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African Intellectual Heritage
Organized by major themes such as creation stories, and resistance to oppression, this collection gather together ancient, anonymous writers whose texts were originally written on stone and papyri, and the well-known public figures of more recent times whose spoken and written words have shaped the intellectual history of the diaspora.
844 pages, Paperback
First published June 25, 1996
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May 20, 2026
AN AMAZING COLLECTION OF TEXTS, ETC., FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO RECENT
Co-editor Molefi Kete Asante (born 1942) is an African-American scholar, historian, and philosopher, who is currently Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Temple University, where he founded the first Ph.D. program in African American Studies. He is also widely credited with being the founder of the "Afrocentricity" school of thought. Co-editor Abu S. Abarry is from Ghana, and is a professor of Ethnic Studies at Temple University.
They wrote in the Preface to this 1996 book, “The fact that [this book] is the first volume to organize documentary evidences of African discourse on a number of significant themes speaks to the marginal role scholars have accredited to Africa since the German professor George Hegel announced in the 19th century that ‘Africa was no part in history.’ In a very modest way we seek to provide documents that might be useful in accessing aspects of African thought. Our premise was simple. We wanted to compile a volume of works by continental and diasporan Africans that would serve as a foundation for study and reflection… We reviewed a tremendous volume of materials, and chose the works that best represented categories that appeared to be quite common in African literature and oratory.
“The project has had its difficulties because several documents had to be retranslated, which depended in large part upon intense discussion and even debate between the editors on ‘African ways of saying something.’ For example, in the ancient Egyptian texts we frequently found it necessary to rely upon our own translation of the originals rather than the translations of the 19th or early 20th century. This meant tracking down the originals in libraries and museums in the United States and Egypt… Furthermore, the information we sought was not always preserved in ways that we could use, and certain oral traditions of importance had not been written in any form. In addition, the preservation of African historical documents was not a priority for either colonial or postcolonial governments on the continent, and therefore we were often at a disadvantage in some regions if we wanted older texts.
“What remains are those documents that have been collected by interested persons and preserved in the best way they could manage. There are, for example, few national libraries or museums that have preserved the documents of some of the earlier writers… In some places the ravages of time and weather and the pillages of plunderers have rendered hopeless the task of discovering documents. Inscriptions on stone and other durable materials have remained, and we have recorded some of those. It should be remembered, however, that this is not a complete work; it is only the beginning of a process of recovery and reconstruction.”
They continue, “Is there an African canon? Or… is there a need to compile an African canon, since Africa is so diverse?… This collection is the first attempt to define what the limits of an African canon should be, both geographically and temporally. Among the major concerns of the African people have been issues of origin, relationships with the spiritual world and with other humans, and harmony with the organic and inorganic matter that constitutes the physical environment. How to honor Ma’at---that is, justice, righteousness, balance, and harmony---becomes the continental quest.”
In their Introduction to the ‘African Sources’ section, they explain, “Modern scholarship has confronted two major problems in establishing the source of African traditions in antiquity: (1) the loss of sources, and (2) undeciphered documents. Both problems will be evident in our collection, the first in literary gaps in time and the second in our inability to provide written documents for every area of the continent. This volume does not cover every cultural region of the African world, but it does provide sources from the major areas.
“Certain material sources of the Nile Valley civilizations, the oldest on the continent, were destroyed with the various capitulations of Egypt to the armies of Persia, Assyria, Macedonia, Rome, Arabia, and France. Some artifacts, written and material, from ancient Sudan (Nubia, Meroë) and Ethiopia (Axum) have been lost or have not yet been deciphered. Artistic and historical sources were uprooted from their places of origin and removed to museums in Berlin, London, Paris, New York, Lisbon, Madrid and Rome. In fact, African sources have been vulnerable at least since the Persian invasion of the 6th century B.C. Almost any object not attached to a wall or boulder could be---and was---carted away. Perhaps no continent’s ancient creations have been so wantonly removed as those of Africa. Hundreds of museums, libraries, research centers, and private collectors in the West house thousands of pieces of African art from antiquity as well as more modern times. How many sources of what type were mutilated, destroyed, or cast aside as so much rubble in the rush to sort through the ancient house of Africa? We do not know and cannot estimate the damage done to the intellectual history of the continent.” (Pg. 1)
They explain, “The issue of the ethnicity and/or color of the ancient Egyptians is an example of contemporary social ideology entering ancient scholarship. Ethnicity of the ancient Egyptians has been revisited because of the numerous studies done by two continental scholars, Cheikh Anta Diop and Theophile Obenga. Both scholars attacked the central thesis of much Eurocentric scholarship on ancient Egypt. They argued that the European writers attempted to make the ancient Egyptians white in order to discredit the civilizing role of the African continent. Consequently when African scholars from the continent and the Americas began to question the scholarship of the Eurocentric writers, a new level of dialogue around the ethnicity question entered the popular and scholarly literature. There probably never would have been a question about the Africanity and blackness of the ancient Egyptians had Africans never been enslaved by Europeans. The ancient Greek writers Herodotus, Diodorus Siculús, and Aristotle all testified to the fact that the ancient Egyptians were ‘black skinned,’ not mixed or black-skinned whites, as some later European writers insisted in their works. Herodotus writes in his famous ‘Histories,’ Book II, ‘On Egypt,’ that the Colchians must be Egyptians because, like them, they have black skin and wooly hair. Aristotle says in his ‘Physiognomonica’ that ‘too black a color marks the coward as witness the Egyptian and the Ethiopian.” (Pg. 3-4)
They clarify, “Throughout the book we use the ancient name ‘Kemet’ to refer to the land of the Nile, a term that dates from 3100 B.C. and that is commonly accepted among African Egyptologists. The name ‘Egypt,’ from the Greek ‘Agyptos’… was used by the Greeks… they used ‘Agyptos’ to refer to what the inhabitants called ‘Kmt,’ that is, Kemet. Kemet means ‘the land of black people’ or ‘black land’; the designation for ‘Km’ in and ancient language is a piece of charcoal.” (Pg. 6)
They continue, “The aim of this volume is to provide a comprehensive selection of sources of the African literary tradition. This is not a literature book. We do not aim to demonstrate the transformation of literary genres or the movement of one phase of literature into another phase… Our purpose is much simpler: to supply our readers with the best critical examples of works created out of the African imagination… The state of the information about ancient Africa is still not settled. Consequently, our book of sources reflects that situation. We have not yet been able to give definitive translations of some of the documents... Because we bring to this project the knowledge of the ancient Egyptian language, working knowledge of five other African languages, and access to more than a dozen additional languages, we have been able to provide original documents. Of necessity this collection is the result of our imagination. It is a deliberate reflection of the Afrocentric principles that govern our work. This does not mean that we have been arbitrary. Far from it: we have examined numerous traditions in order to find the documents included in this collection.” (Pg. 7)
They observe, “Perhaps no idea or set of ideas has been more important in the history of African people than the concept of spiritual intervention in human history. This agency of the spiritual is found throughout the sources of the African tradition as the basis for Justice, harmony, and peace. While the ancient documents from the Nile Valley demonstrate the complexity seen in the relationship between humans and the cosmos, those documents also affirm the ethical principles of Maat, the key idea in the African approach to life.” (Pg. 59) In fact, religion is one of the most remarkable aspects of this collection. An amazing collection of religious hymns, prayers, prophecies, and creation stories/myths are included, in fresh and clear translations. (No more ploughing through the ‘Pyramid Texts’ and ‘Coffin Texts’ to extract some of these.)
And some of the most important and representative writings/speeches by key figures in African/African-American history are also included: e.g., Cheikh Anta Diop, John Henrik Clarke, Molefi Kete Asante, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Alain Locke, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, Nat Turner, and many more are represented within. This book will be an indispensable addition to any library of Africana/African-American books.
Co-editor Molefi Kete Asante (born 1942) is an African-American scholar, historian, and philosopher, who is currently Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Temple University, where he founded the first Ph.D. program in African American Studies. He is also widely credited with being the founder of the "Afrocentricity" school of thought. Co-editor Abu S. Abarry is from Ghana, and is a professor of Ethnic Studies at Temple University.
They wrote in the Preface to this 1996 book, “The fact that [this book] is the first volume to organize documentary evidences of African discourse on a number of significant themes speaks to the marginal role scholars have accredited to Africa since the German professor George Hegel announced in the 19th century that ‘Africa was no part in history.’ In a very modest way we seek to provide documents that might be useful in accessing aspects of African thought. Our premise was simple. We wanted to compile a volume of works by continental and diasporan Africans that would serve as a foundation for study and reflection… We reviewed a tremendous volume of materials, and chose the works that best represented categories that appeared to be quite common in African literature and oratory.
“The project has had its difficulties because several documents had to be retranslated, which depended in large part upon intense discussion and even debate between the editors on ‘African ways of saying something.’ For example, in the ancient Egyptian texts we frequently found it necessary to rely upon our own translation of the originals rather than the translations of the 19th or early 20th century. This meant tracking down the originals in libraries and museums in the United States and Egypt… Furthermore, the information we sought was not always preserved in ways that we could use, and certain oral traditions of importance had not been written in any form. In addition, the preservation of African historical documents was not a priority for either colonial or postcolonial governments on the continent, and therefore we were often at a disadvantage in some regions if we wanted older texts.
“What remains are those documents that have been collected by interested persons and preserved in the best way they could manage. There are, for example, few national libraries or museums that have preserved the documents of some of the earlier writers… In some places the ravages of time and weather and the pillages of plunderers have rendered hopeless the task of discovering documents. Inscriptions on stone and other durable materials have remained, and we have recorded some of those. It should be remembered, however, that this is not a complete work; it is only the beginning of a process of recovery and reconstruction.”
They continue, “Is there an African canon? Or… is there a need to compile an African canon, since Africa is so diverse?… This collection is the first attempt to define what the limits of an African canon should be, both geographically and temporally. Among the major concerns of the African people have been issues of origin, relationships with the spiritual world and with other humans, and harmony with the organic and inorganic matter that constitutes the physical environment. How to honor Ma’at---that is, justice, righteousness, balance, and harmony---becomes the continental quest.”
In their Introduction to the ‘African Sources’ section, they explain, “Modern scholarship has confronted two major problems in establishing the source of African traditions in antiquity: (1) the loss of sources, and (2) undeciphered documents. Both problems will be evident in our collection, the first in literary gaps in time and the second in our inability to provide written documents for every area of the continent. This volume does not cover every cultural region of the African world, but it does provide sources from the major areas.
“Certain material sources of the Nile Valley civilizations, the oldest on the continent, were destroyed with the various capitulations of Egypt to the armies of Persia, Assyria, Macedonia, Rome, Arabia, and France. Some artifacts, written and material, from ancient Sudan (Nubia, Meroë) and Ethiopia (Axum) have been lost or have not yet been deciphered. Artistic and historical sources were uprooted from their places of origin and removed to museums in Berlin, London, Paris, New York, Lisbon, Madrid and Rome. In fact, African sources have been vulnerable at least since the Persian invasion of the 6th century B.C. Almost any object not attached to a wall or boulder could be---and was---carted away. Perhaps no continent’s ancient creations have been so wantonly removed as those of Africa. Hundreds of museums, libraries, research centers, and private collectors in the West house thousands of pieces of African art from antiquity as well as more modern times. How many sources of what type were mutilated, destroyed, or cast aside as so much rubble in the rush to sort through the ancient house of Africa? We do not know and cannot estimate the damage done to the intellectual history of the continent.” (Pg. 1)
They explain, “The issue of the ethnicity and/or color of the ancient Egyptians is an example of contemporary social ideology entering ancient scholarship. Ethnicity of the ancient Egyptians has been revisited because of the numerous studies done by two continental scholars, Cheikh Anta Diop and Theophile Obenga. Both scholars attacked the central thesis of much Eurocentric scholarship on ancient Egypt. They argued that the European writers attempted to make the ancient Egyptians white in order to discredit the civilizing role of the African continent. Consequently when African scholars from the continent and the Americas began to question the scholarship of the Eurocentric writers, a new level of dialogue around the ethnicity question entered the popular and scholarly literature. There probably never would have been a question about the Africanity and blackness of the ancient Egyptians had Africans never been enslaved by Europeans. The ancient Greek writers Herodotus, Diodorus Siculús, and Aristotle all testified to the fact that the ancient Egyptians were ‘black skinned,’ not mixed or black-skinned whites, as some later European writers insisted in their works. Herodotus writes in his famous ‘Histories,’ Book II, ‘On Egypt,’ that the Colchians must be Egyptians because, like them, they have black skin and wooly hair. Aristotle says in his ‘Physiognomonica’ that ‘too black a color marks the coward as witness the Egyptian and the Ethiopian.” (Pg. 3-4)
They clarify, “Throughout the book we use the ancient name ‘Kemet’ to refer to the land of the Nile, a term that dates from 3100 B.C. and that is commonly accepted among African Egyptologists. The name ‘Egypt,’ from the Greek ‘Agyptos’… was used by the Greeks… they used ‘Agyptos’ to refer to what the inhabitants called ‘Kmt,’ that is, Kemet. Kemet means ‘the land of black people’ or ‘black land’; the designation for ‘Km’ in and ancient language is a piece of charcoal.” (Pg. 6)
They continue, “The aim of this volume is to provide a comprehensive selection of sources of the African literary tradition. This is not a literature book. We do not aim to demonstrate the transformation of literary genres or the movement of one phase of literature into another phase… Our purpose is much simpler: to supply our readers with the best critical examples of works created out of the African imagination… The state of the information about ancient Africa is still not settled. Consequently, our book of sources reflects that situation. We have not yet been able to give definitive translations of some of the documents... Because we bring to this project the knowledge of the ancient Egyptian language, working knowledge of five other African languages, and access to more than a dozen additional languages, we have been able to provide original documents. Of necessity this collection is the result of our imagination. It is a deliberate reflection of the Afrocentric principles that govern our work. This does not mean that we have been arbitrary. Far from it: we have examined numerous traditions in order to find the documents included in this collection.” (Pg. 7)
They observe, “Perhaps no idea or set of ideas has been more important in the history of African people than the concept of spiritual intervention in human history. This agency of the spiritual is found throughout the sources of the African tradition as the basis for Justice, harmony, and peace. While the ancient documents from the Nile Valley demonstrate the complexity seen in the relationship between humans and the cosmos, those documents also affirm the ethical principles of Maat, the key idea in the African approach to life.” (Pg. 59) In fact, religion is one of the most remarkable aspects of this collection. An amazing collection of religious hymns, prayers, prophecies, and creation stories/myths are included, in fresh and clear translations. (No more ploughing through the ‘Pyramid Texts’ and ‘Coffin Texts’ to extract some of these.)
And some of the most important and representative writings/speeches by key figures in African/African-American history are also included: e.g., Cheikh Anta Diop, John Henrik Clarke, Molefi Kete Asante, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Alain Locke, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, Nat Turner, and many more are represented within. This book will be an indispensable addition to any library of Africana/African-American books.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review