When the centralized government of ancient Egypt collapsed following the 90-year old reign of after Pepy II (Neferkare —- Nafarakare/Mufarakare?) in 2152 BC, the priests, who were also social observers and recorders, were alarmed at how much the ensuing chaos threatened to completely destroy the culture that have been painstakingly put together in more than 1000 years. Once order was restored, both the secular leadership and the religious leaders made a two-fold decision that proved to be as wise as it is enduring.
The leadership realized that the collapse of the Old Kingdom was likely to be repeated in the future. They were absolutely correct. Within two hundred years after the restoration of the rule of law, peace and social justice, the ancient nation was taken over by a group of aliens that had come into the nation as traders and ordinary people looking for food. The foresight of history repeating itself was an absolute masterstroke and as visionary as I have ever seen. That was number one.
Number two, to ensure the survival of the old traditions even after the collapse of the central political authority, the visionary leadership decided to put in place measures that made the nation culturally conservative. From language, theology, food, funeral rites, burial chambers and even the main stem of the political order were to be conserved as they had been from previous epochs. This is the reason that Egyptologists will tell anyone who bothers to listen that the ancient Egyptians were culturally conservative. Indeed, they were and for profound reasons.
From my perspective, these two moves proved to be ingenious. Time has plodded along as it must. We have seen upheavals of epic proportions, so massive that even the ancient ones may never have thought possible. Their homeland is now occupied by a people who the ancient ones always feared because the current occupants of the land have no respective for the dead just like their forefathers.
Despite the changing times and the massive upheavals, the cultural conservatism has ensured the survival of the ancient culture. One astounding aspect of this time-defying culture is the royal regalia. In this factoid I draw attention to the crescent necklace worn as a symbol of royal authority.
As seen in the montage on the factoid, we see a statute of Amenemhet (Amunhumuhadzi?) III wearing the royal crescent necklace. In my own native Zimbabwe, chiefs (traditional kings, dukes and princes) have worn these necklaces as far as I can remember. Contrary to the idea that this insignia was introduced by the colonial government, it may very well be that the colonial government tried to use this ancient symbol of power to curry favour with would-be traditional leaders by doling out these ancient symbols of African royal authority.
At any rate, what we are witnessing here is not so much a re-engineering of history but a basic exercise of comparing and contrasting two cultures that are separated by time and space but said cultures transcend that time and space. Truth can never be hidden forever, let alone be engineered, especially if we keep our eyes and ears open.
With Chitova Takunda Chaurura Chingombe and Mfene Babalwa Tsebo Mdoda, this is the Zimbabwean/African Factoid of the Day, I’m Bvumavaranda BTechno Moyo.