Product Description

This unique volume provides an overview of the black queens, madonnas, and goddesses who dominated the history and imagination of ancient times. The authors have concentrated on Ethiopia and Egypt because the documents of the Nile Valley are voluminous compared to the sketchier records in other parts of Africa, but also because the imagination of the world, not just that of Africa, was haunted by these women. They are just as prominent a feature of European mythology as of African reality. The book is divided into three parts: Ethiopia and Egyptian Queens and Goddesses; Black Women in Ancient Art; and Conquerors and Courtesans. This second edition contains two new chapters, one on Hypatia and women's rights in ancient Egypt, and the other on the diffusion into Europe of Isis, the African goddess of Nile Valley civiliations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #651498 in Books
• Published on: 1988-12-31
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .77 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 239 pages

Review

"This unique volume provides an overview of the black queens, madonnas, and goddesses who dominated the history and imagination of ancient times. The authors have concentrated on Ethiopia and Egypt because of the documents of the Nile Valley are voluminousbecause the imagination of the world, not just that of Africa, was haunted by these women. They are just as prominent a feature of European mythology as of African reality."
-- Ivan Van Sertima, editor

About the Author

Ivan Van Sertima (1935-2009) was professor of African studies at Rutgers University. He was visiting professor at Princeton University and lectured at more than one hundred colleges and universities. He edited the Journal of African Civiliations, which has greatly changed the way in which African history and culture are taught and studied.