In our last two posts (1 and 2), we took a look at the areas of science that flourished on the African continent during the ancient times but have been lost due to lack of appropriate historic records and colonialism. Here, we will be looking at the contributions of Egypt to the evolution and development of scientific disciplines. We will also try to trace this history way back to the Neolithic era which is arguably the last era of the stone age and dates back to around 10,000 BCE to 4,500 BCE (though some have argued that it extends to 1,200 BCE).
No doubt, one particular science discipline that flourished extensively in the Neolithic era was agriculture. However, during that time, the people that were into the study of animals, plants et al were philosophers. This is the reason it has been inferred by philosophy scholars that science is a sub-discipline of philosophy. More so, the word "philosophy" is a combo of "philos" and "Sophia" which, in Greek terms, means the love of wisdom. Having this in mind, let's now look at the origin of science as it relates to the ancient Egyptians.
ANCIENT EGYPT
The history of the origin and development of science can never be complete without mentioning Egypt and there is no disproving to the fact that Egypt is home to ancient philosophers of renown. Take for example, the ancient philosopher Imhotep (who lived around 27th Century BCE) has been regarded by scholars as the true god of medicine. Awesomely enough, he had an Egyptian descent and lived many years before the man we consider as the father of medicine; Hippocrates was born [ref]. One very unique characteristic of ancient scientific disciplines is that they incorporated elements of spirituality without the exception of Egyptian science.
The ancient Egyptian region had a sub-division based on religious centres, of which three centres were recognized and headed by priests who were also scholars. Awesomely enough, even ancient Egyptian kings were subject to the powers wielded by these centres. These centres were known as:
- Memphis
- Thebes (Hermopolis)
- Heliopolis
During that era, school systems were established by religious scholars (these schools can be considered by modern standards as universities). However, the disciplines taught in these schools either revolved around philosophy or were sub-integrated into philosophy. The disciplines that were taught included religion, astronomy, medical science, mathematical science etc. Collectively, all these ancient sub-philosophical disciplines can be called the "ancient wisdom of Egypt". From the above, you will agree with me that, since priests were majorly in charge of educational system of ancient Egypt, you will be correct to infer that a lot of these Egyptian sciences were seen as sacred.
In our last post, we saw the contributions of the Dogon tribe (of Mali) to astronomy, but looking at it holistically, even though they had extensive knowledge of astronomy, the study of stars, heavens and seasons can also be traceable to the ancient Egyptians [ref]. Using their knowledge of astro science, they were able to calculate exactly when to start cultivating and when to harvest. Interestingly, they discovered that it took 12 moon-rise from the time River Nile had an overflow to the next time of overflow - that was how the year was divided into moons (or what we presently call "months").
Asides their knowledge of astronomy, even mathematics had a part origination from Egypt (especially those that have to do with decimals and fractions). To buttress this point, a particular papyrus was excavated in Egypt and called "Rhind Mathematical Papyrus". This papyrus holds the record for being the most acceptable evidence of the richness of mathematical science in the ancient Egypt [ref]. This papyrus contains complex arithmetics, such that is comparable to the present day mathematical science - what an ancient mathematical ingenuity. More so, another evidence was seen in Hermes Trismegistus' texts - which also contained alchemy (which is now called "chemistry") and other scientific disciplines.
Talking about medical science, I have mentioned Imhotep earlier but it is worthy to note that ancient Egyptian medical scholars have been said to have performed surgeries (including caesarean sessions, cataracts tec) long before western science came to Africa, as evidenced in the Edwin papyrus. Did I forget to tell you this? Even "papyrus" itself (that is paper) had its origin in Egypt. Of course, that was why they were able to keep their ancient records. Oh yes? Even hieroglyphics (form of pictorial writing) can be traceable to ancient Egypt.
In conclusion, here's a list of well known ancient Egyptian philosophers and their areas of specialisation
- Imhotep - medicine, astrology, architecture
- Ptahhotep - moral philosophy, behavioural ethics
- Amenhotep - religion, architecture
- Hypatia (first female ancient philosopher) - mathematics, astronomy, Hellenistic philosophy
As a matter of fact, even the history of western philosophy cannot be told without bringing in the contributions of African philosophy (Egypt in particular). No doubt, even the story of civilization is not complete without Africa.
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