Egyptian & Niger-Congo, Symbols

Egyptian vowels may once have been indeterminate, however, the rebus principle is a prominent feature, which suggests Hieroglyphics once wrote a non-Egyptian language with numerous homophones, such as occur in Niger-Congo. The rebus principle is based on homophony, which is not a feature of Egyptian. The same Egyptian sign is freely used for words that are phonetically diverse. But this is true also of Sumerian.

It is explained by a pictographic (ideographic) source. Pictographies of various kinds (ideographic, syllabic, alphabetic) occurs in West Africa, where they provide elaborate pictorial catalogues of man‘s (and woman‘s) worlds (Dalby 1967). They appear to have originally been used in initiation ceremonies and were also employed for purposes of magic. In Africa, they have a meaningful cosmic context and are embedded in the mythology.

Africa therefore, not Egypt, is the probable source of all these pictographies. Unfortunately however documentation from Africa is relatively recent. But some of these scripts or their precedents must go back to antiquity. That is Diop‘s opinion. (Campbell-Dunn, 2009a: 11-12) (emphasis mine) Besides the off-remark separating Egypt from Africa, Campbell-Dunn brings up many salient points that give context to this discourse. As I noted in my 2011 work Passion of the Christ or Passion of Osiris: The Kongo Origins of the Jesus Myth, the Egyptians communicated through the rebus principle. This principle is discussed by wiki as follows:

In linguistics, the rebus principle means using existing symbols, such as pictograms, purely for their sounds regardless of their meaning, to represent new words. Many ancient writing systems used the rebus principle to represent abstract words, which otherwise would be hard to be represented by pictograms. An example that illustrates the Rebus principle is the representation of the sentence ―I can see you‖ by using the pictographs of ―eye—can—sea—ewe.‖ Some linguists believe that the Chinese developed their writing system according to the rebus principle,[5] and Egyptian hieroglyphs sometimes used a similar system.

A famous rebus statue of Ramses II uses three hieroglyphs to compose his name: Horus (as Ra), for Ra; the child, mes; and the sedge plant (stalk held in left hand), su; the name Ra-mes-su is then formed. The hieroglyphic symbols are an outgrowth and expansion of old Kongo-Saharan writing symbols.

These symbols can be seen among the Vai, Mende and even the ancient Cretans. A few examples can be seen below of shared iconographic symbols among the Egyptians and Kongo-Saharan speakers.

The first few examples is taken from Cheikh Anta Diop‘s book Precolonial Black Africa:

A Comparative Study of the Political and Social Systems of Europe and Black Africa, from Antiquity to the Formation of Modern States (1987). The following example actually comes from Linear A in Crete and the Vai script of West Africa. The Linear A borrowed many signs from the ancient Egyptian script but didn‘t borrow the phonetics of the sign. Practically all of the signs in Linear A match Niger-Congo words for those symbols, which brings to question whether they were borrowed necessarily from Egypt or brought with them from Africa. The first example comes from Cambpell-Dunn (2006).

The comparisons on the left are a more extensive set of Egyptian and Linear A comparisons with their Niger-Congo names, which I argue, informs us on alternate pronunciations of signs in Egyptian which are attested in the Egyptian language itself. As we can see, the names given to the Egyptian glyphs above are actually the name of those items in Kongo-Saharan languages. A good number of these glyphs in Linear A actually are just morphological variations of the ones in Egypt.

 For instance, Linear A do ―eye‖ is a variant of Egyptian iri ―eye‖ (l <> d); Linear A se ―arm‖ is a palatalized form of Egyptian (k)a ―arm.‖ We argue that the D36 glyph a "paw, claw, hand, arm" was actually pronounced ka (PWS *ka ―arm, hand, cut‖); e.g., Egyptian a ―region, province‖ < PWS *ka ―place, home‖; PWS *gà ―place‖, PWS *gi ―to be in a place‖; PWN KI (KYI, CI) ―village, settlement.‖ Over time the k- was dropped which left us with /a/. The Kongo-Saharan languages can tell us a lot about the Egyptian writing script. Diop reaffirms why we should be looking at those languages from the south in regards to understanding the hieroglyphs. 

Egyptians, Niger-Congo, Mande, Ethiopian

An original Niger-Congo homeland in the general vicinity of the upper Nile valley is probably as good a hypothesis as any. From such a homeland, a westward Mande migration may have begun well over 5000 years ago. Perhaps the earliest division within this group resulted in the isolation of what is now represented only by Bobo-fing.

Egyptian Hieroglyphs & Mande symbol

Somewhat later— perhaps 3500 to 4500 years ago, and possibly from a new homeland around northern Dahomey [now Benin]— the ancestors of the present Northern-western Mande peoples began pushing farther west, ultimately reaching their present homeland in the grasslands and forests of West Africa.

This was followed by a gradual spread of the Southern-Eastern division, culminating perhaps 2000 years ago in the separation of its to branches and the ultimate movement of Southern Mande peoples southeast and westward until Mano and Kpelle, long separated, became once more contiguous. (pp. 119-120) (emphasis mine). The image to the right has Egyptian Hieroglyphs on the left and Mande symbol on the right.

We have to remember that the Greek historian informs us what the Egyptians told him directly concerning their origins and customs. We are told by Diodorus that: They say also that the Egyptians are colonists sent out by the Ethiopians, Osiris having been the leader of the colony…And the larger part of the customs of the Egyptians are, they hold Ethiopian, the colonists still preserving their ancient manners.

For instance, the belief that their kings are gods, the very special attention which they pay to their burials, and many other matters of similar nature are Ethiopian practices, while the shapes of their statues and the forms of their letters are Ethiopian; for of the two kinds of writing which the Egyptians have, that which is known as "popular" (demotic) is learned by everyone, while that which is called "sacred" is understood only by the priests of the Egyptians, who learn it from their fathers as one of the things which are not divulged, but among the Ethiopians everyone uses these forms of letters.

Furthermore, the orders of the priests, they maintain, have much the same position among both peoples; for all are clean who are engaged in the service of the gods, keeping themselves shaven, like the Ethiopian priests, and having the same dress and form of staff, which is shaped like a plough and is carried by their kings, who wear high felt hats which end in a knob at the top and are circled by the serpents which they call asps; and this symbol appears to carry the thought that it will be a lot of those who shall dare to attack the king to encounter death-carrying stings.

Many other things are also told by them concerning their own antiquity and the colony which they sent out that became the Egyptians, but about this, there is no special need of our writing anything.
In other words, the Egyptian culture is the Kushite culture (Ethiopian) of Chad/Sudan as acknowledged by the Egyptians themselves. Even Champollion, that deciphered the hieroglyphs, understood this point.

This would explain why the Kongo-Saharan symbols, along with the words to go with them, became the foundational symbols of the emerging Egyptian language. There are many theses concerning the origins of the Niger-Congo language family with many having them originate west of Lake Chad. I find many of these theories untenable for reasons beyond the scope of our current discourse. But even if we did accept that hypothesis, one couldn‘t deny the fact that Niger-Congo (and Proto-Bantu) speakers were in the Nile Valley as evidenced by the Sumerian data. The Sumerian language has been proven, by way of the comparative method, to be a Niger-Congo language.

Four principle works help to establish this fact: W. Wanger, Comparative Lexical Study of Sumerian and Ntu (“Bantu”): The Sumerian Sanscrit of the African Ntu Languages (1935); Robin Walker, When We Ruled (2006); GJK Campbell-Dunn Sumerian Comparative Dictionary & Sumerian Comparative Grammar (2009); and Hermel Hermstein Black Sumer: The African Origins of Civilization (2012). Hermstein (2012: 85-98) posits an eastern migration of Niger-Congo (Proto-Bantu) speakers, originating from Lake Chad, passing through Sudan, settling in Somalia, then working their way up to present-day Iraq.

Great Zimbabwe Bantu, Shona

This Iron Age site, the symbol modern Zimbabwe took its name from, lies 17 miles from Masvingo and is the remains of an extensive town built around 1200 AD.

 The word 'Zimbabwe' is derived from Shona words that mean 'houses of stone' or 'venerated house'. Zimbabwe developed into an empire covering over 1000 square miles. Evidence at Great Zimbabwe, like Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) pottery from China, indicates that the empire had extensive trade.

The two main areas of stone wall enclosures are: the Hill Complex, on the long, steep-sided granite hill that rises 260 feet above the surrounding ground; and the land below this hill where the Valley Enclosures and the Great Enclosure are situated. The stone walls, up to 20 feet thick and 36 feet high, are built of granite blocks without the use of mortar.

Two high walls form the narrow parallel passage, 180 feet long, that allows direct access to the Conical Tower. The great material wealth of Great Zimbabwe may have been its downfall. After its discovery in the 1870s European adventurers arrived in droves. The rumour started that Zimbabwe was the legendary "Land of Ophir", the source of King Solomon's gold.

The name Zimbabwe is in Bantu and means "House of Stone". Bantu is one of the languages that they spoke in Zimbabwe. However the name “House of Stone" was put to the place because of the stone ruins found there that spread on 200 square miles. These ruins are the oldest and greatest in Sub Saharan Africa. They are all made out of stone. Zimbawe was built from the 12th century to the 15th century.

In the 16th century the Portuguese came and started controlling the trades and everything. Inhabitants were mostly Bantu farmers, cattle raisers from West Africa. Bantu people began to come about 2,000 years ago including the Shona that are officially the people from Zimbabwe. Now the Shona are four fifths of the country's population. In the 10th century Zimbabwe began to develop. Zimbabwe is located inland from the southeastern coast of Africa. The Sabi River ran through the south part of Zimbabwe. The Mazoe and Zambezi rivers were north. The Zambezi is the fourth longest river. Zimbabwe was developed on a hilltop that was protected from invasion by a large crop of granite.

Most of the empire was on a high plateau, it was safe from diseases such as tsetse flies that were common close to water. The rain was good for farming. Zimbabwe could be mined for granite, iron, copper, and gold. The Mutapa’s rulers had a tradition of building structures made out of stone.

'The Jewish Talmud', also contains oblique references to the story, as well the New Testament where Sheba is referred to as "The Queen of the South." There is, in addition, a fairly detailed account in the Koran, echoed in several Arabic and Persian folk tales of later date, (in which she is known as Bilqis).

Further afield, in southern enigmatic stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe are said by the local Mashona people to have been the palace of the Queen of Sheba, and tribal elders still repeat their own fully evolved version of the legend. In addition, the Yoruba of West Africa also claimed to have the Staff of Queen of Sheeba in Ile Ife.

The Europeans could not believe that the African "savages" could build in stone. Zimbabwe did have extensive copper and gold mines, and may well have been the Biblical source of Temple Gold. Not much is left of anything since the diggers, looters, and "shoot the niggers on sight" murders have come and gone. Long after the buildings and cathedrals of Europe have fallen, the Great Tower still stand as a testimony to a long dead civilisation.

Bandlet of Righteousness

The world's first religious principles are written by the Kushite, King 'Ori' (right & wrong). However, taken from Ifa Sacred Poems was a story about "Ori" (head) the king of the body. Ori (head) was the only divinity that broke the kola nuts that Orunmila kept at his shrine. Ori's wish was for a permanent abode (home) and plenty of followers.

Upon hearing the news of the finally broken Kola-nuts, all the other divinities agreed, (since they all tried to break the nuts) that the "Head" was the right divinity to the Kola-nuts.

Almost immediately the hand, feet, body, stomach, chest, neck etc, each of which before then had distinct identities, all assembled and decided to go and live with the Head. Together, they all carried the Head high above as the king of the body. It is on account of the role played by Orunmila in his fortune that the head touches the ground to defer and revere to Orunmila to this day.

The most fascinating collection of sacred texts is, without doubt, the "Bandlet of Righteousness." Among the contents are the awe-inspiring 'Scrolls of Life', (MASHAFA HAYWAT) in Ethiopic and the 'MYSTICAL NAMES OF THE PERSONS OF THE TRINITY' (TERGUAME FIDAL) in Amharic. Bandages of parchments were used to wrap the dead as part of an ancient tradition linked to the belief that they will assist the wearer to come forth on the Day of Judgement.

Parchments were also used as amulets. Upon which were inscribed spells, mystical symbols, crosses and figurines to ward off disease and sickness in men and children. It was used by women as protection, especially for miscarriages and abortions caused by evil spirits to ensure safe delivery.

Those accused for the illegal removal and theft of these sacred items are now also accountable for misguidance. They even erroneously suggested that the stolen loot of parchments, now located in many inaccessible vaults of several libraries, museums, and universities constitute the famed ' Lafafa Sedek.'

However, these hold very little in common with the authentic 'Scroll of Life; which they claimed was written by the hands of the Creator. It was conceived to protect the deceased from mutilation in the grave and the awful fire in Hell. This scroll serves as a key to attaining everlasting life in paradise. This fact links it directly with the 'Pert Em Hru'. This is also known as the 'Egyptian Book of the Dead', of which the best-preserved copy is the 'Papyrus of Ani' and dates to the Eighteenth Dynasty of Kushite regents (1575 B.C.E.) in Ta-Meri, while other copies are dated from as early as the Fifth Dynasty.

The ancestors of the Christians of Sudan and Ethiopia were the ones who established an ancient culture that eventually exported civilization to the north (i.e. Tameri/ KMT) since 3500 B.C.E. This was done under the leadership of a regent known only by the name ‘SCORPION’.

In the year 270 B.C.E. Ptolemy Philadelphus commanded the African-European High-Priest of Sebenmytus, Manetho, to "Write a Complete History of Egypt." "Manetho's History" was the first to divide Egyptian experiences into Dynasties, all of which he placed securely in the Great Library of Alexandria, Egypt.