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How 2 African Polymaths Outshone the Egyptologists at the UNESCO Cairo Symposium in 1974 Imagine you are a scholar of ancient Egypt, And you are invited to a symposium to debate the origins and identity of the ancient Egyptians. You are confident in your views, based on years of research and conventional wisdom. But then you meet two African scholars who challenge everything you thought you knew, with compelling evidence that you didn't even know existed. How would you feel? This is what happened at the Cairo symposium in 1974, organized by UNESCO, where Cheikh Anta Diop and Théophile Obenga debated a panel of European, American and Arabic Egyptologists. The question: Were the ancient Egyptians Black Africans or not. Diop and Obenga had a clear advantage over their opponents: They were polymaths with expertise in multiple fields of knowledge. Diop was a: • Historian • Physicist • Linguist • Anthropologist • Politician Obenga was a: • Historian • Linguist • Egyptologist • Philosopher They used various sources and methods, including: • Historical records • Oral traditions • Linguistic analysis • Cultural comparisons • Physical anthropology • Genetic studies But their opponents were only specialists in Egyptology. And relied on a narrow and outdated framework based on: • Racial stereotypes • Colonial biases • Eurocentric assumptions The Egyptologists ignored the evidence presented by Diop and Obenga, and failed to provide convincing counterarguments. And they were unfamiliar with the African languages and cultures that Diop and Obenga used to support their claims. The Cairo symposium exposed the flaws and limitations of Egyptology And showcased the brilliance of Diop and Obenga. It also proved beyond doubt, the African identity of the ancient Egyptians.