The Egyptian Philosophers: Ancient African Voices from Imhotep to Akhenaten

Traditional Eurocentric thought assumes that Greece was the origin of civilization. This book dispels this and other myths by showing that there is a body of knowledge that preceded Greek philosophy. The author documents how the great pyramids were built in 2800 B.C., 2,100 years before Greek civilization. The popular myth of Hippocrates being the father of medicine is dispelled by the fact that Hippocrates studied the works of Imhotep, the true father of medicine, and mentioned his name in his Hippocratic oath. Eleven famous African scholars who preceded Greek philosophers are profiled: Ptahhotep, Kagemni, Duauf, Amenhotep, Amenemope, Imhotep, Amenemhat, Merikare, Sehotepibre, Khunanup, and Akhenaten. These scholars' ideas on a variety of topics are discussed, including the emergence of science and reason, the moral order, books and education, and the clash of classes.

Since the 18th century, Greece has been heralded as the cradle of Western civilization, with Plato, Pythagoras, and Thales touted as the world's first philosophers. But as Temple University scholar Molefi Kete Asante writes in this slim, spectacular book, those men all studied in ancient Egypt and took credit for the concepts created by Imhotep, Ahmenhotep, Akhenaton, and other Egyptian intellectuals, scientists, theologians, and moralists. Asante, the major proponent of the concept of Afrocentricity, draws from a number of primary sources to reveal what he claims to be the true origins of medicine, astronomy, ethics, scientific inquiry, and civics. "The antiquity of African philosophy is unique and stands alone and is older than all other philosophies," Asante writes. "It would be much later, nearly two thousand years, before the Greeks, who were influenced by the Egyptians, would develop their philosophy."

From 2700 to 1290 B.C., the Egyptians were the light of the ancient world. They produced many early medical instruments, designed the world's first step pyramid, and laid the empirical groundwork for scientific reasoning. Akhenaton, the rebel pharaoh, is even cited as "the Father of Monotheism." Asante stresses throughout the book that these developments came from a confluence of African cultures, and not from other parts of the world. "The practice of the African philosophers along the Nile was a practice of maintaining Maat [the principle of truth, order, and justice] in every aspect of life," he writes. "If we could only learn from them the value of harmony, balance, and righteousness, we would be on our way toward a revival of the spirit of human victory." --Eugene Holley Jr.

This is another great book of African History, and o learn that Africa indeed have philosophers, that taught the Greeks and thne the Romans about objective and non-objective thinking. No, the Greeks wern't the first to do this!

As a teacher of ancient Greek philosophy, and hearing of recent claims of an out of Africa influence on that philosophy, I decided to look into these claims to consider whether I should revise my curriculum. My first look was Innocent C. Onyewuenyi's "The African Origin of Greek Philosophy: An Exercise in Afrocentrism." I was unimpressed by the book (my review is on this site). The evidence presented for the view, stated repeatedly by Onyewuenyi, that the Greek philosophers were simply teaching Egyptian philosophy, was the offering of Egyptian creation myths, a ubiquitous form of early religion in most cultures that was entirely out of character with Greek philosophy. The fact is that the Greek philosophers were by in large uninterested in explanations of the creation of the world. Their view was cyclic: there is change that repeats on itself-the seasons, the celestial bodies, etc. The notion that time is retrospectively eternal is emphasized in this tradition, and finally finds an argument in Aristotle's book Lambda of his "Metaphysics."

My next thought was that perhaps I should search for something unlike codified religious belief in Egyptian culture-some tradition of free thinkers that could be placed seamlessly into the tradition of Greek philosophy. Thus I came to this book, which seemed to identify individual thinkers in Egyptian history.

Let us first be clear what "philosophy" is in the most specific sense. Philosophy is a term of Greek origin that referred to a tradition of thought that had four basic features. First, an aim at achieving understanding or wisdom concerning reality. Second, a view that traditional beliefs were irrelevant to the success of the first objective. Third, a critical attitude to former proposals of the tradition, and thus originality of thought. Fourth, an insistence that views be supported by reasons, evidence, argument, etc., that would compel any reasonable person that the views offered should be adopted.

In a broader sense, of course, many cultures have traditions of thought that share some of these characteristics, and thus it has been deemed legitimate to speak of Chinese philosophy, Indian philosophy, etc. In the same vein one might speak of African philosophy.

Asante expresses his agreement with the out of Africa proposal that would put the Egyptians as the antecedents of the Greek philosophers, placing them in the tradition of philosophy in the specific sense outlined above (14). Although in this book he offers no argument for the view, clearly his discussions of various Egyptian writers is meant to suggest who the antecedents are. The problem is that the various Egyptians writers that he discusses, in the ideas they express and the manner in which they are expressed, are entirely out of character of the Greek philosophers. For the most part what we have are words of advice, generally directed at sons by their fathers, as to how to behave within society. There is no argument or reasons offered as to why the advice should be accepted (the fourth feature of Greek philosophy). Nor do these writings stand apart from Egyptian traditions, or are at all critical of these traditions. As Asante says "The practice of the African philosophers along the Nile was a practice of maintaining Maat [a traditional Egyptian ethical concept] in every aspect of life" (116). Thus these writings do not share the second and third features of Greek philosophy outlined above.

Ethical concerns in the Greek tradition did not receive true philosophical treatment until Socrates, and the approach he took, from what we can know of it from the Platonic writings, was completely different from the Egyptian writers of this volume. Socrates did not simply hand out advice on the basis of Greek tradition, but asked questions concerning fundamental ethical concepts, with the presumption that tradition had failed to offer adequate answers. The discussion is argumentative, and often the conclusions are tentative, or deemed entirely unsatisfactory. Socrates was no mouthpiece for Greek tradition, or for Egyptian tradition, but a seeker of truths not found in any tradition.

None of this is meant as a denigration of the Egyptians, or the writers who Asante discusses. The material in this book has intrinsic interest in its own right, and may fairly be called "philosophy" in the broader sense noted above. The Egyptians indeed developed an extraordinary civilization, and if nothing else this book shows that they were thoughtful and reflective, and developed a traditional ethic that warrants study. The one point, however, that I wish to make in this review is that they were not the antecedents of Greek philosophy.

As much as I support people of African descent reclaiming our stolen heritage (at the hands of Greeks, Persians, Romans, Arabs, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and more)which I think Asante is attempting to do, he does so poorly.

No wonder so many people reduce Africana work to being just rants by people of African descent attempting to reclaim glory. Books like these, as valuable as they may be, are hardly done in a scholarly fashion. They ramble on about issues without being professional (using references from other scholars or their own archaealogical research).

This book is about Asante's idea of Kemetic philosophy but it is not a translation of what the Kemetic philopsophers had to say. For this reason it is a poor introduction to the actually philosophy.

If you wish to introduce yourself to the ancient African philosophy of Kemet then I recommend "The Husia". It is a contemporary translation of actual Kemetic documents. Though all translations are only interpretations (especially when translating from a dead language) this book does it justice. On the other hand, Asante's book is purely his voice and not direct translated quotes from the scriptures of our African ancestors in Kemet.

There is no doubt that M.K. Asante is a pioneer and pacesetter in the discovery of ancient African philosophers. And as a matter of fact, anybody that know and understand the history of ancient world and free of prejudice would accept that Africa is the origin of philosophy and civilization.

If you prefer revisionist history, this book will mean nothing to you. If, however, you have a scintilla of interest in the possibility that other than white europeans made enormous contributions to this world, you can begin by reading this book.