Ramses the Great: Black Man of the Nile and Pride of Africa
By Runoko Rashidi
Although it was the African Sudan–the “Ethiopia” (Land of the Blacks) of ancient
times–that gave birth to the oldest civilization, it is in Kmt (Ancient Egypt), a child
of Ethiopia and greatest nation of antiquity, that the bulk of historical research has
been done. For the moment, at least, Kmt continues to be the focal point of our African
centered researches, and will probably be the object of much of our studies for some time
to come. Not only were Ancient Egypt’s origins African, but through the entire Dynastic
Age and during all the periods of real splendor from the initial unification of Upper and
Lower Egypt in the fourth millennia B.C.E. men and women with black skin complexions
and wooly hair reigned virtually supreme.
In the intense and unrelenting struggle to establish and prove scientifically the African
foundations of ancient Egyptian civilization, the late Senegalese scholar Cheikh Anta
Diop remains a most fierce and ardent champion. Diop, 1923-1986, was among the
world’s leading Egyptologists, and held the position of Director of the Radiocarbon
Laboratory of the Fundamental Institute of Black Africa in Dakar, Senegal. The range of methodologies employed by Dr. Diop in the course of his extensive labors inc1ude:
examinations of the epidermis of Egyptian royal mummies recovered during the
Auguste Ferdinand Mariette Expedition for verification of melanin content; precise
osteological measurements and meticulous studies in the relevant areas of anatomy
and physical anthropology; careful examinations and comparisons of modern Upper
Egyptian and West African blood-groups; detailed linguistic studies; analysis of the
ethnic designations employed by the Kamites themselves; corroborations of distinct
African cultural traits; documentations of Biblical testimonies and references regarding
ethnicity, race and culture; and the writings of early Greek and Roman scholars for
descriptions of the physical appearances of the ancient Egyptian people.
Diop firmly believed that “The highest point of Egyptian history was the Nineteenth
Dynasty of Ramses II.”
Ramses reigned from 1279 to 1213 BCE, more than 3200 years ago. His reign was a
time of power and prosperity for the people of Africa’s Nile Valley. The sixty-seven
year reign of Ramses the Great was for Kmt an era of general prosperity, stable
government and extensive building projects. Ancient deities like Ptah, Re and Set
were elevated to high status. The adoration of Amen was restored and his priests
reinstated. Major wars were fought with the Libyans, Hittites and their allies.
Wondrous temples from Nubia to the Egyptian Delta were carved out of the
naked cliffs. Splendid tombs in the hills of western Waset and Abydos were
constructed, renovated and beautified. The new Egyptian city of Pi-Ramses
made its impressive debut.
Ramses was deified in his own lifetime, and through the unrelenting projection
of his own incomparable personality made the name Ramses, the Son of Amen-Re
, synonymous with kingship for centuries. Ramses II was truly great. He was the
towering figure of his age and established the models and set the standards that
others used to rule by.
In regards to the ethnicity of the great Ramses, Cheikh Anta Diop unhesitatingly
threw down the gauntlet, and spoke of him in a language of unmistakable firmness
and certitude:
“Ramses II was not leucoderm and could have been even less red-haired, because
he reigned over a people who instantly massacred
red-haired people as soon as they met them, even in the street; these people were
considered as strange beings, unhealthy, bearers of bad luck and unfit for life….
Ramses II is black. Let’s let him sleep in his black skin, for eternity.”
Sadly, the mummy of Ramses II has been more than disturbed. In Dynasty XXI the
mummies of Ramses II and Set I, along with other royal mummies, were removed
from their tombs and reburied in the cliffs at Deir el-Bahari. There the mummies were
discovered by the Department of Antiquities in 1881 and removed to Cairo.
Nor, as Diop wished, was the great king allowed to “sleep in his black skin.” He was
subjected to many recent observations and experiments. Speaking of the latter, Ivan
Van Sertima makes a number of enormously fascinating observations:
“One of the things that struck me most about Diop as a person was his absolute honesty.
He was never afraid to criticize something African or black once it merited criticism.
I have never found him out in any equivocation or exaggeration. He told me twice,
both in London and in Atlanta, that there was no question whatsoever of the blackness
or Africanness of Ramses II. He told me that he had actually seen the mummy, and that
the skin of the mummy was as black as his skin. He said, however, that after it was
subjected to gamma rays the skin looked grayish. It had lost its original dark color.
Yet he felt that it would still have been possible to establish its ethnicity through his
method, the melanin dosage test. A similar method is now in use in the United States.
He said that the scientists involved had used far more gamma rays than was necessary
for their experiment. He asked for permission to examine a specimen of the mummy’s
skin and hair but he’ was refused permission. The authorities said that it would damage
the mummy. Later on, after a certain discovery which was covered up, the scientists
abandoned the mummy, suppressed all their reports, and circulated a rumor that this
was not really the mummy of Ramses II.”
RAMSES THE GREAT AS MILITARIST: THE KADESH BATTLE
Ramses II never tired of reporting about the battle of Kadesh, The official account
of the Kadesh Battle is found inscribed on temples in Abydos, Abu Simbel, the
Ramesseum, Karnak, Luxor, and two hieratic papyri. It occurred in the fifth year
of his reign near the Orontes River in the Bekaa Valley. At this time the Kamite
army was organized into four divisions, each named after one of the chief deities
of the realm: Ra, Ptah, Set, and Amen. Included in the Egyptian contingent were
the King’s pet lion and two of the monarch’s sons.
January 14, 2016 | Posted by
By Runoko Rashidi
Although it was the African Sudan–the “Ethiopia” (Land of the Blacks) of ancient
times–that gave birth to the oldest civilization, it is in Kmt (Ancient Egypt), a child
of Ethiopia and greatest nation of antiquity, that the bulk of historical research has
been done. For the moment, at least, Kmt continues to be the focal point of our African
centered researches, and will probably be the object of much of our studies for some time
to come. Not only were Ancient Egypt’s origins African, but through the entire Dynastic
Age and during all the periods of real splendor from the initial unification of Upper and
Lower Egypt in the fourth millennia B.C.E. men and women with black skin complexions
and wooly hair reigned virtually supreme.
In the intense and unrelenting struggle to establish and prove scientifically the African
foundations of ancient Egyptian civilization, the late Senegalese scholar Cheikh Anta
Diop remains a most fierce and ardent champion. Diop, 1923-1986, was among the
world’s leading Egyptologists, and held the position of Director of the Radiocarbon
Laboratory of the Fundamental Institute of Black Africa in Dakar, Senegal. The range of methodologies employed by Dr. Diop in the course of his extensive labors inc1ude:
examinations of the epidermis of Egyptian royal mummies recovered during the
Auguste Ferdinand Mariette Expedition for verification of melanin content; precise
osteological measurements and meticulous studies in the relevant areas of anatomy
and physical anthropology; careful examinations and comparisons of modern Upper
Egyptian and West African blood-groups; detailed linguistic studies; analysis of the
ethnic designations employed by the Kamites themselves; corroborations of distinct
African cultural traits; documentations of Biblical testimonies and references regarding
ethnicity, race and culture; and the writings of early Greek and Roman scholars for
descriptions of the physical appearances of the ancient Egyptian people.
Diop firmly believed that “The highest point of Egyptian history was the Nineteenth
Dynasty of Ramses II.”
Ramses reigned from 1279 to 1213 BCE, more than 3200 years ago. His reign was a
time of power and prosperity for the people of Africa’s Nile Valley. The sixty-seven
year reign of Ramses the Great was for Kmt an era of general prosperity, stable
government and extensive building projects. Ancient deities like Ptah, Re and Set
were elevated to high status. The adoration of Amen was restored and his priests
reinstated. Major wars were fought with the Libyans, Hittites and their allies.
Wondrous temples from Nubia to the Egyptian Delta were carved out of the
naked cliffs. Splendid tombs in the hills of western Waset and Abydos were
constructed, renovated and beautified. The new Egyptian city of Pi-Ramses
made its impressive debut.
Ramses was deified in his own lifetime, and through the unrelenting projection
of his own incomparable personality made the name Ramses, the Son of Amen-Re
, synonymous with kingship for centuries. Ramses II was truly great. He was the
towering figure of his age and established the models and set the standards that
others used to rule by.
In regards to the ethnicity of the great Ramses, Cheikh Anta Diop unhesitatingly
threw down the gauntlet, and spoke of him in a language of unmistakable firmness
and certitude:
“Ramses II was not leucoderm and could have been even less red-haired, because
he reigned over a people who instantly massacred
red-haired people as soon as they met them, even in the street; these people were
considered as strange beings, unhealthy, bearers of bad luck and unfit for life….
Ramses II is black. Let’s let him sleep in his black skin, for eternity.”
Sadly, the mummy of Ramses II has been more than disturbed. In Dynasty XXI the
mummies of Ramses II and Set I, along with other royal mummies, were removed
from their tombs and reburied in the cliffs at Deir el-Bahari. There the mummies were
discovered by the Department of Antiquities in 1881 and removed to Cairo.
Nor, as Diop wished, was the great king allowed to “sleep in his black skin.” He was
subjected to many recent observations and experiments. Speaking of the latter, Ivan
Van Sertima makes a number of enormously fascinating observations:
“One of the things that struck me most about Diop as a person was his absolute honesty.
He was never afraid to criticize something African or black once it merited criticism.
I have never found him out in any equivocation or exaggeration. He told me twice,
both in London and in Atlanta, that there was no question whatsoever of the blackness
or Africanness of Ramses II. He told me that he had actually seen the mummy, and that
the skin of the mummy was as black as his skin. He said, however, that after it was
subjected to gamma rays the skin looked grayish. It had lost its original dark color.
Yet he felt that it would still have been possible to establish its ethnicity through his
method, the melanin dosage test. A similar method is now in use in the United States.
He said that the scientists involved had used far more gamma rays than was necessary
for their experiment. He asked for permission to examine a specimen of the mummy’s
skin and hair but he’ was refused permission. The authorities said that it would damage
the mummy. Later on, after a certain discovery which was covered up, the scientists
abandoned the mummy, suppressed all their reports, and circulated a rumor that this
was not really the mummy of Ramses II.”
RAMSES THE GREAT AS MILITARIST: THE KADESH BATTLE
Ramses II never tired of reporting about the battle of Kadesh, The official account
of the Kadesh Battle is found inscribed on temples in Abydos, Abu Simbel, the
Ramesseum, Karnak, Luxor, and two hieratic papyri. It occurred in the fifth year
of his reign near the Orontes River in the Bekaa Valley. At this time the Kamite
army was organized into four divisions, each named after one of the chief deities
of the realm: Ra, Ptah, Set, and Amen. Included in the Egyptian contingent were
the King’s pet lion and two of the monarch’s sons.
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