Monday 13 May 2024

THE AFRICAN LAND OF GOD

The region of East Africa (from Somalia to Tanzania and inland to the Great Lakes) was called Ta-Ntr by the Kemetyu, as shown in this 3,600 year old depiction of an expedition in East Africa. The word Ta-Ntr means "Land of God." It was also synonymous with Pwanet (Punt).  The term Pwanet survives in the Swahili Bantu language as "Pwani," referring to the East African coastland. The Kemetyu called East Africa the Land of God because they saw it as the origin of the concept of God and of themselves.

The original oldest written name of Africa was Ta-Ntchr meaning "Land of God". It was used to refer to various regions of Africa, including Kemet, and so we see it was a term for the whole continent. Most often, the heart of Ta-Ntchr was specifically referring to the region far south of Kemet, which the Kemetyu saw as the original home of the Creator and their own origin. This is why the name Kemet or Khemet itself, while typically referring to the nation, was sometimes used as a general term for Africa. This is why the Asiatics considered Khem to refer to all Black people, not just Kemet.

The heart of its specific location is described as where the deity Hapi (Nile River's origin in Uganda) river originates filled with the mountains of the moon (a reference to high white caped mountains such as Rwenzori mountains in Uganda, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, etc).  This specific area was also called Bpunt, land of the Bpuntu (bantu). 

However, while the Great Lakes was the "heart of the region," the term Ta-Ntchr was also used to describe the Amenta region of the Western Hapi (Niger River) at the other side of the Sahelian trading network.  It was also used to refer to all the coast down to Azania that the Kemetic ships traded with.  Thus we see, Ta Ntchr is not just one part of Africa, but a general term for the continent.

References:

(1). Bradbury, Louise (1988), "Reflections on Travelling to 'God's Land' and Punt in the Middle Kingdom", Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 25: 127–156, doi:10.2307/40000875, JSTOR 40000875.

(2). Breasted, John Henry (1906–1907), Ancient Records of Egypt: Historical Documents from the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest, collected, edited, and translated, with Commentary, vol. 1–5, University of Chicago Press

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