BANNEKER JEFFERSON CONGRUENCES

BANNEKER-JEFFERSON CONGRUITIES Having read in Diodorus Siculous' LIBRARY OF HISTORY of the way, method, and the purpose of ancient Egyptian "astrology", (astronomy in our lexicon ), I have been able to infer , to intuit, to conjecture a resonant link between that "sacred subject" and the later labors of ancient Egyptians' sages-scientists-priests' observations with those of the self-taught, iconic African, Benjamin Banneker, surveyor, astronomer, mathematician, farmer, almanac writer, Thomas Jefferson critic, of the 18-19th century, of Baltimore , Maryland, Washington, D.C., area . "Astrology" enabled the ancients to view phenomena in time and space that the ordinary man not only was unable to view, but was unable to conceive of their being viewable by ourselves , by man, at all. Yet by reason of stellar observation and accurate recordation, calculations, ancient sages-priests-scientists were not only able to see into the future for news about tides, weather , crops, but more mundane matters, like men's future. So too could, and did , I have surmised, Benjamin Banneker. Diodorus Siculous has written: "81. In the education of their sons the priests teach them two kinds of writing , that which is called 'sacred' and that which is used in more general instruction. Geometry and arithmetic are given special attention . For the river by changing the face of the country each year in manifold ways, gives rise to many and varied disputes between neighbors over their boundary lines , and these disputes cannot be easily tested out with any exactness unless a geometer works out the truth scientifically by the application of his life experience. And arithmetic is serviceable with reference to the business affairs connected with making a living and also in applying the principles of geometry, and likewise is of no small assistance to students of astrology as well. For the positions and arrangement of the stars as well as their motions have always been the subject of careful observation among the Egyptians, if anywhere in the world; they have preserved to this day the records concerning each of these stars over an incredible number of years, this subject of study being zealously preserved among them from ancient times, and they have also observed with the utmost avidity the motions and orbits and stopping of the planets, as well as the influences of each one on the generation of all living things--the good or the evil effects, namely, of which they are the cause. And while they are often successful in predicting to men the events which are going to befall them in the course of their lives, not infrequently they foretell destructions of the crops or, on the other hand, abundant yields, and pestilences that are to attack men or beasts, and as a result of their long observation they have acquired prior knowledge of earthquakes and floods, of the rising of the comets, and of all things which the ordinary man looks upon as beyond all finding out. And according to them the Chaldeans of Babylon, being colonists from Egypt, enjoy the fame which they have for their astrology because they learned that science from the priests of Egypt ." P. 277-281, "Book I," LIBRARY OF HISTORY by Diodorus Siculus (1933) Banneker's almanacs which were widely read , followed, respected, in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware , Pennsylvania, for their six years' of publication, had received their stamp of approval from Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson had received the 'ephemeris' of Banneker from Banneker in a letter of 1791, which Banneker wrote to him criticizing the racism found in Jefferson's book, NOTES ON THE STATE OF VIRGINIA, Query XIV. Benjamin Banneker, who had participated in the survey of the new-capital city of Washington, D.C. and finished the work that others were unable to finish, further refuted Jefferson's contentions of the inherent nature of Africans' mental inferiority by the proof exhibited in his own work, a product of African genius, itself. Jefferson, in turn, sent Banneker's calculations to France to the head of the French Academy for review. That man wrote back that the math set forth in Banneker's work was accurate . Jefferson advised Banneker of the corroboration in writing. Banneker used this letter to convince hesitant publishers of the veracity of the work who then published "Benjamin Banneker's Almanac" 1792-1797, for general use of farmers and others needing accurate facts. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Banneker#Correspondence_with_Thomas_Jefferson Our family visited the Benjamin Banneker Museum and Farm in July 2016 outside of Washington, D.C. His cabin had been restored, as it it was imagined to be. Many important papers of his were destroyed in the fire, which fire may have been set by persons unknown on October 9, 1806, when Banneker died. I don't know if Banneker foresaw his own death nor the future freedom for African Americans. Neither do I know if the ancient sages-priests-scientists of Egypt saw the coming demise and enslavement of their descendants and therefore erected megaliths as proof of our past glory and renown. I don't know many things. Therefore, I study without ceasing as God gives me life, health, will, strength . Amen.