The history of Egypt has long been treated as one of the most explored and interesting for understanding the development of Africa as a continent. However, the article “The Black Pharaohs” by Robert Draper clearly shows that there is still much to be explored in the history of Egypt and one of his closest neighbors, the kingdom of Nubia. The relations of these two countries present a historical paradox: at first Egyptians conquered Nubia and made the Nubia’s “aristocrats” study in Thebes, implanting the Egypt culture and religion and making them “more Catholic than the pope” (Draper 2008). In two centuries, when Egypt weakened and was ruled by several warlords, losing his culture and religion, Nubia’s King Piye decided that “the only way to save Egypt from itself was to invade it” (Draper 2008). This is how black Africans started the 25th dynasty of Egypt’s Pharaohs. The fact that this was the dynasty of Black Pharaohs became one of the reasons why the importance this page of Egypt’s history was often underestimated or misconstrued. Western Egyptologists could not believe that “inferior” black Africans could rule the developed and enraptured Egypt. Another noteworthy fact Draper states, is the fact that there are no clear evidences that Egyptians themselves treated Nubians as inferior people because of the skin color. Ultima analysi, the main idea that Robert Draper tried to clarify to his readers is that the history of Egypt is inseparably connected to the history of surrounding African countries and there are still much to explore, especially for modern Egyptologists, who are less racially prejudiced and are more truth looking than their precursors. The importance of Draper’s research is difficult to underestimate as he brought together several important studies on the history of Egypt in order to show the new direction that modern Egyptologists should investigate. It is clear that modern teachings about the history of Egypt lack a long and important page of his development, almost a three quarters of a century when the 25th dynasty ruled. Moreover, as Draper states, it is high time to study this blank page of Nubia and Egypt’s history as modern word may soon ruin all the monuments of the past.
References
Draper, R. 2008. “The Black Pharaohs”. National Geographic. Retrieved Oct. 15, 2012, from:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/02/black-pharaohs/robert-draper-t …