Keywords
Greek origins
Afrocentrism
historiography
classical philology
Eurocentrism
How to Cite
Abstract
This article examines Martin Bernal’s Black Athena project and its challenge to the traditional “Aryan Model” of Greek origins. Bernal posits that Afro-Asiatic (Egyptian and Levantine) influences played a foundational role in the development of Greek language, mythology, and philosophy. Drawing on linguistic, archaeological, and mythological evidence, Bernal argues that modern classical studies have been shaped by Eurocentric, colonial ideologies that deliberately erased non-European contributions to Greek civilization. This study assesses the core arguments of Black Athena, the major criticisms from the fields of philology, history, and archaeology, and the broader ideological and methodological implications for historiography and postcolonial scholarship.
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