Cambridge-trained scholar Martin Bernal, whose work Black Athena stirred American higher education's culture wars, passed away recently in the United Kingdom at age 76. His obituary appeared in today's New York Times.
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| Image: controversialhistory.blogspot.com |
Bernal's not entirely original thesis was that African and Phoenician peoples influenced the glory that ultimately was Greece. His concepts were based on, among other things, the works of Plato and Herodotus. What was unique was his assertion that 19th century racist historians expunged the non-European impact on ancient Hellas.
What's most interesting about Bernal's career was his specialty -- Chinese political history. He taught the subject at Cornell for over two decades.
Bernal's relationship with elite educational institutions was hardly accidental. Similar to a number of British intellectuals, Bernal's parents were also connected to the UK's top univerisities and produced distinguished works in their respective fields. Bernal's grandfather, according to the
Times, was a notable Egyptologist.
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