Professor Martin Bernal, dead at 76

Professor Martin Bernal, 'Black Athena' author, dies at 76

ByDaniel Aloi

Martin Gardiner Bernal, professor emeritus of government and Near Eastern studies at Cornell and author of the widely read and debated "Black Athena” books on classical civilization, died June 9 in Cambridge, England. He was 76. Bernal taught at Cornell from 1972 until his retirement in 2001. He began as an associate professor in the Department of Government and was named a full professor in 1988. Bernal argued that Egypt, not Greece, was the root of ancient culture in his three-volume work “Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization.” Considered controversial by many, Bernal’s first volume, “The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985" (1987) was followed by further research in “Black Athena 2: The Archaeological and Documentary Evidence” (1991) and “Black Athena 3: The Linguistic Evidence” (2006), and a volume in response to his critics, “Black Athena Writes Back” (2001).
news.cornell.edu...

He was one of the key influential figures who helped formulated my thinking on history as a kid he most certainly brought a new perspective to the field and upset the apple cart along with another Brit Basil Davidson, Chiek Anta Diop, Ivan Van Sertima John Henrick Clark and others he will be missed.

Wow. I remember his books, i read Black Athena about a decade ago. I still have all those materials, might have to dig them out my closet

I remember reading the rebuttal to Black Athena and thinking afterwards that at least Bernal used facts, the rebuttal was built around the very premise that Bernal was arguing against.

Think we will have an outside the box thinker like that again? A pioneer is what he was. He went right after the status quo.