Product Description

Book Description:

"This is a pioneering, long-lost, work of Afrocentric history. Drusilla Dunjee Houston was a teacher, journalist and self-taught historian. Inspired by W.E.B. DuBois' The Negro, Houston undertook a life-long quest to discover African history from an African-American perspective. Today it is clear that conventional historians' fixation on 'Dead White Men' misses huge parts of the historical picture. Africa had several advanced civilizations in antiquity which flourished at the same time as the better known European and Asian ones. However, at the time that Houston wrote, history was viewed through a Eurocentric perspective and any mention of advanced African cultures was considered on a par with Atlantis.

Houston believed the Cushite civilization to be the motherland of humanity. The Cushite civilization did exist, although it was not as ancient as Egypt, and certainly not the origin of all culture. Nevertheless, the Cushites were the earliest known Black African civilization. Reaching its peak between 1750 and 1500 B.C.E., and lasting until the fourth century C.E., the Cushite empire occupied what is now the Sudan, with its capital at Meroe on the Nile. At their high point, Cushites even conquered and ruled ancient Egypt from 750-650 B.C.E. Because of their geographical isolation, they had nowhere near the impact on other parts of the world that Houston attributed them. The Cushites were heavily influenced by the older Egypt culture, rather than the other way around. They left behind fields of hundreds of small steep-angled burial pyramids, the design of which was borrowed from Egypt and scaled down.

Houston wrote three volumes, of which only this one, the first, known as Wonderful Ethiopians, was published. She had no staff, and no formal training in academic procedures. Living in Oklahoma, her access to specialized libraries was limited. One can only wonder what she would have made of Google. Although Houston identifies many of her sources in the body of the text, there are few footnotes or other apparatus that such a bold theory would require for consideration. The writing is vigorous and popularized, which also makes it a difficult sell for historians. The received text of this book could have used a bit of proofing and editing (refer to errata), but given the circumstances under which it was published, this is understandable. The compelling part of this book is that it exists at all. While we debate her theories, one historical fact is fairly clear: Houston left her own mark as a pioneering advocate of the study of Black History." (Quote from sacred-texts.com)

Table of Contents:

Publisher’s Preface; Preface; The Empire's Age And Scope.; Old Ethiopia--its People.; Ancient Ethiopia, The Land.; The Amazing Civilization Of Ethiopia.; Prehistoric Egypt, The Land Of Wonders.; Egypt And Her "golden Age."; Egypt And Her Mighty Pharaohs.; Arabia And Her Ancient Races.; The Marvelous Arabian Civilization.; The Rich Arabian Literature.; The Strange Races Of Chaldea.; Babylonia The Land Of Marvels.; The Civilization Of Babylonia.; The Civilization Of India.; Ancient India The Land Of Mystery.; Hindu Religion And Literature.; Ancient Media And Persia Were Cushite.; Final Word.; Endnotes

About the Publisher:

Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, Esoteric and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.org

Forgotten Books is about sharing information, not about making money. All books are priced at wholesale prices. We are also the only publisher we know of to print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #166559 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-07
• Released on: 2007-12-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 229 pages

About the Author
About the Author:

"It is rare in the field of African historical research and writing, that African women are prominently mentioned. The work of Drusilla Dunjee Houston is not only worth mentioning, but should be highlighted as an early, pioneering historical narrative displaying scholarly depth and superb documentation.

Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire Book 1: Nations of the Cushite Empire, Marvelous Facts from Authentic Records was first published in 1926 in Oklahoma City. Houston intended this to be the first volume of a three volume set that explored Nile civilizations and surveyed the strong influence of Africa on Asian civilizations. She also examined the African background to European civilization. African historians J.A. Rogers and Arthur Alfonso Schomburg highly praised Mrs. Houston's outstanding scholarship.

Drusilla Dunjee Houston was born in Winchester, Virginia in 1876. Her outlook on race was instilled in her by her father, John William Dunjee, a "race man" who counted among his colleagues, Frederick Douglas and Blanche K. Bruce.

At the age of twenty-two, Drusilla wed Price Houston, a store merchant. She founded the McAlester Seminary in McAlester, Oklahoma. This was an educational institution which she ran for twelve years. After settling in Oklahoma City, Drusilla went to work as a journalist for her brother's newspaper, the Black Dispatch. She "aggressively" reported on cases of white atrocities committed against Blacks in Oklahoma.

Her interest in ancient Africa and historical research was triggered by the 1915 publication of The Negro authored by W.E.B. DuBois. Her life-long pursuit of Africa's past and her devotion to her race places Drusilla Dunjee Houston in the foremost ranks of Pan-Africanist historians.

On February 2, 1941, in Phoenix, Arizona, Drusilla Dunjee Houston died from tuberculosis. "At the time of her death, she was working on another book on African history."" (Quote from cwo.com)

Customer Reviews

Wonderful Ethiopians--An excellent pioneering work
Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire represents the crowning achievement of Ms. Drusilla Dunjee Houston. The work was originally published in Oklahoma City in 1926. It is the first known attempt by a Black woman, and perhaps anyone, to produce a multi-volume work on African history told from an African perspective.

Ms. Houston herself was an educator, journalist and historian. She spent most of her life in Oklahoma and Arizona and succumbed to tuberculosis in Phoenix, Arizona in 1941.

Her work is broad and comprehensive and was quite advanced for its time. Its audience was not confined to scholars but the layperson, particularly Black folk, who were in need of a accurate tonic to boost Black self-esteem. It retains a powerful value even today, more than seventy years since its initial publication.

Well researched presentation of ancient African history.
Western civilization has grudgingly recognized that homo sapiens evolved in Africa, within the last 40 years through the work of Richard and Louis Leakey and the discovery of the "Lucy" skelital evidence in Ethiopia.

However, Drusilla Huston's book copiously documents legends of of African culture before the dessication of the Sahara and the Egyto-Nubian desserts. She continued with ancient references to the ancient Kushite and Ethiopian civilizations and Kings refered to by Homer, Heroditus, Diodorus, Massey Champoleon and others to flesh out the stories of the Nubian, Nahesey, Napatan, Meroic, Alumic, Egyptian, Summarian and Ethiopean nations over 75 years ago.

It is therefore, a prophetic and profound example of pioneering African-American scholarship operating in a bleak and hostile environment over many decades. It's veracity is only enhanced and fortified with the passage of time and recent production of books such as "Black Athena" by Martin Bernal, "Civilization or Barbarism" by Cheik Anta Diop and the 1996 "African Exodus" by Chris Skinner and "Egypt Revisited" edited by Ivan Van Sertima and numerous others.

Wonderful Ethiopians--An excellent pioneering work
Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire represents the crowning achievement of Ms. Drusilla Dunjee Houston. The work was originally published in Oklahoma City in 1926. It is the first known attempt by a Black woman, and perhaps anyone, to produce a multi-volume work on African history told from an African perspective.

Ms. Houston herself was an educator, journalist and historian. She spent most of her life in Oklahoma and Arizona and succumbed to tuberculosis in Phoenix, Arizona in 1941.

Her work is broad and comprehensive and was quite advanced for its time. Its audience was not confined to scholars but the layperson, particularly Black folk, who were in need of a accurate tonic to boost Black self-esteem. It retains a powerful value even today, more than seventy years since its initial publication.