Historical Facts About Ancient & Modern Afrikans

"History dictates that if you do not know your past, then you cannot analyze the present and plan for the future.
History also suggests that correct, historical information empowers a people, while incorrect, a historical albeit mis-information only leads to the powerlessness of a people."

Last year while studying New Literatures in English, we studied the works of several African theorists and authors and I learnt many things about the "Dark Continent" that were previously unknown to me - for instance, till then I hadn't the faintest clue as to why the borders of African countries are so straight as if drawn with a ruler. It's because they were drawn with a ruler - at the Berlin Conference, 1884, when European colonisers sat at a conference table and cold-bloodledly drew lines across the continent, dividing it amongst them, without sparing a second's thought to the havoc they would wreck over tribal communities across the land. It's also the reason why so many of them speak a European language in addition to their native tongue (which also faces the danger of being wiped out)...

Today, while doing a French assignment on "Asterix and Cleopatra" (of all the things) I came across a very interesting site, compiling facts about the Afrikans, most of which were unknown to me. While the entire page is worth reading, these two retained my attention :

• The stark historical reality is that during the B.C. era when the Emperor of Rome, Julius Caesar, had a sexual liaison with the ruler of Kemet (Egypt), Queen Cleopatra VII, a son named Caesarion was born on 23 June 47 B.C. in Kemet as a result of that sexual encounter. However, what is historically vital and relevant is that the birth of this boy child, Caesarion, was not a natural birth. In other words, the High Priests of ancient Kemet had to perform a special surgical procedure to deliver Caesarion; this surgical procedure that the ancient Egyptian High Priests/physicians performed in 47 B.C. to deliver Caesarion is what is called the “Caesarean Section” in modern A.D. medicine today. The ancient Egyptian High Priests named their medical procedure in honor of Caesarion’s father, Caesar.
• The ancient Egyptians had a test for pregnancy. A woman was asked to urinate daily on two cloth bags, one containing emmer (wheat) and the other barley. If both germinated she was said to be pregnant, if neither did, then she was not. It has been known since 1927 that a particular hormone is present in the urine of a pregnant woman and so modern pregnancy tests are based on this ancient Egyptian medical practice. The ancient Egyptian doctors first tested the effect that urine had on grain simply because they associated grain with life and they expected that a woman who was carrying new life would have a spiritual affinity with the grain. They therefore observed then what medical science only knows today that the urine of pregnant women can sometimes cause grain to germinate, whereas that of women who are not pregnant always causes it to wither.

(Courtesy : Historical Facts about ancient & modern Afrikans)