Last night, I finished my delightful re-reading of "Ethiopia and the Origin of Civilization," by John G. Jackson, in whose book, INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS, I had earlier read this very same thing, back in the 1970s or '80s, it seems.
As a tribute to my great friend and mentor, Dr. Jackson, and as a gift to you, Dear Reader, I quote, viz.:
"Egypt and Western Asia tell us the same story. 'In each case we have a standard or measuring-rod of authentic historical record,' declares Samuel Laing, 'of certainly not less 8,000, and more probably 9,000 or 10,000 years from the present time; and in each case we find ourselves at this remote date, in the presence of, not rude beginnings, but of a civilization already ancient and far advanced . We have populous cities and celebrated temples, an organized priesthood, an advanced state of agriculture and of the industrial and fine arts; writing and books so long known that their origin is lost in myth; religions in which advanced philosophical and moral ideas are already developed; astronomical systems which imply a long course of accurate observations. How long this prehistoric age may have lasted, and how many centuries it may have taken to develop such a civilization from the primitive beginnings of Neolithic and Paleolithic origins, is a matter of conjecture. All we can infer is, it must have required an immense time, much longer than that embraced by the subsequent period of historical record.' (Human Origins by Samuel Laing, p.30, London, 1913)"
P.64-65, edited and illustrated by C.S. Moore (2015)
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
ETHIOPIA AND THE ORIGIN
Last night, I finished my delightful re-reading of "Ethiopia and the Origin of Civilization," by John G. Jackson, in whose book, INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS, I had earlier read this very same thing, back in the 1970s or '80s, it seems.
As a tribute to my great friend and mentor, Dr. Jackson, and as a gift to you, Dear Reader, I quote, viz.:
"Egypt and Western Asia tell us the same story. 'In each case we have a standard or measuring-rod of authentic historical record,' declares Samuel Laing, 'of certainly not less 8,000, and more probably 9,000 or 10,000 years from the present time; and in each case we find ourselves at this remote date, in the presence of, not rude beginnings, but of a civilization already ancient and far advanced . We have populous cities and celebrated temples, an organized priesthood, an advanced state of agriculture and of the industrial and fine arts; writing and books so long known that their origin is lost in myth; religions in which advanced philosophical and moral ideas are already developed; astronomical systems which imply a long course of accurate observations. How long this prehistoric age may have lasted, and how many centuries it may have taken to develop such a civilization from the primitive beginnings of Neolithic and Paleolithic origins, is a matter of conjecture. All we can infer is, it must have required an immense time, much longer than that embraced by the subsequent period of historical record.' (Human Origins by Samuel Laing, p.30, London, 1913)"
P.64-65, edited and illustrated by C.S. Moore (2015)
