They could not have been the result of Arab penetrations in 2000 BC because no arabs existed in the time. But it is also quite likely they were the result of migrations of other populations from Europe and/or the Levant and elsewhere in the Mediterranean. It is stretching the facts to suggest that these Libyans were closely related to the early Saharans who occupied the Nile Valley. These two groups are separated by 3-7 thousand or more years of time and hundreds, if not thousands of miles in distance. Outside the iconography of ancient Egypt, the exact nature and extent of the lighter complexioned people of Northern Africa is not fully known and there are various opinions on when these populations became present.
And, the people to the West of Egypt were not always portrayed as very light. There are a great many tombs and temples in the Oases west of Egypt and many of these tombs show features that are typical of the depictions elsewhere in the Nile Valley.
Some images from the tombs of the 26th dynasty from the Oases:
[
www.osirisnet.net]
The neolithic in the Nile Valley was a period of up to 7000 thousand years covering large parts of the once wet Sahara and the Nile Valley, an area of thousands of Miles. It includes the Nile Valley in Egypt and Sudan, along with parts of Southern Libya, Algeria, Chad and Niger. It is not simply explained as the result of outsiders migrating into Africa and introducing new techniques. It is better explained as a local evolution of ideas and practices among populations that are many thousands of years old. Most of these sites are in the south of Egypt, precisely where everyone claims "blacks" or "sub-saharans" have existed since time immemorial.
[
books.google.com]
[
www.comp-archaeology.org]
[
www.sciencemag.org]
[
www.amazon.com]
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Evidence indicates that the Neolithic in the Nile valley likely came from the Sudan, as well as the Sahara, and there was shared culture with the two areas and with that of Egypt during this time period.[1] By the 5th millennium BC, the peoples who inhabited what is now called Nubia, were full participants in the Neolithic revolution. Saharan rock reliefs depict scenes that have been thought to be suggestive of a cattle cult, typical of those seen through out parts of Eastern Africa and the Nile Valley even to this day.[2] Megaliths discovered at Nabta Playa are early examples of what seems to be the world's first Archaeoastronomy devices, out dating Stonehenge by at least 1000 years.[3] This complexity, as observed at Nabta Playa, and as expressed by different levels of authority within the society there, likely formed the basis for the structure of both the Neolithic society at Nabta and the Old Kingdom of Egypt.[4]
From: [
en.wikipedia.org]
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The history of Egypt and Ethiopia are inextricably linked to the Nile. Ever since the earliest known people settled its valley, the Nile River has inspired and controlled the religious, economic, social and political life of the autochthonous inhabitants. It is, however, uncertain exactly when first mankind took the initiative step to settle as agriculturalist. The Paleolithic and Neolithic process has taken many centuries and we can only make an approximation of that period of transition. The Paleolithic period, for the greater Nile Valley, from the Mediterranean to the source of the Nile and the high lands of North East Africa is estimated to be1 million to 500,000 BCE. From 200, 000 BCE (considering the newly discovered oldest human skulls in Ethiopia – 160,000 years old) onwards mankind has made a great strive in improving its tool making technique. This has been characterized as Middle Paleolithic, from 100,000 BCE to 30,000 BCE, a period of improved flint industry of refined stone tools. As Homo sapiens, mankind has reached to a level of advanced food gathering. From about 30,000 BCE to 12,000 BCE, the upper Paleolithic, mankind reached into a highly elaborate period of the hunting-gathering economy. For the people of greater Nile Valley, the momentous step from nomadic life into small scale agricultural and stock-raising communities began at about 12,000 BCE. The Neolithic period (12,000 BCE) was the beginning of the cultural, economic and political development of the region. Archaeological evidence of the Paleolithic man indicates that agriculture was first developed in the Great Nile Valley areas. There are many contending theories as to the origin of agriculture; however, the Neolithic period began independently in the Nile Valley. The Paleolithic flint improvements from Western Thebes that are now in display in various Museums around the world are evidence of a transformation from Stone Age to the age of Neolithic, the greatest of all things in human history. Since agriculture became the means of survival, villages and communities gradually evolved throughout the region, from the highlands of North East Africa to the Nile Delta. The building of homes, the domestication of animals, the production of pottery vessels, the making of rush basket and mats, and polishing of stone implements for grinding and, above all, the weaving of linen cloth followed by the land reclamation and irrigation were gradually developed.
From: [
www.tnstate.edu]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2007 08:57AM by Doug M.
