I stumbled upon this piece (http://www.globalresearch.ca/before-columbus-how-africans-brought-civilization-to-america/5407584) which claims that Africans such as the ancient Egyptians and those of the Mali Kingdom had explored the Americas as well as educated early Americans on mathematics, architecture, and astronomy. I consider myself to be very open minded when it comes to interpreting history. I have never heard of the website, I am not familiar with its credibility, the author(s) offer little to no legitimate sources as evidence, and it appears to have a subjective overtone. Regardless, what is said in the piece has left me highly intrigued. Is there any factual proof that could corroborate these claims?
Most of the linked piece could be dissected in r/badhistory. This topic had been seen here before:
Is there any kind of consensus as to why the Olmec colossal heads look like Africans?
Is There Any Evidence That Moors Reached The Americas Before Columbus?
The reality is linked piece is quite flawed and has a very problematic assumption that Amerindians were somehow incapable of becoming civilized (the title literally says "How Africans Brought Civilization to America") and needed an outsider group to come in and uplift them. This is an old racist chestnut (they have no civilization until we give it to them!) repackaged in Africanist colors, but it is demeaning to Amerindians. Statements like "the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas all worshipped black gods and the surviving portraits of the black deities" relies not only on a skewed interpretation of Mesoamerican motifs to fit contemporary racial descriptions but is an insulting denigration of Mesoamerican culture that insinuates that Amerindians were incapable of creating their own culture.
Mush has been said already, so let's take an individual look at some of the claims.
Algonquin writings on the East Coast
I'm assuming this is in reference to Mi'kmaq wiriting. There is no physical and only sparse anecdotal evidence for its existence any time before the 17th century; the oldest writings are from a system created by a Catholic priest.
Egyptian place names in the Grand Canyon
Modern folk have named many places in the canyon after an assortment of things, mostly because the canyon is cool and names like "Isis Temple" are cool too. These names are entirely made up as identifiers for various promontories. It's rather like saying there's Egyptian connections to Tennessee because they both had a Memphis.
I'm assuming this claim, and the one about artifacts, are related to this 1909 article from the Arizona Gazette. It describes two guys who hike through the Grand Canyon and find a mysterious cave with mummies, Bhudda-like figures, and hieroglyphs, on an expedition sponsored by the Smithsonian. Of course, there's only one other reference to one of the people, and no mentions of the expedition, anywhere else. No photographs or artifacts have ever been known either.
1311 AD, another major wave of African exploration to the New World was led by King Abubakari II
There is one single historian who mentions this fellow, by the name of Chihab al-Umari. His writings provide most of our knowledge about the wealth of Mali and Mansa Musa in the 14th century. Abubakari II is a forgettable anecdote in this text; he abdicated the throne to explore the seas and never came back. He may have very well made it to the Americas, but I'd hardly call it a successful expedition.
The king sent [...] crucial African knowledge of astronomy, religion and the arts.
Oh hey look it's that prejudice /u/kieslowskifan was talking about. This completely tosses aside the fact that the peak of what an ignorant layman such as this author would call Maya "civilization" was hundreds of years prior to Abubakri II's supposed arrival.
history will tell you that seafaring is the quintessential European achievement, the single endeavor of which Europeans are awfully proud
Correct. This is what you will learn if you ask any historian. /end sarcasm Strawman arguments like these have no content or logical value.
When most people think about ancient Mexico, the first civilizations that come to mind are the Incas, Aztecs and the Maya. However, during the early 1940′s archeologists uncovered a civilization known as the Olmecs of 1200 BC, which pre-dated any other advanced civilization in the Americas.
Has this author ever even seen Wikipedia? Or a 3rd grade history textbook?
The Olmec civilization, which was of African origin and dominated by Africans,
[citation needed] The author barely even supports this claim in his own text.
“There is not the slightest doubt that all later civilizations in [Mexico and Central America], rest ultimately on an Olmec base,” once remarked Michael Coe,
Coe's a cool guy, it's a shame he gets roped into this. It seems that this quote, and most of the article, comes from this book. As you can see, "David Imhotep Ph D" isn't even citing Coe as the source. It's, surprise, a book called African Presence in Early America.
recent archeological findings of narcotics native to America in Ancient Egyptian mummies
This claim has long since been defunct. We do not know where the mummy was taken from, but we do know that it was stored unprotected for several years and moved between various labs before any strict regulations on contaminants came around.
which is the nature of early American pyramids. Pyramid construction is highly specialized [...] with no signs of progressive learning. [...] placed on the same north-south axis [..] all of these pyramids also served the same dual purpose, tomb and temple.
/u/RioAbajo addresses most of this, so I'll add on.
The pyramids at La Venta hardly came out of nowhere. All around the edges of the site's central plaza are mounds of various sizes and similar earthen construction to the pyramid; one might compare them to mastabas as America's pyramid predecessor.
A north-south axis is perhaps the most common arrangement for any monument in the ancient world.
Egyptian pyramids were never temples, they had entirely separate constructions next to/in front of them where visitors could pay their respects. The very few Mesoamerican pyramids that do contain burials were not originally constructed for that purpose; the burial chambers are later additions.
It’s about time education policy makers reexamine their school curriculums to adjust for America’s long pre-Columbus history.
Oh hey, something I can agree on! Let's start with making sure people know that the Inca lived in Peru before they write an article about pre-Columbian history.
If you go back and look at "Dr. Imhotep's" book, you'll see some wonderful other assertions:
