Chapter 3: The Makings of a Pariah

“WHEN THE MOORS ENTERED SPAIN IN 711 AD, THEY DID NOT ARRIVE AS DESTROYERS BUT INSTEAD CAME AS CONSENSUS BUILDERS. THE JEWS AND THE MOORS WORKED TOGETHER AND IN SOME INSTANCES THE JEWS WERE VIEWED AS COLLABORATORS WITH THE MUSLIMS. IN MOORISH SPAIN “THOUSANDS OF JEWS AND CHRISTIANS LIVED IN PEACE.” THE MOORS MAY HAVE CARRIED INTO SPAIN, SOME OF THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM ROME’S OCCUPATION IN NORTH AFRICA 100 AD.”

Excerpts from ‘IRONY’:

 The Western World saw Rome as the first super power. Rome’s powerful military forces were very ruthless in the beginning and expanded through invasions and occupations. After the Punic Wars (146 BC) and the destruction of Carthage, the Roman Emperor Augustus (27 B C – 14 AD), adopted a new policy to assimilate the people of North Africa. Augustus built a very sophisticated city – far from the center of Rome called Timgad. In this ancient North African city, we may find some answers to how Rome was able to maintain and rule its vast empire and enable its citizens to becoming empowered.

Did you know Rome had emperors who were Negros? Septimius Severus,11 April AD 145 – 4 February AD 21l, also known as Severus, was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the Cursus honorum—the customary succession of offices—under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus.[7]

The Emperor Caracalla: (4 April AD 188 – 8 April AD 217), Roman emperor (AD 198–217). The eldest son of Septimius Severus, Caracalla reigned jointly with his father from 198 until Severus' death in 211.[8]

History records support the notion Rome wished to co-exist with the nation it conquered, with a statue that portrays the figure of an African couple dressed in Roman garments and above the couple the figure of Roman God Saturnus stands between the sun and moon. The sun and moon were worshiped in the region before the Romans came, and Rome wished to show its desire to integrate with the culture and not  impose its own tradition as it had done in the past. We can see here that Rome had learnt and was acting out and moving forward from the lessons of past conquest….

Chapter 3: The Makings of a Pariah

There is right, there is wrong, then more importantly, there is the reality of power: He who controls the levers of power, usually provides the answer to questions of right and wrong.

 Unknown

As a child and as a man I can recall my mother using the phrase “from here to Timbuktu”. It was a phrase she used – often - in a derisive manner to voice her frustration with me. Now, as a man whose curiosity has led him to research the phrase, I am now more enlightened. I am now familiar with the countries of Africa - both northern and western. I am now familiar with the countries of the African continent.

Timbuktu is located in Mali (West Africa,) at the edge of the Sahara Desert. It was the crossroad of commerce in sub-Saharan Africa. This country was also the site of the world’s first university; a significant cultural and religious destination, a place without equal for its known brilliance. This country was known throughout the academic world for its academic and intellectual progressiveness.

Timbuktu was established in the 12th century and gained prominence as an intellectual destination during the 15th century, because of the manuscripts written by African, Arab and other Muslim scholars.

 The Moors (Muslims) ruled Spain for almost 800 years (711-1492), which is not a blip in the history of the world. Consider the historic life of America (1776-2016) next to Rome 27 BC – 395 AD, (undivided) approximately.

In Dr. Ivan Van Sertima’s book, The Golden Age of the Moors, he wrote about the debt Europe owes to the Moors and the significant contributions of the African Muslim on the Iberian Peninsula and to the Renaissance in European society. This is well researched and can be found in libraries, book stores and on the internet.

 When the Moors entered Spain in 711, they did not arrive as destroyers but instead came as consensus builders. The Jews and the Moors worked together and in some instances the Jews were viewed as collaborators with the Muslims. In Moorish Spain “thousands of Jews and Christians lived in peace.” The Moors may have carried into Spain, some of the lessons learned from Rome’s occupation in North Africa 100 AD.

In his article on Muslim Spain and European Culture in Real History, Ancient Man and His First Civilizations, Dean Derhak penned:

When you think of European culture, one of the first things that may come to your mind is the renaissance. Many of the roots of European culture can be traced back to that glorious time of art, science, commerce and architecture. But did you know that long before the renaissance there was a place of humanistic beauty in Muslim Spain? Not only was it artistic, scientific and commercial, but it also exhibited incredible tolerance, imagination and poetry. Moors, as the Spaniards call the Muslims, populated Spain for nearly 800 years. As you will see, it was their civilization that enlightened Europe and brought it out of the dark ages to usher in the renaissance. Many of their cultural and intellectual influences still live with us today.

During the eighth century, Europe was still knee-deep in the Medieval Period. In his book, The Day the Universe Changed, the historian James Burke describes how the typical European townspeople lived:

The inhabitants threw all their refuse into the drains in the center of the narrow streets. The stench must have been overwhelming, though it appears to have gone virtually unnoticed…

 https://www.amazon.com/IRONY-Theophilus-Nicholson/dp/1520964846