Origins of Museum Africa: Punt!

It’s a region of Ancient Egypt, south of Egypt, around the Res Sea. It was a region for trade and commerce. Some attribute the region to modern day Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Yemen, but no one knows the precise location of the region.
Here’s an imaginative description of the region:
It seems to have been considered by them a most unique haven; an emporium of goods for both king and gods, and gradually acquired an air of fantasy, like that of Eldorado or Atlantis. For this reason, it was sometimes featured in narrative tales such as the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor.

For more on the region of Punt, visit Tour Egypt: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/punt.htm

Origins of Museum Africa: The Kingdom of Kush

Kush (or Cush) was a kingdom/country in northeast Africa (think Sudan/Ethiopia/Egypt), part of Ancient Nubia, a region of the Nile valley.

The Kingdom of Kush was very much an independent nation, which was prominent around the 11th century BCE to the 4th century CE.

The Kushites conquered and controlled upper Egypt, while the Piankhi ruled the south of Egypt.

The Kingdom remained strong until the 4th century CE, when it fell to the Ethiopians. It was known as one of the most prominent kingdoms of its time.

For more on the kingdom/country of Cush, see See A. J. Arkell, A History of the Sudan to A.D. 1821 (1955, repr. 1974). 

Origins of Museum Africa: What is Kemet?

Km.t (also known as Kemet) is one of the names for Ancient Egypt. The word itself means the black place or the black land.

Kemet soil is known to be the more fertile soil the desert soil of other Egyptian lands. In that respect, the name is used as a reference to black soil that was eroded from Central Africa by the Nile River.

In reference to Km.t people, the word Kemet is used to describe the people who lived in the black, fertile land of the country.

Here’s the dilemma though:

·      Some scholars differ on the origin of the word though—scholars like Raymond Faulkner believe the word was derived from the land, the dark soil of the region.

·      Others like William Leo Hansbery and Aboubacry Moussa Lam claim that the word was derived from the skin color of the people of the region.

So whose side are you on? The word—Kemet—a reference to the land or the people?

Leave your comments below!