One can't help but notice how certain historical topics are hotter than others, and perhaps none more so than the history of the middle east and adjacent areas, the Mediteranean and Northern Africa.
The obvious reason is that this is, as far as we know, the "cradle" of "civilization". I say "cradle" because other civilizations formed culturally independenlty of these places (eg Incas) and I say "civilization" because one man's citizen is another's savage.
Better to say then that this area was the cradle of what we consider to be Western civilization.
The following essay does an outstanding job of outlining the chronology Eurocentirsm vs Afrocentrism debate, from the time before there was a academic Afrocentrist movement, until now.
http://way.net/dissonance/sundiata.html
I got this site, btw, through the skeptics support network. If you want the agenda to be the truth, skeptics are the way to go, imo.
one question for me is why it is that westerners feel the need to issue rebuttal about supposed PC type research without anything put an opinion to back up their "nonpolitically correct" positions?
noirfist
disraeli said to O'connell, on the floor of parliament - "your ancestors were blue painted savages wearing furs when mine were priests in the temple of solomon." and he was right.
doesn't mean much to me - in that I don't have a dog in the fight. I don't know who built the pyramids, or what color they are, but I'm pretty certain that my ancestors were living in huts or tents at the time. or building newgrange.
I'm curious about it, but the bullshit that has grown up around it makes the subject too cumbersome and too personal to even debate for some people. (excepting poobear from that). bad history; lousy sources from both sides (my god, stormfront?); too many axes to grind.
I think it is a little off topic of this history forum as well. We try to keep the topics somewhat martially related.
"Archeaological research in Europe recently has uncovered a 30,000 year old set of wall paintings and stauettes of a sophistication not thought possible by our "savage" ancestors. "
It's called the Upper Paleolithic, and it all started about 75,000 years ago ;) But really, what is a barbarian? Just a foreigner...
joemurphy, maybe it helps me stay cool about this because I have ties to both "dogs" - and it really doesn't matter, you damned celtic savage lol j/k - the celts have the best beer - Guinness - and therefore are the most civilized
I've read all about hallstatt and la tene, but I don't think you can compare those societies to ancient egypt or rome in terms of social organization.
the furthest back I can trace my ancestry, they were just piling stones on top of each other without mortar. nomadic herdsmen, living in tents.