The Removal of Wisdom's Tongue

Alice C. Linsley

An African friend recently noted that one focus of Biblical Anthropology is the recovery or unveiling of the African antecedents of the Hebrew (Habiru) and their religion. This is done by focusing on the anthropologically significant data in Genesis 1-12. Here we find evidence of the Nilo-Saharan cultural context of Abraham's ancestors.

My friend wrote that this research has given encouragement and hope to many Africans seeking to connect with the beliefs of their ancestors. He explained, "I've have studied constantly for the past 6 years, and I thought I knew a lot until I read your blogs. What's your secret in piecing your facts together?"

I responded: There is no secret. The work involves using solid principles of kinship analysis and cultural anthropology. Then I double check my data. I find much valuable information in the first 12 chapters of the Hebrew Bible. Many words there are not originally Hebrew, but Nilo-Saharan. The ancient Nilo-Saharan peoples moved many directions inside and outside of Africa. This has been confirmed by artifacts, DNA studies, linguistics and anthropology. The world owes much to the earliest Africans. They are the founders of astronomy, medicine, math, agriculture, animal husbandry, systems of writings, navigation on the great water systems, theology, and philosophy (Plato studied for 13 years under a Horite priest in Memphis, Egypt).

My friend wanted to know about connections between Africa and ancient Sumer. This is what I told him:

There is little doubt that the rulers of the various ancient African kingdoms married within their ruling lines and some of those ruling lines were in Sumer. When we study Africa and the ancient Near East, we must remember that the society of rulers was different than the society of the common people. The rulers were very high, seen as deified, divinely appointed, not to be touched. Powerful men who built kingdoms. The people they ruled over included different clans and castes, but all were called by the name of the ruler.

The Sumerians were ethnically Kushite,as far as I can tell. They were cattle-herding peoples with darker skin, though some had a lighter red skin tone, more like burnished copper. All physical features found in humans today were already present in ancient African populations. This is why it is not accurate to speak of Africa as the continent of black people. It is the mother land of all humans! For example, there were red and black Nubians before the time of Abraham. They were brothers, but like tended to marry like; red with red, and black with black. Eventually this led to the distinction between Haplogroups R1a and R1b. 

To this my friend responded: "Can you explain why this information is suppressed from mainstream learning? It would stop all the confusion of the world in a instance. Some leaders have always known this knowledge that you know so well but never utter a word."

To this question, I responded:

There are many reasons why such knowledge is not widely known and embraced.

1. True wisdom is always veiled. It must be pursued. One must draw close to the mystery before God will reveal.

2. The demons wish to keep us from knowing the truth. We struggle against higher powers that always distort, corrupt, tarnish, and make what is pure impure.

3. Racism exists and it cuts many directions. Racism makes people lie about others. It also keeps people from seeing the truth about others.

4. The American system of education is based on the educational philosophy of the Marxist atheist John Dewey. Dewey insisted that students in American public schools should not discuss metaphysical topics such as eternity, the divine nature, the soul, the relationship of humans to other living creatures, the binary feature in the order of creation, God, etc. This means that we can't talk about things that matter very much to Africans.

5. The prevailing Western philosophy is that there is no Truth. There is only opinion and feelings, and one person's opinions/feelings are as valid and good as the other person's. In this context wisdom cannot be recognized. It is as if Wisdom's tongue has been cut out.

6. European and American Bible scholars have neglected the African context of Genesis, but Africans who read this material recognize the African tones immediately. In this study native speakers of Hausa, Luo and Oromo (Somali) demonstrated the thematic and linguistic parallels between Genesis 1-3 and their traditional beliefs.

7. It takes courage to speak the truth. Truth is constantly challenged by those who impose their lies for personal gain. Truth often extracts as high price. That is why they kill prophets in every generation. The tongue that speaks truth is a sacrifice.


Related reading:  Recovering the African Foundations of Genesis; Who Laid the Foundations of Science?; Seats of Wisdom; Red and Black Smiths; Common Questions About Genesis; Learning to Question Narratives; Pragmatism and American Education; Abusing Biblical Lists; The Wisdom of Yeshua Ben Sira