Sunday, May 20, 2012

Curse of Ham: Dark people cursed in the bible

The explanation that black Africans, as the "sons of Ham", were cursed, possibly "blackened" by their sins, became the reason for the slave trade of the 18th and 19th centuries.


Here is the part from the bible where the curse occurs:

(Genesis ch.9 v.20-27)
“And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard.
And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren outside.
And Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
And he said, "Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren."
And he said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”

Ham (Kam > Kamit) is the biblical ancestor of black people, it is irrefutable judging by the genealogy that is given by the bible; (Genesis ch.10 v.6)
“And the sons of Ham: Cush and Mizraim, and Put and Canaan.”

• Cush (Kush) is an hebraic word meaning « black » and it indicates Nubia, today’s Sudan, a country mainly populated by black people.
• Mizraim (Mizraim) is also a hebrew ("semitic") word to name Egypt (Kemet),
Thanks to the work of Cheikh Anta Diop, we know for certain that ancient Egypt was inhabited by black people.
• Canaan designates Palestine (now called Israel).

It is easier to stop at the simple explanation that Ham was cursed for having seen his father’s will.

This is confirmed in Judaic and Talmudic literature, I quote Jean-Philippe Omotunde :
(Traite Négriere Européene: Vérité & Mensonges p.131-132)

In the Midrash Rabba (3) and the Bereshit Rabba (4), Rabbinic literature becomes more explicit. Three rabbis R. Joseph (dead in 333), R. Huna (dead in 297) and R. Chiza bar Abba (136-217) comment an assault on Noah committed by Ham already inside the arch. Because of this act, his descent became black. But Robert Graves and Raphael Patai give us a preview (5) :

“ Now, I can no longer engender the fourth son whom I would have gave the order (…)
your children shall serve, you and your brothers ! It has to be Canaan, your first born, that they shall take as a slave.
And since you have made me incapable of doing bad things in the darkness of the night, the children of Canaan will be born ugly and black! Also, because you have stretched yourself to see my nudity, the hair of your grandchildren will curl so that it turns nappy and their eyes will be red, also, because your lips have joked about my misfortune, yours will swell and since you had a lack of respect for my nudity, they will go around naked and their virile part extend ignobly.”

Old editions of the Talmuld still state that:
“Cush, lineage of Ham, shall become black because of the curse (…)
The crow and the Cushite will be black because of their wrongdoings”
.

In the book of Jeremiah, we can also read (Jeremiah ch.13 v.23):
“Can a Kushite change his skin (…) Live and dwell on your land like the Kushites, like the elements of nature, you shall not cease belonging to me”.

[ Modern versions goes as follow:
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.”
 ]

The rabbi Maimonides, in his work considered by Jews to be the greatest in matter of religious jewish philosophy
(Guide for the Perplexed, book III, chapter 51), tells us the following about the black nation:

"their nature is similar to mute animals, and in my opinion, they do not reach the level of human beings ; amongst existing things, they are inferior to the man but superior to the monkey because they possess in bigger measure than the monkey the image and resemblance of the man".
(Afrique Antique, Mythes Et Réalités - Réné-Louis Parfait Étilé p.64-65)

CONCLUSION :
• Not only is the black race cursed but we are given a fictitious account of history;
because of science and archeology we know that black people were the first ones on earth, so this biblical story puts the white man in the first place while introducing the black man under some despicable circumstances.
• That story give an alibi (or justification) for the invasion of Canaan.
• It is the first step to curse black people and to falsify their history, the second is no other than the myth of Hebrews enslaved in Egypt.
The Hebrews (hyksos as they were know as back then) invaded Egypt during 140 years (from 1720 to 1580 B.C) and tried to eradicated the Egyptians as reported by Flavius Josephus(quoting Manethon of Sebennytos) in his book Against Apion (Book I ch.25)

(3) Comments on the Pentateuch
(4) Comments on the Genesis
(5) Robert Grave & Raphael Patai “The Hebrew Myths”