It's a Kemetic thing, you wouldn't understand!

[niankhsekhmet]

Just recieved the following missive in my email, from a teacher no less.


praise the lord God and his son our Savior Jesus
Christ:

Just visiting your web site for a class ( I'm the instructor). Your image showed the Egyptians as a black man and a white woman. Lets be for real, the Egyptians were negroid race bothe the men and the WOMAN. Your obviously a caucasion female, but if your gonna show this site lets be real and not fibbing to those that stop by the site. I wont visit it again and don't respond to this e-mail cause your on block. You have a problem lady.


I have a problem? Apparently this guy has a problem with a piece of ancient art depicting the Goddess, HetHert (Hathor) and King Seti I, because she is "lighter skinned" than he is. Umm...that's because She is a Goddess, and typically, they are shown according to an ARTISTIC CANON, which was pretty much practiced throughout all of Egypt's history. Goddesses are shown as being golden-skinned, to denote their divinity as being seperate from that of humans, imagine that! The artistic canon is less about realism and more about symbolism. The entire culture was focused on the symbolic. Wasir is shown as Green and Amun is shown as being Blue, does that mean that They really ARE those colours?!

I will never debate that Egypt is in Africa, because it is. I will also never debate the race of the Egyptians, we all know about this. There were numerous Nubian Nisuts (Pharaohs), one of whom, Piye, who really rocks my world! I think those of us in the House of Netjer have seen this argument time and time again, and we have, many of us, recieved similar messages where we are told something along the lines of, "How dare you worship OUR African Gods! You have the wrong color skin!" " I want them make that same comment in front of my sister, AsetMekti! :-) I also love that this guy says I am undoubtedly caucasian. How does one determine that? In truth, I am not Caucasian. I am of mixed ancestry and I define myself as being American Indian. My people know who I am, other Indians take one look at me and know what my ancestry is. Race isn't something we can get away from, but is it something that we need to wear on our sleeves and use an excuse to snipe at each other?

I understand the hurt and the stain and the predjudice, and the resonating words of early Egyptologists, mainly from pre-Third Reich Germany who said: "We must not let Egypt partake of Africa's spirit." It was born purely or predjudice and master-race mentality that this was said. This is the same reason why many new agers like to believe in the 100 year out-of-date notion of the Dynastic Race Theory - whereby the ruling class were lighter skinned and decended from the Gods from the stars, which proves that people of colour were less than. It is unfortunate,and I am indeed sorry for that hurt, but I in no way subscribe to it myself. If anything I am all for Ma'at, for the Truth of what Egypt Was and Is. Striking out at those of us who love Egypt for Egypt's sake, is counter productive. Those of us who love Ancient Egypt, don't do so because we covet the culture in order to remake it into the image that we would wish it to be. It is a sincere love and appreciation for the beauty of the greatest civilization that the world has ever seen (in our view). If they were black, they were black - but what does that mean? In Egypt, to be honest, they did not really care in the way that we in modern America seem to. Afrocentrist's go overboard and accuse anyone who does not agree with them at all times and everywhere as being Eurocentrists. Why can't we just be Egyptocentric or Humanocentric or even Enlightenedcentric?

Comments

[shemem.livejournal.com]

A teacher???

Just visiting your web site for a class ( I'm the instructor). Your image showed the Egyptians as a black man and a white woman. Lets (Let's) be for real, the Egyptians were (a) negroid (Negroid) race bothe (both) the men and the WOMAN (WOMEN). Your (You're) obviously a caucasion (Caucasian) female, but if your (you're) gonna ("going to" is preferred in formal usage) show this site lets (let's) be real and not fibbing to those that (who) stop by the site. I wont (won't) visit it again and don't respond to this e-mail cause (because) your (you're) on block. You have a problem(,) lady.

*sigh* I can fix the writing, but I can't fix the mind. Sorry.

I can fix the writing

[dumud.livejournal.com]

..hmmmmm, so what are your rates?

I thought editors to be mythological beings, until recently

so what are your

[laughafterwords.livejournal.com]

Rates determine what is exchanged for goods or services

Rates determine

[graveminence.livejournal.com]

yeah.. we all know what he meant.
now quit screwing around, this is someone's journal
show some respect!

Re: I can fix the writing

[shemem.livejournal.com]

I thought editors to be mythological beings, until recently.

That's because we're so easily confused with vampires.

Well, it's mainly copy editors that get confused with vampires, but that's what I was.

Rates depend on the project.

[niankhsekhmet.livejournal.com]

*HUGS* Thank you! I appreciate you fixing the spelling. No, I don't believe anyone can fix what ails this person.

[willgrizz.livejournal.com]

*chuckling* You know, for as long as I have known you, you have always gotten these. Why do you think they seek you out? You are talented, Xina, and you know with your passion and honesty toward the subject matter, that they are very probably jealous.

[khaiptah.livejournal.com]

What a bloody idiot. :( <>

[djedet.livejournal.com]

so s/he doesn't know the basics of Egyptian art... and you've got the problem? I love how s/he writes you to share their scorn, but prevents you from responding.

That's someone, who clearly knows there is room to be corrected. If i were you, I'd put it on an FAQ section or something and respond on your site.

Netjer forbid, we should understand that no matter what color we paint Netjer, God is all colors and none at the same time.

[niankhsekhmet.livejournal.com]

*THAT*, Djedet, is a fantastic idea re: the FAQ! I think that would be very cool! Thank you for that!

[djedet.livejournal.com]

your welcome! I mean, I personaly wish I had saved every intense disscussion I have had about my Father on the boards and in conversations.... because, answering a question, or pummeling a misnomer or false statement into the ground... it is always the best place to teach, as well as be heard.

and not to mention, I like humiliating idiots. LOL

[niankhsekhmet.livejournal.com]

and not to mention, I like humiliating idiots. LOL

*chuckling* Yeah, well this particular idiot claims he wasn't going to let me! So I guess his ignorance shall be his bliss! ;-)

[rekhet.livejournal.com]

"well this particular idiot claims he wasn't going to let me!"

Hehe..he doesn't need you to do it, he does it very well all on his own!

the project

[dumud.livejournal.com]

Assemblage of what might have been dismissed as banter while being components of an ever larger story. My live-journals were intended to be put together as to tell a tale concerning a man having lost his will to live and found something more…

But.. This seems too confusing for even me to consider much less propose.. or alternatively, pose

A thought nonetheless

Re: the project

[niankhsekhmet.livejournal.com]

Tell me more about your project, because I do very much enjoy what you write, even though most days you stretch my brain in incredibly new and different directions, Dean.:)

Tell me more

[dumud.livejournal.com]

I just recalled needing to send your package!!! let me send this off and I'll explain afterwards

[sesha.livejournal.com]

I've had people write to the (anonymous) information mailbox and accuse "to whom it may concern" of being a racist because there are white people in photographs on our site. I'm really amazed at the logic there, heh. ;)

[niankhsekhmet.livejournal.com]

umm..yeah white people, wearing white. White people of coures cannot see the beauty of an African religion, by the simple virtue of being white. :-/ I know, I mean I get at least one of these every six months, I wish that they would at least have the courage to discuss the issue(s) and open a dialogue, rather than hit and run.

[torn-soul.livejournal.com]

What a dumbass.

[jamesbaxter.livejournal.com]

Human beings never cease to amaze me with their mindlessness. Yet another example.

[senset.livejournal.com]

He/she writes like that and calls themselves an educator? I have a good nose and can smell bullshit when it is placed under my face.

[jkrissw.livejournal.com]

As someone who just went through a couple of years of classes to get a teaching credential, I find it unlikely for an individual so weak in grammar and spelling to be a fully accredited teacher of any sort. He just said "for a class". Perhaps he volunteers to teach a church Sunday school class, or something like that.

[jkrissw.livejournal.com]

The whole Black Egyptian thing gets SOOOO ridiculous... "Racially", though I hate using that term (it's irrelevant - we're all ONE race, HUMAN!), the ancient Egyptians seem closer to the ancient and modern north Africans (Berbers) than anything south of the Sahara. Whenever I get in a discussion with somebody who's trying to spread the gospel of "Black Egyptians", I get the impression that they're picturing them as dark as somebody from the Congo.

In ancient Egyptian art, they pretty consistently portrayed themselves as sort of a reddish tan, while Nubian, Kushites, etc. were shown as dark brown, and Syrians, Sea People, etc. were shown as ...the old Crayola politically incorrect "flesh" tone. :-)