this.
Hoffman notes that in the late Predynastic/early Dynastic period, there is an Egyptian ruler, if memory serves me correct Den but I could be wrong, who is shown smiting the ruler of "the East". Hoffman points out that this ruler could represent the bedouin tribes of Egypt's eastern desert and Red Sea region. The Easterner is shown to be not that much physically different from the Egyptian ruler. Hoffman also points out that so-called Mesopotamian influences cease in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia after this incident.
Kathryn Bard notes that these "Mesopotamian" influences are actually closer to those of Susa (Elam) rather than of the Tigris and Euphrates. Thus strengthening the connection between trade routes extending from the eastern desert and Red Sea region of Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia, across the Red Sea all the way to Susa/Elam in modern southwestern Iran. Hoffman also notes the prevalence of rock art between the Nile and Red Sea which depicts boats. There is also indirect evidence for the early use of boats for deep water fishing among the bedouin.
Toby in Genesis of the Pharaohs mentions that some of the "Mesopotamian" motifs, such as certain styles of boats were actually depicted among the pottery of the Saharan bedouins at least a thousand years before they 1st appeared in Mesopotamia, thus it seems that influences emanating from the Sahara were making their way into the area of the Euphrates and beyond. Unfortunately Toby seems to have abandoned this line of inquiry, but hopefully someone will continue on with the research Toby started.
Alternatively Semitic is thought to have spread from Lower Egypt across the Delta into the Sinai and beyond. This is where the Maadi culture comes in.
The Maadi culture is of local Saharan origins but they seem to have conducted trade expeditions at least as far as the Sinai Peninsula and Palestine. The earliest evidence of the domesticated donkey allows one to understand how they could make such journeys deep into the deserts. The Maadi culture was later pushed out by an expansion of the Naqadans after 3500 B.C.E. or so.
Whether the earliest proto-Semitic speakers migrated from Lower Egypt thru the Sinai or from the eastern desert across the Red Sea into Arabia, I believe the domestication of the donkey had a great deal to do with the spread of this language. It could have become a lingua franca because it was the language of the bedouin merchants who traveled and controlled valuable long distance, arid trade routes made possible by donkeys.
Although Ehret states in the linked text directly above that goats and sheeps came from an Asian branch of the Afrasian speakers to a related African branch, note in his latest article in the quoted post above, the date Ehret gives for the appearance of Semitic in Asia is much later than the dates he gives for the appearance of domesticated sheep, goats and other animals in the eastern desert.
I agree with these authors who state that donkeys were domesticated in the area of the Horn and the Nubian Nile and that they were used for to conduct long distance desert trade into the areas that would later become known as Canaan along with Sumer/Akkad and Elam. I also would wager that these merchant traders helped spread Semitic as a lingua franca as it was the language of these bedouin desert merchants.
Also from the same text, Kenneth Kitchen talks of a location called Amau, from which the Rmt (Egyptians) via the people of Punt, obtained gold. This sounds very much like the term used to describe Semitic speaking peoples, yet Kitchen locates Amau somewhere in northeastern Africa.
The references to Amau seem to begin after the beginning of the 18th dynasty as far as I can tell. It was at this time that Mentyu were known to have been delivering gold to the ruler Ahmose.
Mntyw/Mntw/Montiu/Meunites are generally considered to be Semitic speaking, nomadic people who traveled through the eastern desert of Nile as well as the Sinai and Negev, possibly also El Harrar desert which extends from the Dead Sea region to northern Arabia (I also believe this tribe also journeyed into the western desert if memory serves me correct, and as soon I can clearly recollect, I will link to the text).
It could be, as Forbes demonstrates, that because certain ethnic groups become some associated with an occupation, their ethnic/tribal name in time becomes synonymous with the occupation. Such as Medjay/Matoi of the eastern desert becoming synonymous with soldier and/or police due to their participation in those occupations, or the Persian of the epigones of the Greco-Roman period.
I don't know if there are any Semitic writings that can be specifically traced to this tribe but if the Rmt were using the Mntw for desert expeditions, especially into the dangerous territory of the equally nomadic Medjay (just what was the relationship between these 2 nomadic tribes of the eastern desert?), then that also could be factor into any investigations of how the Ethio-Semitic languages came to be.
I hope some ambitious grad student out there who's doing a thesis on the Semitic languages in the Horn could take this line of inquiry to the next level.
Time to update the thread with all the new information, I have been studying since I last posted. But like in any endeavor, one must always have a firm foundation from which to build upon.
1st and foremost, although its quite apparent geographically (although only recently acknowledged academically) the Nile Valley and its Delta, along with the Tell of the Maghrib are actually (very) large oases of the Sahara desert.
The former, created by the Nile river and its various tributaries, the latter by the mountain ranges that extend from Cyrenaica in modern Libya to the Atlantic Ocean coast of what is know known as the nation of Morocco.
The Sahara desert also crosses many international borders, including certain nations that are usually defined as sub-Saharan in Anglophone circles, despite the fact that portions of them are actually located in the desert proper. Nations in this category include Mauritania, Niger, Mali, Chad, and the Sudan.
There are also areas that are technically, not Saharan but have been in contact with this region since, well, the origin of humanity itself. Areas in this class include the Senegal and Niger rivers, Lake Chad, certain parts of the modern Sudan and above all the area of and around the Horn of Africa.
Egyptology has often been more willing to accept influences coming from the Levant and the Euphrates in the creation of the various cultures and political entities of the Nile. The last 80 years or so has seen much work being done away from the Nile and outside of Egyptology that has caused something of a dramatic (but still much resisted) paradigm shift.
The study of climatology, physical anthropology, genetics, linguistics, ongoing archaeological work along the Nubian and Sudanese Nile, not to mention the other oases of the Sahara such as the Tell and the now famous Nabta Playa have greatly contributed to the academic fields of Africana and (now the newly emerged) Saharan & Nubian studies; the origin and evolution of humanity; and most importantly, the recognition that the Nubian Nile, the Horn, the Tell and the Sahara desert proper can no longer be seen as marginal areas in comparison to the portion of the Nile within the bounds of the modern nation of Egypt. There is a growing acceptance among scholars that in order to understand Egyptian history, one must also understand that it is an integral (though at times most influential) piece of the wider regional puzzle of northwestern and northeastern Africa.
Now as for terminology, since many texts and articles I have read refuse to put things in context and often use terms in a contradictory and often illogical and inconsistent manner, I will try to define some terms. I am not claiming to be an expert but since no one else seems to be doing it, I might as well.
B.C.E. & C.E. stand for Before Common Era & Common Era and will be used in place of bc & ad.
When I use the term Horn or Horn of Africa, I am referring to the area of the modern nations of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and parts of Kenya.
The term Maghrib refers to the area west of the Nile, in particular from Cyrenaica to Morocco. One well versed in the history of the islamic period, might object that Cyrenaica (known popularly as Barqa in Anglophone historical texts) was sometimes classes with the Mashriq, Islamic territories such as Misr (Egypt) and other polities east of the Nile, yet it was sometimes classes with the Maghrib as well. Take note that these terms are not hermetically sealed, nor have they not undergone changes over the centuries and millennium.
The term Misr also has undergone quite a number of changes. It seems to have been used by some of the earliest Semitic texts such as those that are classed as Akkadian by scholars. During the time of the 2nd millennium B.C.E. (after the 20th dynasty) Misr sometimes was limited to the territories under the control of the ruling power/s of the Delta. This period many Egyptologists have noted there were major political divisions along the Nile: one within the Delta, another from "the bend of the Nile" around the modern towns of Qena extending to the area of the 1st cataract, not to mention the political entities between the Delta and the bend. One should not also forget the groups south of the 1st cataract and east and west of the Nile. Herodotus also mentions in his time some of the Ionians considered only the Delta as Aegyptus. Thus Misr or Aegyptus can at times refer to the Delta, or territories within the Delta's sphere of influence such as the Sinai peninsula, the Negev desert south of Gaza/Palestine, and at times the Nile Valley.
The term Berbers refers to those who speak one of the languages classed as Berber. I've met many a Maghribi whose parent or other family members speak Berber and are classified as Berbers but they themselves speak Arabic as their 1st language and are thus classified as Arab. These Maghribis, particularly Algerians and Moroccans, have familial ties stretching along a continuum from not only monolingual Arabic and Berber speakers but also those that are fluent in French and Spanish; not to mention the physical variety of flavors their relatives come in. Anglophone scholarship often separates and segregates the population by language and physical features, assigning those of a particular language or looks as being pure, authentic or more civilized, and unfortunately much of this has been accepted by certain segments of the population. A lot of the recent tensions in Rwanda, Sudan, Mauritania and other places can be traced to this type of thinking.
For whatever reasons, Berber seems to have been a term that came into widespread use for the inhabitants west of the Nile during the Islamic period. Early arabic chronicles seemed to have used the term for the inhabitants outside of the old Roman limes, those outside of the fortified cities, while those inside were called variants of the the term Afriq or Afriqa. It might be because the coastal population of the Maghrib within the limes might have spoken Hellenic (Greek), Latin, & Punic (Canaanite/Phoenician) dialects and identified to a greater extent with the wider Mediterranean empires and the culture associated than the population outside of the limes. The Afriqa were later classed with the population that became known as the Berbers by famous authors such as the great ibn Khaldun & Leo Africanus.
Thus the inhabitants of northwestern Africa were not a homogeneous linguistic community as many of them might have spoken Hellene, Latin, Punic and Egyptian as their 1st language. Roger Blench also states that the Garamantes, whose major known territory was in the Fezzan of modern Libya, probably spoke a Nilo-Saharan language such as Songhai or Tubu. There is a group among the Tubu speaking peoples known as the Daza or Goran, which some authors have linked to the Fezzan and the Garamantes. The Teda of the Tubu peoples may have something to do with the Libyan Tedamansi mentioned by the geographer Ptolemy.
The great ibn Khaldun classes the Zaghwa with the veiled Sanhadja of the Sahara, while Leo Africanus as well as Marmol class the Berdoa (possibly the Berti of the modern Sudan who are now linguistically monolingual Arabophones). Azer which is a Soninke tongue was a lingua franca (probably a legacy of the Soninke derived empires of Ghana & Mali) in the area of modern Mauritania, even among the veiled and unveiled Amazigh tribes who inhabited the region.
There have also been authors who have argued the C Group Nehesy (Nubians) particularly those between the 1st and 2nd cataracts and the area west of them had a major Tamazight speaking component. The A Group polity of Ta Seti has shown evidence for some of the earliest (but not THE earliest) use of the md ntr (hieroglyhics), while Cushic, Meriotic, and the Nilo-Saharan language known as Nubian (not to be confused with the geographic term Nubia to be defined below) were also to be found below the 1st cataract. I will also argue later on for the presence of what is known as Ethiosemitic among the Nehesy as well. Thus there was quite a linguistic stew of many flavors within Sahara Africa.
Speaking of Nubian, I will use it in a strictly geographical and linguistic term when discussing the pre-Islamic period. From my studies it is only after this period that arabic chronicles give evidence for polities defined as Nubian. Herodotus and later Hellenes mention an Ethiopia beginning around Abu (Elephantine, around the 1st cataract) and extending to an area called the "island of Meroe" (identified by scholars as the Butana of modern Sudan, roughly the area encircled by the Blue Nile & the Atbara River) along with the Gezira (which given the distance recorded by Herodotus, I propose was under Meroe's sway its entire length). Thus this is how I define Nubia.
Speaking of Ethiopia, in a geographic sense, the Hellenes did not confine this term to Nubia. Herodotus and other early Hellenic writers associate Memmon with Ethiopia and Ethiopians. Herodotus associates Memmon with Susa. The population of southern Iran extending into the Indian subcontinent seem to have been classed as Ethiopians. Herodotus also mentions a group of eastern Ethiopians who fought in the Persian army, of which Josephus who quotes a contemporary and friend of Herodotus, locates in the area of the southern Dead Sea & parts of the Negev.
Herodotus also mentions the Ammonians as a Libyan tribe though composed of colonists from Egypt & Ethiopia. The Garamantes are said to hunt Ethiopian Trogodytes in their Saharan territory, while there is a kingdom of Long Lived (Macrobian) Ethiopians of Libya on the southern waters, which I will later argue to refer to the area of southern Morocco.
Centuries later, Strabo calls the area from the highland mountains of Eritrea & Ethiopia to the Red Sea coasts Upper Ethiopia. Given the diverse areas and linguistic communities the term Ethiopia was applied to, its somewhat difficult to determine its origin, nonetheless, the term should not automatically be assumed to mean all or parts of Nubia.
Herodotus and other Hellenes call the area from the Nile Delta through the Sinai, Negev up to the Euphrates as well as the area from the Nile Valley to the Red Sea coast along with the Red Sea Hills/mountains and the Eritrean/Ethiopian mountain ranges to the Red Sea coast as Arabia, in addition to the Arabian peninsula proper.
The peoples of the Red Sea hills/mountains (beginning at the Qena bend of the Nile) and the Ethiopian/Eritrean mountains could likewise be referred to as Indians. South Arabians also were referred to as Indians, in addition to the peoples of the Indian subcontinent proper. These may be related to the trade in aromatics (incense), though I will touch on this later in the coming posts.
Ibn Khaldun referred to the entire range of mountains from the Atlantic coast of modern Morocco, north of the Sous region, extending to the mountains of Barqa as the Atlas, while he also seemed to have called the water routes from the Senegal to Lake Chad, all the way to Sudanese valley as the Nile. This might have to do with the most accessible trade routes, Herodotus also mentioned that the Nile comes from Libya (the hellenes defined Libya as being west of the Nile).
I will not use terms like Near East or Middle East because with the exception of Robert Morkot, many scholars neither define it nor use it in a clear and consistent manner.
Continuing on, I will use the Levant to describe the area of modern Palestine/Israel, Lebanon, Syria & Jordan, particularly the land between the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the mountains which is another oasis within an otherwise desert like environment.
From what I've read Anatolia, Asia Minor seems to correspond to roughly modern Turkey. Southwestern Asia is another vague, ill-defined term I constantly come across. It seems to be used to describe the area around the Euphrates and all the land west of it. Thus basically the Levant, Arabian peninsula, Turkey, Sinai, and Negev.
Central Asia, I don't even know where to begin, sometimes this area is classed with modern Iran, of which I'm not sure whether Iran is grouped with South Asian, due to its links with the Indian subcontinent, or with Central Asia however this is defined.
In terms of relevance, especially when exploring the Barbary pirate/Ottoman period, the Balkans is a major area of influence. María Antonia Garcés seems to define the Balkans as the area of Europe which was under Ottoman control after the fall of Constantinople. This area seems to coincide with what would later come under Russia's dominance.
I'll expand on this later in future posts, but I think I have for the most part touched on what is necessarily geographically. Now the sharp ones will notice I have generally covered terms coming from the Greco-Roman perspective and to a lesser extent Arabic. The reason being is that is the perspective of the text and articles I have read.
Herodotus, Strabo, Pilny, Diodorus and to a lesser extent, Arabic chronicles are far more accessible in English translation. It is only recently with works by Robert Morkot, Barry Kemp, & Toby Wilkinson that actual Egyptian language terminology are used to describe people, places and things. Most other works would never even mention local terms and everything is from an Greco-Roman and/or Arabic linguistic frame of reference.
The perspective is further limited by the ignoring and/or ignorance of Demotic and Coptic. There seems to have been some progress in decoding Meriotic but it is not yet fully understood. It is unclear what is the relationship of the "Libyan scripts" to modern Tamazight languages and there are only a handful of Anglo material dealing with Punic texts. The texts of the Mesotopamians, Hittites, northern & southern Arabian, Canaanites and others are now being utilized in works pertaining to northern Africans, but there are again only a handful of anglo works one can look to. Be that as it may, this leaves an intolerable void in anglophone scholarship, one which I hope some ambitious grad student has what it takes to fill.
Now enough with geography and time to start talking about peoples.
Much of what follows is based on my understanding of the great Andalusi/Maghribi, ibn Khaldun, one of the greatest minds mankind has ever produced. Again, this is my understanding of ibn Khaldun so any mistakes or deficiencies is due to the difficulties a mere mortal inevitably encounters when trying to comprehend radiant brilliance.
A major component of ibn Khaldun's theory of civilizations/human relations is a-sa-bi-ya, which I internally translate as group sentiment. Asabiya is the sum total of emotions, feelings, loyalties, obligations that hold people together whether as an individual family or as an empire. Asabiya should not be conceived in binary terms but rather as a scale, a gradient, some groups ranking low others ranking high in terms of asabiya.
I will define ethnic group/ethnicity as a social grouping of individuals who have some sense of asabiya. The basis of their group sentiment, the axis of which it revolves around, might be centered on religion such as Jews (before the founding of modern Israel) or it could be based on language such as the Amazigh.
Much like how Herodotus defined his fellow Hellenes, ethnic groups share some of all of the characteristics below:
a. An origin myth.
b. A language.
c. Other traditions and customs.
d. A name.
Herodotus knew the Hellenes were divided into various kingdoms and city states; extended from Europe proper into the Aegean all the way to modern Turkey & north Africa; and of course often had conflicts with one another. Yet Herodotus recognized despite all the political and geographic differences: the common name, claims of kinship, religious customs, participation in Olympic games, and language which binded all these diverse groups under the banner of Hellenes.
This kind of asabiya, however does not necessarily lead to political unity and groups can share the same ethnicity and still have hostile relationships with one another. Herodotus noted the divisions among Hellenes and things often could and did get very ugly between them.
ibn Khaldun noticed a stronger form of asabiya that which is associated with what I internally translate as tribe, (common translation for the term qabila). The main difference between asabiya and tribe is that tribes have a much greater degree of social solidarity and are much more capable of translating this solidarity into political power. Thus the Lamtuna of the veiled Saharan Sanhaja were able to form the empire of the Al Murabitun (Almoravides) which extended from the Senegal river to parts of Morocco, Iberia and possibly to Tunisia. The Al Murabitan was 1st and foremost a Lamtuna empire, then a veiled Zenaga empire, then a Sanhaja/Baranes empire and lastly an Amazigh empire.
The closer one was to being geneologically related to the Lamtuna tribe the easier it was to move up within the empire. The Hawara Amazigh of the Said in Misr (Upper Egypt) established themselves as the dominant regional power, but this power was not necessarily shared with other Amazigh qabilas, nor with even other Hawara from other parts of Misr.
Academia is slowly beginning to come around to ibn Khaldun's theories on the bedouin origin of states and civilizations. Territorial based states such as city-states, or a league of city-states (kingdoms & empires) or just one form of political organization. ibn Khaldun recognized and admired the power of the bedouin (tribal) state. The bedouin are often on the move, inhabiting desert sands and oases, the fertile but wild beast infested, fields of the Tell and of course immense and spectacular mountain ranges. The badawi also have kin from among the hadari (inhabitants of the cities), engaged in studies and commerce. The mobility of the tribal state allowed them to control routes either as traders or raiders depending on the situation.
Far from being marginal, the badawi were admired by the hadari for their strength, courage and cunning for only the fittest could survive in the Saharan wilds. I hope these excerpts help illustrate my feeble attempt at words.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "These wandering Moors are generally very stout and war-like, skilful horsemen, and value themselves very highly, not withstanding their poverty, for not being confined to towns, like the other sort, whom they look upon as tame staves, always at the mercy of the Turks. So that upon any insult or ill usage received from a Turkish Aga. they immediately return it in a hostile way, till the town Moors, who cannot subsist without being supplied with provisions from them, nor upon a dislike secure themselves from their depredations, have mediated a peace between them.
To keep up this martial temper among them, the chiefs of every adovrar meet in a circle round their Cheyk every evening, to discuss the public affairs; after which they divert themselves with their usual exercises on horseback; in which they are so dexterous, both in the management of that creature and their graceful posture, of fitting, that they take up any thing from the ground with their lance in full speed. In this exercise they continue Weapons, till the time is come for retiring. Their usual weapons are a zagay, or short lance, which they always carry in their hand, and a broad cutlass hanging below the left elbow.
They are commonly so addicted to robbing, that one canbers, and not safely travel across the country, or at a distance from the why. towns, without a guard, or at least a marabout, that is, one of their priests, or monks, for a safeguard. For, as they look upon themselves as the original proprietors of the country, and not only as dispossessed by the rest of the inhabitants, but reduced by them to the lowest state of poverty, they make no scruple to plunder all they meet with, by way of reprisal."
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"This is the reason why there are in Africa Berebers who dwell in houses, in the towns and mountains, and others who dwell in tents, in the plains, though they all belong to these five tribes; but such as wander about in the plains, like the Arabs, are considered as the most noble, because they are the richest in grain and cattle, and are the most powerful."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It is not a little surprizing that these brave descendants of the ancient Mauritamatians, who had so long signalized themselves by their bravery, both in their own country and out of it, ihoald be so far degenerated as to suffer themselves to be tyrannized over by these Turks, considering they are almost an hundred to one more numerous" than they. But it must be remembered, that they are mostly the offspring of those who had been driven out of Spain (5), Italy, France, etc. and had by that time exchanged their martial genius for the mercantile one, which they brought hither with them, and exercised in most maritime towns of the kingdom, where they chiefly reside; and provided they may become rich by traffick, can easily comply with the haughty humours of the Turks.
But we must observe here, that these Moors are hated and despised for it by those who live in the country villages, and retain their old martial spirit, as being the more genuine offspring of the antient Mauritavians. For these preferring a poor life, with some sort ot freedom in their homely huts, to any advantages they, might enjoy under a Turkijh yoke, have ever been ready to embrace every opportunity that offered to shake it off; andtho' hitherto without success, yet not without full proofs, that it was more for want of means than bravery, that they suffered them to reign in their ancient patrimony"
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Strabo likewise noticed that the Maurs, Numidians, Ethiopians, Blemmyes and others north Africans were even nomadic in areas where sedentary life was practical and in Greco-Roman eyes a more sensible way to live. Yet it seems for whatever reason a bedouin life on the move, was the ideal for many north Africans. Modern scholarship is beginning to catch on to this and I myself am wondering just how accurate really is the image of ancient Egyptians who were loathe to venture far away from the Nile truly is. Frankly if one is surrounded by marauding bedouins, I don't see how one could maintain their sanity, much less independence unless they were also marauding bedouins, probably even more so. More on this in the future.
The point is that for thousands of years, the bedouin/tribal state was just as formidable a political entity as the territorial, sedentary, city based state. Its really only around WWI or so that many Saharan areas were truly defeated and colonized. Given the difficulties Ottomans and colonial Europeans had, one wonders that the Egyptians & Greco-Romans might have over exaggerated their ability in keeping the bedouin in check.
So to sum up when ibn Khaldun mention the Qibt, descendant of the ancient Egyptians in Misr, he mentioned they had no dawla, they were not politically unified and were dominated by others. They had a recognized common descent from a son of Ham; many of them still had their own language and unique form of Christianity (especially in the Said); but they had no political independence and were dominated by others. The Qibt were an ethnic group. The tribal states of the Bedja, Amazigh and nomadic Nuba were a totally different kind of story and it was a delicate balancing act for a sedentary authority to keep them at bay. The difference between an ethnic group and a tribe is a matter of degree. These states of social cohesion are not static and they can morph over time and circumstances. A tribal state can grow into an empire as in the case of the Lamtuna, or an empire can contract and eventually become a subject ethnic minority, for example the Qibt of the Islamic period. Ethnic groups and tribes disintegrate, integrate, absorb, expel, divide and mulitply. They ae very dynamic social/political forms of human organization.
I should point out that the Afro-Arabian people seemed to define themselves and others by culture, meaning language, religion and ethnic/tribal affialition rather than by looks.
But this is a discussion that I'll leave for the next post.
I should point out that the Afro-Arabian people seemed to define themselves and others by culture, meaning language, religion and ethnic/tribal affialition rather than by looks.
But this is a discussion that I'll leave for the next post.
Afro-Arabian people seemed to define themselves and others in cultural terms rather than by identifying people by physical features. This is not to say that certain physical traits were not noted or that there were never any negative comments made based on these traits, but from my studies people were distinguished by ethnic/tribal affiliations, cultural traits.
A term roughly usually translated as Amu/Aamu/Am has been persuasively argued by Donald Redford to be an ethno-linguistic term used by the Egyptians for Semitic speaking peoples in general. One does not have to have a certain look to speak a language. The depictions of the Shasu bedouin of the Negev, Sinai and southern Dead Sea region leaves no doubt why David Goldenberg & Redford identify the Shasu with the Kushu (or Kushic Arabians). Amu was a linguistic term and encompassed diverse groups who did not necessarily look like each other but they had shared a common language, Semitic. I will later on show that Amu was even applied to not just inhabitants of southwestern Asia, but also some of the Nehesy.
The Canaanites and the Hellenes of the Libyan Pentapolis mingled extensively with the local population. Naturally the Canaanites & Hellenes of what is now the Maghrib would have been much darker skinned than their kinsmen across the Mediterranean. Yet unlike modern times, I have not come across any hint that this would lead to their status as Hellenes and Canaanites as being suspect and questionable. Pomponius Mela expressed pride in his Iberian Canaanite roots and identified with both the Canaanite heartland in Asia as well the diaspora in Northwest Africa, all of which did not stop Mela from writing in Latin nor of being described as a Roman. The inhabitants of the Libyan Pentapolis still participated in the Olympic games like the other Hellenes.
Leo Africanus seemed to define himself as an Andalusian of African (he did not use the term Moor or Berber in the original Italian versions of his text) descent, sometimes emphasizing the Andalusi or African part depending on the situation. ibn Khaldun likewise commented that even the Sudani who migrated to Andalus would become white after a few generations (obviously from intermarrying with the locals), yet the Sudani migrants would still maintain their ethnicity/tribal links, thus even though the individual might have a Sudani nisba (equivalent to an ethnic surname), the person in question would be physically indistinguishable from a southern European.
The lack of phobias associated with color was noted as late as the 1860s by James Richardson. There is a story Bernard Lewis relates about an Egyptian leader (probably of Hellene/Byzantine affiliation) was repsulsed that an aswadi (very dark, black man) was a leader of the Arab forces.
What is interesting is that color seems to have been a problem in Greco-Roman Egypt.
It might have become particularly account during the Roman period, extending into the Byzantine, but even then, the Greco-Romans what have been hard pressed to deny the achievements of the ancestors of the people then subjugated. Another interesting point is that even though the Arab tribesmen did not all look alike, looks were not necessary in determining who was worthy of being in a position of leadership and authority.
The comments I made in previous posts about the linguistic and physical diversity even visible within modern north African families (again noting legacies from colonial times in which certain aspects are more valued over others) pretty much explains why Americans in particular have such a strong emotional and irrational reaction to north African history.
Americans can barely speak the English language at a 5th grade level nor can they stand the idea of people of different skin tones not only living in close proximity to each other, but,...., gasp,......, being members of the same family and enjoying kinship with each other. Northern African history represents everything Americans hate. It does not matter the particular melanin level of the American, as the Afronuts have shown to motivated by as much hatred and rage as the Aryanistas.
But this is a topic I will save for the next post.
The comments I made in previous posts about the linguistic and physical diversity even visible within modern north African families (again noting legacies from colonial times in which certain aspects are more valued over others) pretty much explains why Americans in particular have such a strong emotional and irrational reaction to north African history.
Americans can barely speak the English language at a 5th grade level nor can they stand the idea of people of different skin tones not only living in close proximity to each other, but,...., gasp,......, being members of the same family and enjoying kinship with each other. Northern African history represents everything Americans hate. It does not matter the particular melanin level of the American, as the Afronuts have shown to motivated by as much hatred and rage as the Aryanistas.
But this is a topic I will save for the next post.
As I was saying, at best, Americans have a 5th grade level competency with the English language (fluency in another language could get you tagged a traitor or an evil liberal elitist) and absolutely hate, I mean HATE, the idea of people who don't look like each other being within the same families and communities. Northern Africa, its history, its civilizations and cultures, represent everything the American can't help but to hate.
For the most part, the neo-nazis are now being frowned upon, at least publicly (you can never be sure privately though). There is one group however that is determined to destroy all academic standards and the progress academia has made, and that group is the afro-nazis.
afro-nazis/afrocentrics/afronuts: whether they are new black panther groupies; crackheads who believe they are descendants of Nubian Olmec kings and queens; and other freaks that claim they are virtuous sun people deserving special treatment, all ultimately have the same goal.
Destroy all academic standards and drag all civilization down to their destitute level and plunge the world into chaos and savagery.
These people are not the ideological descendants of the Civil Rights Movement, they do not have the value system associated with it. They also should not be associated with Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X after he left the Nation of Islam, went on the hajj which transformed many of his views). People who literally can not complete a sentence or phrase without uttering the n-word but also go out of their way to utter said word privately, publicly and in mass media, yet are surprised when other people feel they can say the word too; are vehemently anti-intellectual; think they can try to steal other people's culture and claim it for their own; and yet can't figure out why many don't identify nor want to be associated with them; frankly, its probably for the best that Malik & Martin are not alive to see this day. The atrocious behavior of the segment of the population that mass produces afro-nazis would break even their mighty hearts.
These people are the children of the crack epidemic of the 80's & 90's and the culture and value system that grew out of that experience. The reliance on welfare along with the prison system as a subsistence strategy are intimately tied to culture and value system that arose from the crack epidemic. Notice I am specifically referring to the culture and value system that grew out of the crack epidemic, because in certain areas (there are still pockets out there), the epidemic may have subsided, but not the culture and value system of the community.
There are some communities where being incarcerated, going on welfare due to pregnancy is no longer a shameful taboo. If not on welfare, then within the prison system, these bebe's kids find a way to have the taxpayer foot the bill for their food, clothing and shelter. I would not be surprised if during the crack epidemic, welfare & incarceration rates skyrocketed in comparison to previous decades. Thus a subsistence strategy revolving around crack, welfare & incarceration with a supporting culture and value system associated with it began to grow.
This culture and value system is diametrically opposed to the ones associated with both Martin & Malik, I think even many founders of the original Black Panthers would be disgusted as well. This is why Bill Cosby was attacked for his comments about responsibility ans self-respect. Many of the young people I have talked to about Cosby and his comments, can not relate to where Cos is coming from, old school cats like Cos, the Civil Rights Movement, they have no clue about nor are they interested. They have a different value system.
If I can at least do 1 thing, then I want to make this 1 point clear: one need not possess a certain melanin level to have an interest in northern African history, nor is one's ancestors required to have come from a certain geographic area. Nor is it a requirement that because of one's melanin level or ancestor's origin one MUST FEEL OR ACT A CERTAIN WAY.
This thread reflects my hope that the Anglophone world will stop sticking its head into 19th century ideology and get with all the new developments going on in academia pertaining to northern African history.
There is an alternative to the blond Aryan theory of civilizations and to the Leonard Jeffries and high priests of Diop in the world.
Frank Snowden is a great Afro-American author, whose works are a great and necessary resource for anyone interested in northern African history. Now Snowden was considered a sellout and a traitor by the afronuts especially during the Bernal/Athena debates. But quite frankly, to freaks like the afro-nazis, anyone that does not make them feel good is a racist or a sellout. I would recommend checking out the new reprints of a series, the late great Snowden was associated with, The Image of the Black in Western Art.
I also want to make this point clear. I often feel disgusted by the behavior of my fellow Americans, I often feel disappointed by my fellow Americans but I DO NOT HATE MY FELLOW AMERICANS. I am fully aware and cherish the struggles of brave Americans before me for: national independence & sovereignty; the separation of church & state; freedom of speech; freedom of press; right to peacefully dissent; abolition of slavery; voting rights; notions of property rights along with civil rights & liberties. I value public libraries; public, affordable institutions of higher learning, and despite my many criticisms, public k-12 education & transportation.
So my fellow Americans, in regards in dealing with the afro-nazis, who not only take for granted the systems and benefits that they rage against but are seemingly unable to utilize their benefits (their anti-intellectualism does not allow them to acquire the skills & training nor does their feel good coddling develop the work ethic to be able to build families, communities & businesses to support themselves, in order to compensate for difficulties in integrating with the general society), I have 2 proposals.
1st, I have 2 words, Ron Paul. Now as a self-identified left leaning, progressive, I do not agree with everything about this man, but when given the disproportionately high levels of out of wedlock births, involvement in crime and irresponsibility, I believe Ron Paul would be the best man to tackle the root problems rather than the symptoms. The root problem is the culture and value system that emerged during the crack epidemic including the discarding of the shame associated with welfare and incarceration and instead the adoption of the prison and welfare system as a viable subsistence strategy in order to obtain food, shelter and clothing.
Now whether it is done cold turkey or whether there is some sort of transition, the fact of the matter is people can never learn the value of work nor the pride one takes in one's work if the taxpayers function as their collective sugar daddy, THEY WILL NEVER LEARN ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY. Of course relationships and bridges will have to be built and of course that takes a lot of work, patience and empathy. I believe there have been some old school hip hoppers that are Paulian supporters and sympathizers, but that is something I will delve into in another forum. A good kick in the butt from a fighter like Dr. Paul might be just what is needed to make comfortable people uncomfortable about mooching off working taxpayers.
Now for those hardline afronuts that refuse to show responsibility; don't feel relationships are a 2 way street; unwilling to bring something to the table; hate America and feel they are the true heirs to the various civilizations all over the world, I think Americans should collectively use their tax dollars to give the afro-nazis want they're always crying for.
Send them back to where they (claim ) to come from.
I would love for someone to videotape an afronut lecturing a lighter toned Algerian Kablye, claiming the Kabyle is a Turkish slave and not a true descendant of the Moors, which stole the land from the afronut's ancestors.
Man I would also like to see the afronuts lecturing on the streets of Israel/Palestine, that they are the true descendants of the Hebrew Israelites and the true heirs of the land. I'm sure Hamas would have an interesting reaction to the afrocentrists, indeed.
The afrocentrists claim to be the descendants of the Canaanites send them to Syria and Lebanon and let Hezbollah and the Syrian gov't, "welcome"(), their long lost brothers and sisters.
Give the afrocentrists what they want, send them to northern Sudan, Somalia, Saudi Arabia & Yemen and let those nations deal with them since the afrocentrists hate America so much. Back to Africa 2.0.
So there you go my fellow Americans when dealing with an angry afrocentric who hates America and claims to be the descendants of such and such civilization, tell them to put their money where their mouth is, hell even offer to send them with your own money, back to where they allegedly came from. Let them learn the consequences of taking for granted what they have over here, let them see what happens when they behave over there like they do here and how the locals respond to them.
For some reason, even in these troubling economic times, I have a feeling proposal #2 would enjoy broad appeal and support among the American populace.
"From an African American perspective, there is no argument -- Othello will forever be a black character. Whether he was a sub-Saharan African, a Berber, an Arab or a Spanish Moor, each variant describes a person of African descent, who is therefore "black," according to the traditions of America's "one-drop" rule -- the piece of early twentieth century legislation which classified all citizens with any traces of African ancestry as legally "black."
This pretty much sums up the beef people such as Mary Lefkowitz and myself have with the afronuts. The afrocentrics will utilize racialist ideology when it makes them feel good (even to the point of hypocritically stealing other people's history as their own), yet cry, scream, shout and rampage when they feel that it doesn't.
As I stated in the previous post, a peculiar culture and value system became dominant during the crack epidemic, including the cultural adaptations that accompanied the acceptance of the prison and welfare system as a means to obtain food, shelter & clothing, a substenance strategy.
Thus they have no concepts of responsibility, no self-discipline; no value for critical thinking, contemplation, & rampant anti-intellectualism; they are in effect, worthless. What the afronuts want is to feel good and to have someone else take responsibility for it. They have no interest in the study of history and culture and will not be satisfied until they can drag everyone down to their miserable state of existence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kovert
There is an alternative to the blond Aryan theory of civilizations and to the Leonard Jeffries and high priests of Diop in the world.
Frank Snowden is a great Afro-American author, whose works are a great and necessary resource for anyone interested in northern African history. Now Snowden was considered a sellout and a traitor by the afronuts especially during the Bernal/Athena debates. But quite frankly, to freaks like the afro-nazis, anyone that does not make them feel good is a racist or a sellout. I would recommend checking out the new reprints of a series, the late great Snowden was associated with, The Image of the Black in Western Art.
In addition to the late, great Snowden another author I would recommend is Okasha El Daly. The afro-nazis would see Daly as an evil Arab invader who robbed their ancestors of their land, but this Misri (Egyptian) brings a unique and much needed perspective for those interested in Nile civilizations.
Now I must say one criticism I have with this text is the emphasis Daly places on Arabic texts. Qibt seems to have been an ethnic term that was used in reference to the population classed as the descendants of the ancient Egyptians. Qibt does not yet seem to refer just to the segment of the population who were Monophysite/Jacobite Christians. If they spoke Hellene & Arabic in addition or in place of their ancestral language or even if they converted to Islam, the designation Qibt seems to have stuck.
ibn Khaldun, Leo Africanus & Marmol thus use Qibt in the sense of ethnicity as I have defined it in previous post. In other words, all Qibt were Misri, but not all Misri were necessarily Qibt & the Qibt were viewed as the aboriginal Misri.
Daly presents the perspective of non-Qibt Arabic chroniclers, which although has much to offer, I hope in the future Daly will also incorporate the viewpoints of the Qibt, Nuba, & Habasha (Bedja & Horn Africans) chroniclers, whether their views are preserved in Hellene, Arabic, Nubian, Coptic or Geez. I am thankful for Daly's mention of Dhu Al Nun Al Misri, and I hope there will be more future studies based on this historical character.
Another criticism is that Daly may seem to some to be defensive and to have a chip on his shoulder, so although I can't necessarily speak for Daly, here's my 2 cents anyway.
The undeveloped or developing nations do not necessarily have the notions of freedom of speech, expression, press, of religion as modern Western do (though with the rise of the freakish Beckians & the homeland (in)security state, these notions are changing). If one lives under military rule with varying degrees of theocracy, it is not the best environment for intellectual discourse & debate. In fact such activities could get you and/or your loved ones killed.
Despite this there will always be those with ambition and aspirations and if they can not find an outlet in their homeland, they will be driven to find more suitable pasture and soil, usually in a Western developed nation.
The frustration one senses from Daly is that these ambitious individuals are not sometimes recognized for talents and contributions. Now these people want to work, they want to bring something to the table, but they are at times seen as suspect by the host society.
Now I'm not saying there are not nuts that want to recreate a modern day Umayyad dynasty, or there are not new black panther groupies and welfare, crackheads claiming to be nubian olmecs in order to get a bigger handout.
The problem is when professionals like the late, great Frank Snowden and cats like Daly get painted with the same brush. What's even more of a slap to the face is that, for reasons beyond my understanding, Americans have a fixation with coddling and promoting the dregs & losers of society. Americans will give the Khalid Muhammed, apostles of Diop & Leonard Jeffries of the world and their afronut followers: permits to preach their nonsense in public; book deals; movies; talk & reality shows; record deals and what not; BUT flat out ignore and try to erase out of existence cats like Snowden & Daly.
The crack culture in the US will pretty much prevent the emergence of another scholar like Snowden due to its labeling of such individuals as "traitors & sellouts". Luckily there are still continental African scholars like Daly and I will make it a point to highlight them in the coming posts.
The Aryanistas and the afronuts should never have been allowed to control the debate. And its truly reflects poorly on my fellow Americans that with all the information that is available at the click of a bottom, these freaks often still run the conversation as if they had any credibility. Truly a national shame, and a situation I hope I can help turn around.
To Be Continued.
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I would recommend checking out 
A good kick in the butt from a fighter like Dr. Paul might be just what is needed to make comfortable people uncomfortable about mooching off working taxpayers.
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