Black Athena Revisited

May 1, 1996
Two classical scholars at Wellesley College have edited a collection of 20 articles, all attacking Martin Bernal's controversial interpretation of classical culture, Black Athena (Vol. 1, LJ 12/87; Vol 2, Rutgers Univ. Pr. 1991). The authors, experts in a variety of disciplines, including archaeology and linguistics as well as history and classics, criticize Bernal's two central contentions--that ancient Greek thought and culture derived largely from Egypt and that 19th-century scholars hid this fact for racist reasons. These arguments, claim Bernal's critics, are based largely on bad scholarship and ideological agendas. Given the technical nature of the essays, this is not appropriate for general readers, but it is essential for scholars in the field.--Anthony O. Edmonds, Ball State Univ., Muncie, Ind.