Kemetic Slavery?

[Jah SoulJah]

While there had been slaves in Egypt since the beginning of it’s history, their numbers greatly increased during the "New Kingdom", when the pharaohs were committed to a policy of foreign involvement and conquests in Nubia, Canaan and Syria which brought in many prisoners of war,
seqer-ankh, who were enslaved, at times were branded with the sign ki

“I gave to them captains of archers, and chief men of the tribes, branded and made into slaves, impressed with my name; their wives and their children were made likewise.”
Extract from the “Harris Papyrus”

“I have not domineered over slaves.
I have not caused harm to be done to the slave by his master.”
From “the Book of the Dead” chapter 125
Trans. E.A. Wallis Budge Pg. 365
The very fact that treating your slaves well was considered a moral duty implies they were often treated harshly

“Behold, I have sent you Hanya, with merchandise in order to have beautiful concubines, i.e. weavers; silver, gold, garments, turquoises, all sorts of precious stones, chairs of ebony, as well as all good things, worth 160 deben. In total: forty concubines - the price of every concubine is forty of silver. Therefore, send very beautiful concubines without blemish.”
Extract of a letter from Amenhotep III to Milkilu
He was ordering 40 slave girls at a price of 40 kit of silver each

The following, possibly somewhat exaggerated report describes the exploits of Ramses III
“I laid low the Meshwesh, the Libyans, the Esbet, the Keykesh, the Shai, the Hes and the Beken. I carried away those whom my sword spared, as numerous captives, pinioned like birds before my horses, their wives and their children by the ten-thousand, their cattle in number like hundred-thousands”
Extract from the “Harris Papyrus”

In approximately the 41st year of Thutmose's reign he received from the Hittites (among other things) eight male and female black slaves, calling it tribute. The Hittites must have thought of them as presents, probably quite valuable ones, as black persons were a rarity among them.
Hittites (from Hatti) = roughly, Modern day Turkey

The Egyptians took control of Kush in 1520 BC.
Defeated nations like the Nubians who lost their independence and were administered by the Egyptians, paid taxes, which often included slaves. Their number was not as great for Lower Nubia as it was for Kush, which produced less gold than its northern neighbour.
Nubia/Kush = Modern day Sudan /Ethiopia

This is all a matter of historical record.
It seems strange for any Ras to big up any slave culture.
I man think some confuse Jah with Ra
I man am interested in the I's thoughts on this

[ZombieDS]

http://worldofjah.ning.com/forum/topics/proof-of-egyptians-enslaving

[Jah SoulJah]

Thanks for the link Zombie, read that, biblical so called "evidence" is open to conjecture and easily dismissed. All the other historical evidence is not so easily dismissed.
The Egyptians kept slaves from Kush and Nubia.

Does the I have any thoughts on modern Rasta venerating ancient Kemetic religion?

[ZombieDS]

I have been thinking about this a bit lately after first seeing that link i posted. I certainly am not the most knowledgeable on the subject, and am continuing to learn more on the subject... but until then I have sighted His Imperial Majesty as my King and Ruler, and remain apprehensive about the veneration of anything unrelated to the Solomonic line.

( but like I said, I don't know as much as I would like, and am constantly learning more. maybe they are related and i haven't dug deep enough... any added knowledge is always appreciloved.)

[Jah SoulJah]

Thanks for the post brother Zombie, whilst His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I did counsel tolerance of all religions, i man wonder about those that would excuse slavery, attempt to reason racial superiority, justify hatred and revenge because they think their ancestors were the first to get wise.

A Father loves all his children equally and is saddened by his children's inability to get along together.
True, ini must learn more. Jah love guide and protect.

[Ras Jamaal]

As far as Iman aware, slavery was most visible in kemet during the
Ptolemaic dynasty, which was one dynasty in a long line of Conquerors
and oppressors that invaded Kemet. Ptolemy was Alexander the "great"'s
general, and was given the entire country to rule as his own. The strange customs
and practices depicted in heiroglyphs may all very well be directly linked to various invaders.
It is well known that romans and greeks invaded kemet, and also that these two countries
were famous for the slave trade, as well as various perverted tendencies including
homosexuality and pedophilia.

Is it not arguable then that the various quotes from papyri can be attributed to invaders to
the throne and rulership of kemet? Why else would black Africans be the gifts.....to black Africans?
The hyksos were also another set of invaders, whom were caucasoids, whom can be correlated with tyrannical periods of rule. These invaders are the historical ancestors of the khazars, ashkenazim, as well as sephardic jews, whom have
stolen land from the palestinians.
Persans were also invaders.
Are kemetians/Egyptians to be blamed for all the powerful invaders spanning the length of their civilization??
in Kemet?

The theological and philosophical views of kemet were and are highly inconsistent with the propensity to
enslave which you have described.

but Iman will do additional research.

ONE PERFECT LOVE

[Ras Jamaal]

If InI check the chronology on various Icepts of the Most High, InI will find that
the Kemetians were highly influential on the evolution and emergence of many spiritual, scientific,
as well as social innovations.

[Jah SoulJah]

Thanks for the post Ras Jamal, it seems that at one stage in the history of the world the whole planet seemed to be involved in this despicable practice.

What the I says is true. The Asiatic Hyksos invaders introduced many advances (for the want of a better word) in warfare as well. Interestingly the Kushites allied themselves with the Hyksos but were eventually driven out during the reign of Kamose, prior to the the so called “new kingdom”

The “Pyramid texts” taken from the walls of the tombs during this period are the oldest body of religious literature yet discovered, which all suggests that slavery was at it’s height during the reigns of Thutmose, Hatshepsut, Amenhotep, Tutankhamun and Ramses, c.1550 – 1070 BC. ini wonder if there were “black” slaves in Egypt after the Kushites invaded and established the “25th Dynasty” c.770-657 BC ?
Whatever, Ini doubt whether the practice would have declined after the later Assyrian, Persian then the Roman conquests but it is an abomination if even one slave is kept on the planet, anywhere anytime.

I man have a strong desire to comprehend and the I’s post has inspired further research. Ini know that ini do not know. I man have always had an interest in where (hu)mankind sprang from and sometimes the research makes I head swim.

I n I know that Qadamwi Haile Selassie believed in and urged his subjects to believe it all came from the one creator god, which is inconsistent with the polytheistic nature of ancient Kemetic beliefs.
I man wonder, who is the real authority on either belief?

The potter god Khnum, who is supposed to have created the first human beings on his potter's wheel, is always shown creating both a person and his Ka. See attached Ka_soul.jpg

The Egyptians, however, never had a dogmatic theology explaining it all. Some might like to think that the Egyptians were wise beyond our reckoning, and that they did have all the metaphysics worked out, and that these truths are preserved in secret doctrines and esoteric teachings; but whenever examples of something of the sort are revealed in public, their derivation, and naiveté, is obvious and often disproved.

I man have no barrow to push, I man am not a Christian. Not Rastafarian, but Rasta and Rasta alone has awakened a spiritual awareness that has profoundly influenced I man life.
Ini am just attempting to live right with compassion and love for all I fellow (hu) man.
I man have no desire whatsoever to create an “us and them”

In the words of that beautiful Jamaican expression, “me throw me corn but me no call no fowl”.

Bless up Brother, much Peace in the I’s house.

[Jah SoulJah]

Whilst recognizing that Afrocentricity can take the form of legitimate and relevant scholarship.
The Afrocentrist Kemetic viewpoint is not without its detractors. Mainstream scholars have assessed some Radical Afrocentric ideas as pseudohistorical. They especially find fault with claims regarding Ancient Egypt as contributing directly to the development of Greek and Western culture because apparently the times of development do not align. When historical myths and legends, or an invented history, play such a major role in radical Afrocentrism, it then becomes a large-scale historical project to rewrite the history of the whole of humankind from an Anthropometric point of view. The result is a new reconstruction of world history, which appears to be a backlash against Eurocentrism and the white superiority mindset.

Recent work by geneticists provides evidence that Eurasians likely are descended from populations that migrated north and east out of the horn of Africa some 50,000 – 40,000 years ago.

In 2003, geneticist Spencer Wells confirmed a clear DNA link between indigenous Africans and the Australoid peoples of India, Australia and Southeast Asia, tracing the DNA of San bushmen from southeast Africa to India and on to Australia. Wells' work indicates that the ancestors of Southeast Asian and Melanesian peoples migrated out of Africa before the ancestors of modern Europeans did. ini can personally attest to the fact that many people from Bouganville (Papua New Guinea) have the blackest skin ini have ever seen, truly a beautiful blue/black reminiscent of a riflebird.

Conventional modern wisdom based on paleoanthropology has it that (hu)mankind emerged in Africa some 400,000 years ago and I man prefer this, espousing that each and every one are all one race, the human race.

The attached .jpg of inscriptions from the tomb of Seti I (1290 –1279BC) clearly show that the Egyptians themselves during this period were conscious of ethnicity, and that they distinguished themselves from peoples of other races. This .jpg depicts (from top right): Libyan,(Themu) Nubian,(Nehesu) Asiatic,(Aamu) and Egyptian,(Reth)

How far back does the I want to go? What does it all mean? I man do not know,
but ini too have an enquiring mind and will not call anyone “fool” for seeking knowledge, from whatever source,
even if it does not agree with ini perceptions. Enough of this historical division. What happens next idren?