Sneak Peeks – Ain’t no Black or White
…This connection was further demonstrated by Professor Cheikh Anta Diop who traced the origins of the main groups of people in the Senegambia to ancient Egypt using a range of disciplines from archaeology, linguistics and African oral traditions, to the writings of Greeks and Arabs. The Senegalese Professor was a champion of African identity who dedicated much of his life to establishing the African origins of Pharaonic Egypt. His quest was fraught with difficulties. His doctoral dissertation, which was based on the African origins of the Egyptian Pharaonic culture, was rejected on three occasions by the University of Paris, Sorbonne, between nineteen fifty one and nineteen sixty. But it won him international acclaim in the ensuing years. His thesis was finally accepted in nineteen sixty after he carried his argument successfully with the backing of historians, sociologists and anthropologists. He went on to publish several works on this subject. Professor Diop once stated: “In practice it is possible to determine directly the skin colour and hence the ethnic affiliations of the ancient Egyptians by microscopic analysis in the laboratory; I doubt if the sagacity of the researchers who have studied the question has overlooked the possibility.”
Professor Diop was able to demonstrate the close relationship between Wolof and Pharaonic Egyptian. Samples of this relationship included the following:
| Egyptian | Wolof |
| Bu nafret su em bu bon – a state of good has become a state of evil | Bu rafet mel ni bu bon – a state of good has become a state of evil |
| mer on ef – he loved | maar on ef – he loved passionately |
| mer on es – she loved | maar on es – she loved passionately |
| mer on sen – they loved | maar on sen – they loved passionately |
He was also able to make similar comparisons with the Yoruba. Both languages share a number of words for example…
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