“In his Genealogy of the Gods, the poet Hesiod refers to “the ruler of far-flung Aethiopia” as Memnon, the son of the dawn goddess, Eos. Painted Greek vases made two centuries later clearly depict Memnon with black skin and facial features. Ancient Greek vase (550-525 BCE). Source: Departure of Memnon for Troy. Greek vase, 550-525 BCE.
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— 700 BCE CA
“First known reference to the Ethiopians, or “burnt-faced” people, living in the distant lands of the sunrise and sunset. Source: Greek perfume bottle. Ca. 520-510 BCE. ”
— 750–700 BCE. Homer’s The Iliad
“Compilation of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Its account of the world’s first peoples synthesizes various streams of oral and written material. The story of creation is immediately followed by the “Table of Nations” and the story of Adam and Eve and their descendants. This archetypal genealogy of humankind gave rise to later discussions of 1) the elusive nature of the mark of Cain; and 2) Noah’s cursing of his grandson Canaan, as possible explanations of Africans’ skin color. Source: Drunkenness of Noah. Engraving. 1852. From Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Die Bibel in Bildern [Picture Bible] (Leipzig: Georg Wigands, 1860.) Source: Drunkenness of Noah. Engraving. 1852. From Julius Schnorr vonCarolsfeld, Die Bibel in Bildern [Picture Bible] (Leipzig: Georg Wigands, 1860.) ”
— 600-300 BCE Ca
“The ancient traveler and historian Herodotus of Samos writes his Histories. He expands on the character and location of the black “Ethiopians,”and extols them as the most virtuous and handsome of all men in the world. Source: Sun Temple ruins at Meroë taken during the John Garstang excavation, 1909-10. ”
— 450 BCE
“Hippocrates II of Kos writes the influential treatise On Airs, Waters, and Places, which posits a link between the environment and human health. Harsh climates supposedly challenge their inhabitants, making them sharp-witted and industrious, while those living in less stressful, temperate climates became lethargic and unsuited for physical work. During this era, he also develops a theory of four temperaments, which later came to be associated with the bodily humors. Hippocrates’ theories were adopted and modified by generations of successors to suit their own ends; European writers of the early-modern period, for example, characterized the people of the Torrid Zone as living in a fixed state of indolence, stupidity, and superstition. Source: Bust of Hippocrates. Plaster cast. Moscow, Pushkin Museum. ”
— 400 BCE
“In the Politics, Aristotle describes a natural slave as “anyone who, while being human, is by nature not his own but of someone else” and “he is of someone else when, while being human, he is a piece of property; and a piece of property is a tool for action separate from its owner.” Though Aristotle does not refer to African slaves, his writings were often used later to justify the enslavement of Africans. Source: Hartmann Schedel, Liber Chronicarum (Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1493). ”
— 350 BCE.
“In his Geographica (Geography), Strabo, the Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian, attempts to define the coastal contours and inner features of continental Africa. In his view, Africa ends just below the Nile within an area called “Aethiopia,” and “Libya” denotes all of North Africa. He also asserts that the blackness of Africans is caused by the intensity of the sun combined with the dryness of the climate. However, he also posits that “seminal impartation” causes children to take on the color of their parents, thus combining hereditary and climatic explanations for physiological differences. Source: Strabo, World Map. ”
— 7 BCE–14CE
“Pliny the Elder, famed scientist of the early Roman empire and author of an exhaustive survey of the natural world, composes his Naturalis Historia (Natural History). In Book 7, he embarks on a broad survey of the prodigies and monstrous races of the world and reports that the height of the Syrbotae, a tribe of the Aethiopians, exceeds twelve feet. Source: Woodcut, Sebastian Münster, 1544. ”
— First Century.
“Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria, the Greek mathematician, geographer, and astronomer, compiles his Geography, with its famous world map. Its reconstruction during the Renaissance provides scholars with a much firmer idea of the location and character of lands found far beyond Europe. He is among the first to use a gridded system of coordinates, and divides the earth into three climate zones: arctic, temperate, and tropical. Ptolemy’s map is significant in that it uses the word “Ethiopia” to designate the region roughly corresponding to ancient Nubia (which only took this name much later). Source: 4th map of Africa. The Cosmography of Claude Ptolemy the Alexandrian (Cosmographia Claudii Ptolomaei Alexandrini). 1467. Warsaw, National Library of Poland. ”
— Second Century
“The famed Greek physician of the Roman Empire leaves behind an extraordinary body of work consisting of medical treatises on a great range of topics as well as many works of philosophy. Reintroduced into European culture during the eleventh century through Latin translations from the Arabic, Galen’s works took on a central role in the practice of medicine. Among the most important impacts of his legacy was Galen’s understanding of humoralism, namely, the role of the four key bodily fluids (called humors) as the cause of illnesses. Source: “The Four Humors,” from Leonhardt Thurneysser zum Thurn, Quinta Essentia. 1574. Woodcut. ”
— 216 Claudius Galen dies
“After more than three centuries, the Bavli, or Babylonian Talmud, is completed. This Rabbinic Jewish text, along with its counterpart the Jerusalem Talmud, asserts that Noah’s curse affects Ham’s skin color (an assertion not found in the Book of Genesis). This “racialized” version of the “Myth” or “Curse of Ham,” which also associates darkened skin with bondage, was also beginning to emerge in early Christian writings, including those of Origen. Source: Vilna edition, 1883. ”
— 550 Ca
“Appearance of Isidore of Seville’s magnus opus, Etymologiae (Origins). Among a multitude of other topics, this encyclopedic work preserves ancient Greco-Roman insights into various peoples of the world and their classification. First appearance of the three-part division of the world into continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe), with respective settlement by the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Source: T-O map,1472. ”
— 600 Ca
“The legend of Prester John (Presbyter Johannes), the fabled Christian ruler of the East, begins to circulate in Europe. During the Crusades, Europeans seek the “Prester” due to his reputed defeat of the Persian Muslim kings at Ecbatana. Eventually, he will be portrayed as a Black king living in East Africa. Source: Diogo Homen, “Prester John, enthroned, in a map of East Africa from Queen Mary’s Atlas.” Before 1559. London, British Museum, fol. 16r. ”
— 1150 Ca. T
“In his voluminous Guide for the Perplexed, Moses ben Maimonides, the Sephardic Jewish physician and philosopher, reports that due to their hot climate, “black-colored people” are like mute animals, falling between humans and monkeys in the order of creation.
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— 1200 Ca
“The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, a possibly apocryphal travel memoir recounting various adventures throughout the known world (including Libya and Ethiopia) begins to circulate throughout Europe. Source: “Sciopod.” Woodcut, 1493. ”
— 1350 Ca
“The beginning of a tradition, which remains in vogue until the eighteenth century, that paintings of the Adoration of the Magi include an African as one of the three kings, often splendidly dressed with a retinue of Black followers. Source: Hieronymous Bosch. Tripytch of the Adoration of the Magi. Ca. 1495. Oil on panel. Madrid, Prado. ”
— 1350 Ca
“The Portuguese outthrust into Africa begins with the invasion of the Moroccan city of Ceuta in 1415. By 1499, Vasco da Gama has circumnavigated the entire African continent. Source: Vasco da Gama. Monument to the Discoveries. Detail. 1958-60. Lisbon. ”
— 1415–1499
“Pero Sarmiento issues the Sentencia-Estatuto in Toledo, Spain. This invective against Jews is the first example of discrimination on a racialized, rather than religious, basis. It lays the groundwork for the Spanish limpieza de sangre (purity of blood) laws, which enforce hierarchical ideas of race based on supposedly intrinsic qualities. Source: Juan Rodriguez Juarez, ca.1715. ”
— 1449
“Pope Nicholas V issues the papal bull Dum Diversas, permitting the conquest of disputed land in Africa by the Portuguese king Afonso V, as well as the enslavement of its inhabitants. The Papacy’s right to decide the fate of conquered lands and their peoples is further developed in Romanus Pontifex (1455). Source: Nicholas V receiving a book, 15th century. Manuscript illumination. ”
— 1452
“Contact with Amerindians in the Caribbean, who are not mentioned the Bible, ultimately raises questions about human nature, difference, and origins. Source: Copper engraving, Theodore de Bry. ”
— 1492
“Pope Alexander VI issues the papal bull Inter Caetera, asserting the rights of Spain and Portugal to colonize the Americas and convert and enslave its native populations. Following its dictates, the first slaves are taken to the New World colonies of Spain and Portugal. Source: Alberto Cantino planisphere. 1502. ”
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