The Negro's Origin: and Is the Negro cursed?/Chapter 2
The Negro's Origin.
LET us search up the Negro's origin. The inhabitants of the post-diluvian world find their paternity in Noah, from whose loins sprang Shem, and Ham, and Japheth. Shem, in the Hebrew signifies "renown, or a great name" Ham or Cham signifies, "warm or hot." Dr. Hale says, "black" Japheth or Yepheth, "expanding, widely spreading."
According to common chronology, Moses wrote eight hundred and fifty-seven years after the flood, and these are the names which he gives to the patriarchs. The question is, Did the fathers name their descendants? or did the descendants name the fathers?
From the age in which Moses lived and wrote, as well as from the spirit of illumination which was in him, he knew the channels into which the three great tides of humanity flowed; and he doubtless named the sources of them accordingly.
The father of his own race, to whom the blessing of renown or mastership had been given, and which in a measure he already saw in the grandeur of the nations beyond the Euphrates, he called Shem: the father of the race upon whom the blessing of enlargement was to come, and which already began to have a fulfillment in the tribes of Japheth wandering to the expansive North-west, he called Japheth or Yepheth: the father of the black race that he saw inhabiting the hot Peninsula he named Ham or Cham. In keeping with our idea he named the father of that race whose prophetic servitude was about to commence, Canaan, for he shall bow the knee. [1]
Moses gazed upon the descendants of Ham and lo! they were all black, and he named their progenitor accordingly. To suppose that Ham was really black, is to suppose such a freak as nature has never received the credit of performing. Albinos may indeed spring from blacks, but we have never read of blacks springing from other than negro stock. Ham was no more black, than Japheth was white; each doubtless was of a ruddy or clay color, which is undoubtedly the normal. [2] Both white and black are extreme colors.
Those Orientals alone, who live within a few degrees north of 40° N., and a few degrees south of 30° N—the locality doubtless of their creation, have maintained their normal color. Those tribes who strayed northward, brightened; those who strayed southward, blackened. This is the fact presented to our gaze to-day The reason whereof, whether of heat or cold, whether of condition or usage, we leave for others to decide.
What are the evidences that Ham and his descendants peopled Africa? We speak first of Ham.
I. Evidences, scriptural and historical, of Ham going into Africa.
(a) Scriptural evidence.
"And smote the first-born in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the land of Ham."
Ps. lxxviii. 51.
"Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham." Ps. cv. 23.
"They forgat God their Saviour which had done great things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea." Ps. cvi. 21-22.
(b) Historical evidence.
We are told that Ham was a domestic name for Egypt, and used by the Egyptians themselves anterior to the advent of the Hebrews.[3]
In Plutarch Egypt is called Chemia. Anciently there were cantons in Egypt denominated Psitta-Chemmis, Pso-Chemmis. In these names the word Cham or Ham is easily discerned.
Herodotus, in Book IV Melpomene, speaks of Ammonians or Hammonians, as keepers of the temple of Theban Jupiter in Africa. Rollin, deeply learned in North African lore, says, "Ham was the second son of Noah. When the family of the latter * * * * dispersed themselves into different countries, Ham retired to Africa ; and it doubtless was he, who afterwards was worshipped as a god, under the name of Jupiter-Ammon or Hammon." P iii. K. of E.
It is impossible to account for these marks, Scriptural and historical, on any other hypothesis, than the presence of Ham in Africa. No other continent claims him. No other continent presents the impress of his feet. The impress is genuine; it is original; let due credence be given.
II. Evidences, Scriptural and historical, of the sons of Ham going into Africa.
(A.) Cush is understood to have gone into Ethiopia. In Scripture wherever this word occurs, with the exception of Isaiah xi. 11, and Hab. iii. 7; and the places where it denotes a person, it is translated Ethiopia. If this be a proper translation, the settlement of Cush in Africa is assured, for the geographical position of Ethiopia is defined beyond controversy Is it a proper translation? That it is, appears from the following considerations.
(a.) The Cushim descended from Ham, and inhabited a hot south country Ham was in Africa, and his seed doubtless spread into the hot country of Ethiopia.
(b.) The Cushim were black. "Can the Ethiopian or Cushite change his skin?" Jer. xiii. 23.
(c.) The Cushim were in close proximity to the Egyptians, for the two are uniformly coupled together. See Isai. xx. 3, 4, 5; xliii. 3; Nah. iii. 9; Ps. lxviii. 31, etc.
(d.) Isai. (xviii. 2,) describes the Cushim as sending ambassadors in "vessels of bulrushes." Bulrushes[4] are purely an African or Nilotic production.
(e.) The country Cush was encompassed by the river Gihon. "And the name of the second river is Gihon, the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia or Cush." Gen. ii. 13. Does not the Nile encompass Ethiopia? The decisive question is, Is the Nile that Gihon to which Moses referred?
In defending the proposition, The Nile is the Gihon; it should be borne in mind that such questions as the following are not to be heeded: If we thus affirm, will we not run counter to the opinions of a vast number of biblical critics? or, If we thus affirm, will we not spoil the refined conjectures of many over curious divines? or, If we thus affirm, will it not be impossible to find even the vicinity of the spot of man's first joys, and his first sorrows as well? He who searches for truth has little to do with consequences, which often stand like spectres to frighten men from their honest pursuits. Such souls have received the command, "Go forward," and nought remains but to obey The single question here to be entertained is, Did Moses mean by the Gihon, his own familiar Nile? A common rule of criticism is, that an author must explain himself; [5] though it be to the confusion of all judges and commentators. Let Moses then interpret Moses. This is the more necessary, when we consider that after him, 500 years elapsed before another Scripture writer mentions the word, Cush. Job indeed mentions it, but his era is uncertain. The first after Moses was undoubtedly David.[6] If we credit the generations of these 500 years, with the same curiosity we ourselves possess, how were they to satisfy themselves with regard to the geographical position of the land encompassed by the Gihon? Must they not learn it from other portions of the Mosaic record? or else must they not remain ignorant? Even so must we learn from Moses the position of that Cush which the Gihon encompassed. One may say that the common knowledge of the earth, with the positions of the several peoples as well, would enable those generations to understand the position of Cush. So let it be, and does not that common knowledge as handed down by tradition, point with a steady finger towards African Ethiopia?
In what sense does Moses use the word כּוּש i. e. Cush and its compounds? It appears in his writings in the following places: Gen. ii. 13; x. 6, 7, 8; Numb. xii. 1. In the first of these, Gen. ii. 13, it is used as the name of a country: "And the name of the second river is Gihon, the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia or Cush." Where is that land? To which one of the three great continents shall we look? Might we not possibly find a ray of light in the name it bears; knowing that in ancient times cities and lands were invariably named after men? After whom was the land of Cush or Ethiopia named? Is there given us the name of such an individual? and is it probable that he was the first possessor of that land, and enjoyed the prerogative of naming it? In Gen. x. 6, the very next place where the word is met, it denotes a person. "And the sons of Ham, Cush and Mizraim, Phut and Canaan." Cush a son of Ham. No other individual of the same name is mentioned in all the Scripture. Must we not conclude that if the land of Cash was named after an individual, as it most undoubtedly was, that individual was Cush, the son of Ham? Here then we have a first glimpse of the geographical position of that land. Ham was in Africa; the increase of his descendants made it necessary for them to spread abroad. Cush, the eldest, took up the march first, and penetrated the hot south country, and his grateful progeny called it Cush.
In Numb. xii. 1, where a compound of the word Cush is used, and which denotes a woman of the land, a Cushite, more and stronger light is afforded us to see the real position of the land. We read there, "And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman (or Cushite) whom he had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman." Did this Cushite woman belong to that land of Cush which Moses had previously mentioned, and which was encompassed by the Gihon? Did those German women, of whose virtue Tacitus wrote, belong to that Germany previously mentioned, and whose confines were encompassed by the Rhine? [7] Moses must interpret Moses, even as Tacitus must interpret Tacitus. The Cushite woman must be an inhabitant of the only land of Cush, which Moses mentioned, as the German women must be inhabitants of the only Germany Tacitus mentioned. Let us examine this matter more fully. The Cushite woman whom Moses married, whence came she? Moses must have married her, either in Egypt or in his tramp through Arabia. If he married her in Egypt, as tradition says, then may we know that her country was contiguous to Egypt, and may safely settle down on Ethiopia proper. If he married her while on the tramp through Arabia, from among the surrounding tribes, then must he have passed through her country This is the opinion of many The question then results in this, Ethiopia versus Arabia as the land of the Cushite. But in all Arabia there is not a single river
To look for the land of Cush in far off Asia is most objectionable; if thus, how came this Cushite so far from home? How came she in the way of the great leader? And have not critics long since monopolized all the prominent rivers there found to make out the Pison, the Hiddekel, the Euphrates? The contest plainly lies between two. Let us settle it in haste. Cush is encompassed by the Gihon. Arabia is not encompassed by the Gihon, therefore Arabia is not Cush.[8]
That the Nile is the Gihon of Moses appears also from the name itself. Gihon in the Hebrew signifies[9] "A stream, river, so called as breaking forth from fountains." It is from a verb which signifies to break or burst forth.
Does not Moses plainly allude to the annual bursting forth or inundations of the Nile, which have ever characterized it? Following the Hebrew idiom of naming things according to their quality, what other name would be so appropriate? It is thus the ancients have universally decided: Thus speaks the Septuagint;[10] thus speaks Josephus. [11] In the Index Biblicus of an authorized edition of the Vulgate we find this, "Æthiopia, Africœ provincia, eam circumit fluvius Gehon." After a most thorough research Gesenius says, "By the river Gihon most probably the Ethiopian Nile is to be understood, which does in fact surround Ethiopia." The identity of the Nile with the Gihon conceded, as well also from the other proofs given, the advent of Cush into Africa is assured, and the translation of the word, Ethiopia, is fully justified.
B. In regard to the advent of the son Mizraim into Africa, the Scriptures speak most definitely Indeed, Egypt is there only known by the name Mizraim. The word being dual it has been said of it, "Hence the dual Mizraim seems to have originally denoted upper and lower Egypt." Josephus says, "The memory also of the Mizraites is preserved in their name, for all who inhabit this country (Judea) call Egypt, Mestre, and the Egyptians, Mestreans. [12]
Rollin says, "Mizraim settled in Egypt, which is generally called in Scripture after his name." And again, "Mizraim is allowed to be the same with Menes, whom all historians declare to be the first king of Egypt." The ancient name remains to this day among the Arabians, who call Egypt, Mesre. Although M. Basnage has ventured to express the opinion that Mizraim was never in Egypt, yet are his footprints too legible not to be deciphered.
(C.) As to the posterity of Phut settling in Africa, the evidence in Scripture is, that he is invariably joined with his brethren, the Cushites. Jeremiah xlvi. 9, says, "Cush and Phut that handle the shield." Ezekiel xxxviii. says, "Persia, Phut, and Cush with them." So also speaks the prophet Nahum. Josephus speaks as follows: "Phut also was the founder of Lybia, and called the inhabitants Phutites from himself; there is also a river in the country of the Moors which bears that name, whence it is that we may see the greatest part of the Grecian historiographers mention that river and the adjoining country by the appellation of Phut."[13]
Pliny and Ptolemy mention places in North Africa called Phtemphu, Phtempti, Phtembute, which Calmet regards as originating in Phut. From such evidences, how could the world escape from the conclusion to which it has long since come, that Africa was peopled by Ham and his three sons, Cush, Mizraim, and Phut.
It is significant that not a trace of Canaan, neither in name nor ceremony, can be found on African soil. This is inexplicable, except upon the recognized hypothesis that he was never there. It is true that in the days of Athanasius, many of the peoples of North Africa claimed to have descended from the Canaanites, and their Punic tongue is said to have confirmed their assertion. But in that day Egypt had been greatly overrun by not a few of the Mediterranean nations. The native Hamites in that region, partook largely of the blood of the invaders. But these North Africans are not Africans proper, any more than the whites in America are Americans proper. The African of untainted blood, the Hamite, pure and simple, is found to-day only in the "woolly-headed negro," as Watson expresses it, with a curl of the lip. Canaan in Africa is an interloper. Since the day that he was ostracised by his kindred for his irreverent conduct to Noah, and forbidden to follow them to their new home, lest they might partake of his curse, Canaan has been to all truth an Asiatic. There it was he lived, and there he received upon his own pate, the full weight of that curse, which felled him to the earth, and ground him, as a distinct people, to dust. But let him, if you will, be accounted among the Africans of to-day, still is he not of the negroes, for all Africans are not negroes, though all negroes are Africans.
To conclude; Africa is the land of Ham, the Nile is the Gihon, Ethiopia the land of Cush. To enter into particulars, as to the precise period when the patriarchs migrated thither, and the manner how, with subsequent developments of government and society, would be impossible, and conjectures are useless. Living at this late day, only the mountain outlines of historical facts are seen. Let this suffice. They are distinctly drawn; let us mount the high ridges and travel backward, but let us not presume to look down into the valleys,for dense fog will meet us. No people now exist who can trace more clearly their paternity than the negro. The genealogical table of the Jew, written upon the skin of beasts has perished, but the genealogical table of the negro, written in his own flesh, remains. Ages of scourging have not sufficed to erase it. Written by the finger of God, it is more enduring than the stones of Sinai. It remains, and will remain the badge of our suffering, the badge of our triumph.
- ↑ Gesenius finds the root of this "word in בׇּנַצto bend the knee.
- ↑ The first man was called אׇרׇם i.e., Adam. This word denotes in Scripture "A man, a human being, male or female." The root of it is אׇרַם, "to be red, ruddy," and was undoubtedly applied to man because of his ruddiness, or clay color, for in Hebrew all names are denotative.
- ↑ See Gesenius חׇם.
- ↑ Herodotus says, in regard to the manner of building ships on the Nile, "They do not use timber artificially carved, but bind the planks together with the bark of the byblus (or bulrush) made into ropes." ******
"They have immense numbers of these vessels, and some of them of the burden of many thousand talents." Euterpe, xcvi. - ↑ Blackstone says, "In interpreting language in law, one method of interpretation is by comparison of one law with other laws which are made by the same legislator, and have some affinity to the subject."
- ↑ Ps.lxviii. 31.
- ↑ Germania xviii.
Note. We have a case exactly similar to this of Moses, in the history of Herodotus. In Book II. Euterpe, he speaks of the river "Ister" as commencing at the city of Pyrene, among the Celtse, flows through the centre of Europe, and 'empties itself into the Euxine.'" "Wherefore has the question long since been settled that this Ister is our modern Danube? Because the geographical and popular allusions of Herodotus demand it. Herodotus must define Herodotus. Even so Moses. - ↑ Gesenius says, "Bochart with less caution than usual places the Cushites in a part of Arabia Felix; and with no better reason Michaelis makes them inhabitants, partly of Arabia, and partly of Ethiopia. But as Schulthers has justly remarked, there is no part of the Old Testament which makes it necessary to suppose that the Cushim were not in Africa. Indeed all the nations enumerated in Gen. x. 7, as sprung from Cush are to be sought in Africa.
- ↑ The word is גּיחונ derived from the root נִ׳חַ to break or burst forth.
- ↑ Jer. ii. 18, Song of Sirach, xxiv. 27.
- ↑ Jos. B. L, 1, 3.
- ↑ Jos. B. I., chap. vi. § 2.
Note. The Foulahs have a tradition that they are the descendants of Phut, the son of Ham.
Whether this tradition be true or not, it is a singular fact that they have prefixed this name to almost every district of any extent which they have ever occupied. They have Futa-Torro, near Senegal; Futa-Bondu and Futa-Jallon to the North-East of Sierra Leone.—Wilson's Western Africa page 79 - ↑ Jos. B. I. vi. 2.