Africa is home to the world’s earliest known use of Mathematical measuring tools and calculation, confirming the continent as the birthplace of both basic and advanced mathematics.
The knowledge spread throughout the entire world after a series of migrations out of Africa beginning around 30,000 BC and later by a series of invasions of Africa by Europeans and Asians (1700BC).
The oldest mathematical instrument is the Lebombo bone (35,000 BC) a baboon fibula used as a measuring device and was named from its location of discovery in Lebombo mountain in Swaziland or Eswatini.
Ishango bone (20,000 BC) is one of the world’s oldest mathematical instruments also made from baboon fibula bone discovered in present-day Congo. The bone has markings that represent different quantities.
It is now housed in the Museum of Natural Science in Brussels.
Next is an ancient board game known as Gabet’a or Mancala game from Yeha in Ethiopia, from around 700 BC.
It is still in use in East, Central, and Western Africa. The game consists of two or four rows with six or eight holes which are played by two players with stones, cowries, or sea Shells.
In Moscow’s Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, is the so-called Moscow papyrus. It was purchased by Vladimir Golenishchev sometime in the 1890s.
Written in hieratic, from perhaps the 13th Dynasty in Kemet. The papyrus is one of the world’s oldest use of algebra and geometry.
The Rhind mathematical papyrus (1650BC) was purchased by Alexander Rhind in 1856 AD and is presently housed in the British Museum. Excavated at Ramesseum in Waset (Northern Egypt). It contains arithmetic and algebraic problems/solutions.
Timbuktu in Mali is home to one of the world’s oldest Universities, Sankore which had libraries filled with manuscripts written in Ajimi (In this case in African languages such as Hausa being written as Arabic) in the 1200AD.
When Europeans and Asians began visiting and Colonizing Mali in the 1300s to 1800s the Malians began hiding the Manuscripts in basements, attics, and underground in fear of destruction or theft by the foreigners.
In recent history, many as 700,000 scripts have been rediscovered and contain Modern and Advanced Mathematics.
SCHOLARS WHO STUDIED IN AFRICA
Famous well known Greeks (Europeans) whom we study their history and writings, studied in Africa at the feet of Ancient Egyptian (Kemet) scholars at the Temple of Waset founded 1405B.C (15BC Cent) & also in Timbuktu Temple founded in 1201BC (13BC Cent) now Mali.
Phil Plato was a student at Waset Temple for 11yrs. Also, Aristotle was a student there for 11-13 years. Socrates spent at least 15 years at the same temple; likewise, Euclid studied for 10-11 years at the same temple. Pythagoras spent 22 years there.
Ancient Scholars in Egypt began keeping records as far back as 4000 to 3000 BC same with the people of now sub-Saharan Africa. Several Europeans also studied in Timbuktu Temple where most researches were carried out.
Hippocrates studied in Waset for 20 years, plus a host of other little-known Greeks who matriculated at Waset, among whom are Diodorus, Solon, Thales, Archimedes, and Euripides. With other scholars from Abyssinian (now Ethiopia), Nubia (Sudan), and from several Sub-Saharan tribes.
Greek scholar, St. Clement of Alexandria, once said that if one were to list out the names of all the Greeks who studied under African tutors, a 1,000 paged book won’t be enough. Even Herodotus mentioned it, same with Plato and Aristotle some learning in Timbuktu Temple.
Most of the scholars above also performed several kinds of research at Timbuktu Temple in ancient Mali. The truth is that it took a certain amount of years to graduate from Waset, not all scholars mentioned above graduated.
In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great invaded Egypt (kemet) under military power. Greek Philosopher Aristotle and his fellow Greek cohorts stole many archives of Egypt and burned what they could not decipher & Timbuktu was attacked by the Moroccan Empire in the mid-17th century CE.
During the Battle of Jenné the now Malians won by retaliating against the Moroccans on April 15 1599 chasing them out of their territory.
Our ancestors opened the doors of our Nation to foreign peoples, these guests were welcomed with respect and honor in accordance with our traditions but they used our kindness to destroy our Nation.
ALL of these philosophers studied at the feet of High Priests at the African Temples …facts!!!
They then went back to Greek and claimed to be the originators…
Now I understand, based on history that we use to seek knowledge in the temple, then the schools open then the barakah left, and the chairs were brought in so the humility left; and the certificates were introduced so then the sincerity left.
History 06
Book of History
Put together by; Mustapha Cisse
Presented to you by; The Daily time newspaper
May 2023.
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REFERENCES:
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Greek+philosophers+who+came+to+Africa+to+study.-a0187012521
http://web.mit.edu/4.288/Students/diop/term.html
https://philarchive.org/archive/ANATAO-2
https://globaljournals.org/GJHSS_Volume14/6-Contributions-of-Herodotus.pdf