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IS ARABIA THE CRADLE OF HUMANITY? A FACEBOOK RESPONSE

This discussion is a reply to a post by Dr. Wesley Muhammad on the Facebook (FB) social networking hub made on Thursday, June 7, 2012. I chose to do it in a pdf form because FB’s formatting doesn’t allow for formatting features that would make points clear. Although the topic to be discussed could be expanded on in very great detail, this is not meant to be an article, chapter or journal essay. This is a response to a FB post and will not be as detailed. The issue being addressed is a small issue and doesn’t need a long detailed response with a hundred citations as this is an issue of logic, not a issue of who has the most sources. Two to three relevant primary citations is good enough for this discourse.

We are here to address two major claims made by Wesley Muhammad in his post on FB. They are:

1. The notion that Arabia is the “Cradle of Civilization” 2. And, that all modern human beings derived from a small group of Africans who left Africa and

first settled in Arabia to then populate the rest of the planet.

Wesley Muhammad’s full post, and my initial response to his post, is presented at the end of this response in Appendix A in full with no editing. It should be noted that I take the position that Africa (as we know it today) was the mother and cradle of human civilization and not Arabia; and that all human beings living on the planet derived from homo-sapien-sapiens (anatomically modern human-beings) who evolved in Africa and left with culture and language fully developed and all human achievement is the result of the building on this African template which helped human beings to adapt and survive in differing environmental ecologies. With this said we can move on to the meat of our discourse.

Wesley Muhammad makes a bold statement when he started off the discussion on FB that:

"The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that Arabia was the Cradle of Civilization."

So we know what the subject of his post is: “Arabia was the cradle of civilization.” This, according to Wesley Muhammad, is the teaching as espoused by Elijah Muhammad. He then contradicts himself later in the conversation by stating that:

Note that the term "Cradle" (verses the concept) actually comes NOT from THEM [The Honorable Elijah Muhammad], but from this scientific study that I FIRST quote and cite:

Verónica Fernandes et al, “The Arabia Cradle: Mitochondrial Relicts of the First Steps along the Southern Route out of Africa,” The American Journal of Human Genetics 90 (2012): 1-9.

Which one is it? Did THEM teach that Arabia was the “cradle of civilization” or did he not? There was no indication that THEM never said Arabia was the Cradle (although that was WM’s exact words) and that these are the words of my source(s). This is neither here nor there and can be discussed at a later time.

He then claims that “Afrocentrists” were upset with this revelation and that they shouldn’t be upset because of the following:

1.] A baby is not born in or from a cradle. A baby is only subsequently deposited there. Arabia as the Cradle does nothing to dethrone Africa (west of the Red Sea) as the Mother.

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2.] The scientific data now FULLY confirm this fact.

While there are conceptual problematics with #1, it is #2 that is the focus of this response. The implication here is that the “scientific data” FULLY supports that Arabia is the Cradle of Civilization. This is the premise of his whole post. So with these statements, there are some things that should have been addressed before making such a conclusive statement.

The main problem with this statement is that he never defines what constitutes a civilization. Without a working definition of what constitutes civilization, the reader has no way of verifying the claim, thus making it unfalsifiable, and by extension, unscientific. When one tries to look for definitions for “civilization” then one realizes how difficult it is to define it, and how unscientific bias has been used in the past to give certain people “civilization,” while denying it to others.

As an example, if I define civilizations as having a king and queen, a “complex” writing system, irrigation canals and an airport, then by that definition the Khoisan people of central Africa are “uncivilized” people and thus they have no civilization because they do not possess these institutions or technologies. However, the Khoisan societies have virtually no crime and war is not known of them. So who then is really “civilized” and thus has a “civilization?”1

So what then, by Muhammad’s standards, are characteristics of this “Cradle of Civilization” and how was this weighed against the African evidence to suggest that it was non-existent on the continent? I ask, “Did language began with Arabians?”2 Did tool making begin with Arabians?3 Did the making of clothes originate with Arabians? Did social order originate with Arabians? Did mathematics originate with Arabians?4 Did writing originate with Arabians?5 Did religion originate with Arabians?6 Did the concept

1 A good study is that of Richard Katz Boiling Energy: Community Healing Among the Kalahari Kung. (1982). Harvard University Press.

2 This wouldn’t be the case given studies such as: Quentin D. Atkinson “Phonemic Diversity Supports a Serial Founder Effect Model of Language Expansion from Africa,” Science 15 April 2011: Vol. 332 no. 6027 pp. 346-349. See also the work by the evolutionary neurobiologist Mark Changizi in his work Harnassed: How Language and Music Mimicked Nature and Transformed Ape to Man. (2011). BenBella Books, Inc. Dallas, TX.

3 See Christopher Stringer and Robin McKie (1996). The Origins of Modern Humanity. Henry Holt and Company, Inc. New York, NY.

4 See Abdul Karim Bangura (2012). African Mathematics: From Bones to Computers. University Press of America. Lanham, MD.

5 See Theophile Obenga’s note on the African origin of writing in the Ankh Journal: http://www.ankhonline.com/revue/obenga_th_egypt_cradle_writing.htm

6 See Sheila Coulson, et al. “Ritualized Behavior in the Middle Stone Age: Evidence from Rhino Cave, Tsodilo Hills, Botswana.” PaleoAnthropology 2011: 18−61. Evidence of religion is discussed and dated to around 70,000-100,000 years ago in South Africa.

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of marriage originate with Arabians? Did the Arabians tame fire?7 Were the Arabians the first to map the stars?8 Is art first attested in Arabia?

I like how Will Durant (an American writer, historian and philosopher) defines civilization. Although we can’t depend on one man’s definition to define a reality for all human, it is my belief that his definition coincides more with the general human consensus on the question. His definition isn’t about how many buildings were built or whether or not writing, etc., was present in order for there to be civilization. Durant states the following:

Civilization is social order promoting cultural creation. Four elements constitute it: economic provision, political organization, moral traditions and the pursuit of knowledge and the arts. It begins where chaos and insecurity end. For when fear is overcome, curiosity and constructiveness are free, and man passes by natural impulse towards the understanding and embellishment of life.

Physical and biological conditions are only prerequisites to civilization; they do not constitute or generate it. Subtle psychological factors must enter into play. There must be political order, even if it be so near to chaos as in Renaissance Florence or Rome; men must feel, by and large, that they need not look for death or taxes at every turn. There must be some unity of language to serve as medium of mental exchange. Through church, or family, or school, or otherwise, there must be a unifying moral code, some rules of the game of life acknowledged even by those who violate them, and giving to conduct some order and regularity, some direction and stimulus. Perhaps there must also be some unity of basic belief, some faith -- supernatural or utopian -- that lifts morality from calculation to devotion, and gives life nobility and significance despite our mortal brevity. And finally there must be education -- some technique, however primitive, for the transmission of culture. Whether through imitation, initiation or instruction, whether through father or mother, teacher or priest, the lore and heritage of the tribe -- its language and knowledge, its morals and manners, its technology and arts -- must be handed down to the young, as the very instrument through which they are turned from animals into men.9

Can WM, or anyone for that matter, successfully argue that Arabia was the cradle for economic provision, political organization, moral traditions and the pursuit of knowledge and the arts? Were the Arabian “Africans” the first to transmit knowledge to their descendants? Is WM willing to publically argue that these characteristics did not exist in the human populations prior to the exodus? If so, what conditions were present in Arabia that was not present in Africa that all of a sudden gave rise to these characteristics which spawned human “civilization?”

7 See the following concerning the taming of fire 1 million years ago in Africa: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/04/02/humans-tamed-fire-by-one-million-years-ago/

8 See the lecture series by Dr. Thebe Mudupe (astrophysicist) on the African Origins of Astronomy (with focus of South Africa): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg11eR9P6KE. He is also producer of the film Cosmic Africa. Also check Dr. Charles D. Finch’s A Star of Deep Beginnings: The Geneis of African Science and Technology. (1998). Khenta. Atlanta, GA.

9 http://www.willdurant.com/civilization.htm

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Other than non-African human populations, what was Arabia the Cradle of? If this wasn’t enough, we then have an added layer of difficulty created by WM when he stated the following in relation to my first response to his post:

The material and scientific sources that I have present[ed] say something different: the genetic indicators indicate that, while there were several early migrations out of Africa, TODAY's human population happens to DERIVE from a migration out of Africa 70, 000 years ago.

In other words, all human beings who are living today are the descendants of these Africans who migrated out of Africa approximately 70,000 years ago. This is problematic for several reasons. The first is that there are Africans who never left the continent of Africa. So how can ALL human beings be the descendants of this African migratory movement outside of Africa? In other words, ALL human beings have their ORIGIN (< derive) in Arabia according to WM.

Modern humans belong to the taxa HOMO SAPIEN SAPIENS. According to geneticists Charlotte K. Omoto and Paul F. Lurquin10, Homo-Sapien-Sapiens came on the evolutionary scene around 150,000 years ago (Omoto and Luquin, 2004: 166). If HSS are 150,000 years old, by what logic could one argue that “TODAY's human population happens to DERIVE from a migration out of Africa 70, 000 years ago.” The numbers don’t add up. This is just a warped version of the multiregional (continuity) hypothesis where it is believed that all modern human beings (HSS) derived from different Homo-Erectus groups who all, as a result of evolutionary pressures, “morphed” into HSS at the same time in different areas of the earth (the same lightning bolt hit multiple geographical areas at the same time). Again, this is an issue of logic no different than trying to justify and explain how it is mathematically possible to add two apples to a bowl that contains four apples and arguing that that equals five oranges.

In trying to save face WM tries to pin it on his sources cited in his FB post. However, his sources aren’t arguing for a HSS origin of human beings in Arabia. They are simply arguing that Arabia is the corridor by which other non-African human beings descend from. For instance

“Arabia saw first humans out of Africa,” Science News, UPI.com, 1/26/2012: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/01/26/Arabia-saw-first-humans-out-of-Africa/UPI-65001327616469/#ixzz1ksJQNUqh

The very first line of the article states, “European researchers say genetic studies suggest the first humans leaving the Horn of African to the rest of the world first settled in Arabia.” This is a far cry from HUMAN BEINGS DERIVED FROM ARABIA. Notice that the author says “first humans” which indicate that human beings, as anatomically modern humans, already existed and came into Arabia fully developed. Notice the next cited source:

Richard Gray, “African tribe populated rest of the world,” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/5299351/African-tribe-populated-rest-of-the-world.html.

10 Omotto, Charlotte K. and Lurquin, Paul F. (2004). Genes and DNA: A Beginners Guide to Genetic and Its Applications. Columbia University Press. New York, NY.

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Notice how the author words the premise of his article:

THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE OUTSIDE AFRICA OWES ITS EXISTENCE TO THE SURVIVAL OF A SINGLE TRIBE OF AROUND 200 PEOPLE WHO CROSSED THE RED SEA 70,000 YEARS AGO, SCIENTISTS HAVE DISCOVERED.

The author is hip to the research. The author is stating that all of the people OUTSIDE of Africa DERIVED from a single “tribe’ that came FROM Africa. There is a big difference in saying all humans outside of Africa originated from a founder population in Arabia, vs. all human beings who exist on the planet today derived from this founder population. Another one of his sources says nothing about Arabian origins of humanity:

J.R. Luis et al, “The Levant versus the Horn of Africa: Evidence for Bidirectional Corridors of Human Migrations,” American Journal of Human Genetics 74 (2004): 532ff.11

All this article talks about is how the Levant and the Horn were cites for cross continental migrations. Nothing about Arabia being the place where all modern anatomical human beings derived (“TODAY's human population happens to DERIVE from a migration out of Africa 70, 000 years ago”). In the article “Mitochondrial DNA structure in the Arabian Peninsula” (BMC Evol Biol. 2008; 8: 45.),12 it states the following:

The haploid and maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule has been the most used genetic marker to identify and to relate lineages with clear geographic origins, as the African Ls and the Eurasian M and N that have a common root with the Africans L3.

For those who are not familiar with genetics, L3 is the maternal haplogroup that gave rise to ALL human beings outside of Africa (at least maternally). The following is from www.23andme.com (a genetics company) where I got my DNA ancestry test from. I am L3e, a subgroup of the larger L3. L3e did not leave Africa.

Haplogroup L3 has played a pivotal role in the history of the human species. Soon after the haplogroup arose in eastern Africa about 60,000 years ago a relatively small number of migrants carried it across the Red Sea to Arabia, inaugurating an intercontinental migration that eventually settled every major land mass on Earth except Antarctica. That small group also gave rise to every non-African haplogroup.

It is from this maternal group that we get all other human beings today. It is the L3 mothers who settled in Arabia. If Arabia was the “origin” of modern humans, then where did the haplogroups L1 and L2 derive? Again this is an issue of logic. 1 and 2 come before 3. Most West and Central Africans are L1 and L2. Again from 23andme.com:

11 The full paper can be read here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2268671/?tool=pubmed

12 Located here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2268671/?tool=pubmed

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L2 is the most common haplogroup among both Africans and African Americans. It arose about 95,000 years ago, but did not reach its predominance in Africa until much more recently, when Bantu-speaking populations began moving east and south from the vicinity of present-day Cameroon. That migration, which began about 4,000 years ago and lasted into historical times, reshaped the continent's genetic landscape by dramatically expanding the range of L2 and other western African haplogroups. L2a, which dates back about 55,000 years, is present in 20% or more of both Africans and African Americans.

L2 is 95,000 years old. How can a group who is 60,000 years old (L3)13 give BIRTH to a group that is 95,000 years old? 14 I’m trying to research the physics on how the children can give birth to their parents. Many of the African-Americans derive from these maternal groups and these groups (L1, L2) NEVER left the continent. As noted by National Geographic (home of the Human Genome Project), in relation to our ancestral “Eve,” which represents a group of female lines, that:

These groups are referred to as L0 and L1, and these individuals have the most divergent genetic sequences of anybody alive today, meaning they represent the deepest branches of the mitochondrial tree. Importantly, current genetic data indicates that indigenous people belonging to these groups are found exclusively in Africa. This means that, because all humans have a common female ancestor, "Eve," and because the genetic data shows that Africans are the oldest groups on the planet, we know our species originated there.

We ask again, how does a group that is, according to Muhammad, no older than 70,000 years old, give BIRTH15 to lineages OLDER than it? Let’s be clear on WM’s words. He stated that:

“TODAY's human population happens to DERIVE from a migration out of Africa 70, 000 years ago”

It is this erroneous thinking that leads him to believe that Arabia is the “cradle” of civilization, as if there were not civilizations older than the ones found in Arabia. The following map shows human migrations out of Africa and its proposed timeline. This timeline coincides with WM’s 70,000 maximum migration out of Africa. 16

13 National Geographics puts the emergence of L3 at 80,000 years. See the following: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/09/g912/haplogroupA.pdf

14 The literature varies on exactly when the latest major Out of Africa event happened. I’ve seen some publications argue for 90,000 years, and others for as late as 40,000 years. So this is the guestimated range of the event.

15 The word “derive” means to receive or obtain from a source or origin (usually followed by from ); to trace from a source or origin; Chemistry . to produce or obtain (a substance) from another.

16 Download high res. map here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0603/feature2/images/mp_download.2.pdf

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As we can see from the map, there were HSS settlements in South Africa as early as 120,000 years. We have to ask ourselves here, how is Arabia the Cradle of Civilization AND the origin of all modern human beings (Today’s human populations) when there are people creating settlements and living lives in South Africa 5,000 years prior to any migrations outside Africa for HSS? What were they doing all this time: tapping their feet?

Without going into an elaborate dissertation on the subject we can see that WM’s claims are scientifically unsound and are in serious need of revision. His premise fails on logical grounds. A deductive argument is said to be valid if and only if it takes a form that makes it impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion nevertheless to be false. If this is the case, then a deductive argument is said to be invalid.

Wesley Muhammad’s argument isn’t sound. His premises are not true and therefore his conclusions cannot be true. The accepted time differentials betray the conclusion of his argument, that Arabia is the cradle of civilization and the location where all modern human beings derive. All modern humans (Homo-sapien-sapiens, today’s human populations) cannot derive from the stock that settled in Arabia no longer than 70,000 years ago if the evidence informs us that HSS have been around since at least 150,000 years ago in Africa AND the vast majority of this group didn’t migrate outside of Africa to populate the rest of the earth.

His argument totally dismisses the millions of other human beings who never left the continent and provides no reason why he left them out of his equation. In order for his conclusion to be sound he would have to consider all of the variables that may alter his results. So this response was put together to force WM to provide clarity to the issues raised because as they stand at this moment, they cannot be substantiated: neither on logical grounds or through his own sources which do not make such claims.

I await clarification.

Ancestrally,

Asar Imhotep www.asarimhotep.com June 9, 2012

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APPENDIX A

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that Arabia was the Cradle of Civilization. Many Afrocentrists got mad at this teaching, thinking the Honorable Elijah was slighting Africa. For two reasons these dear persons need not be upset: 1.] A baby is not born in or from a cradle. A baby is only subsequently deposited there. Arabia as the Cradle does nothing to dethrone Africa (west of the Red Sea) as the Mother. 2.] The scientific data now FULLY confirm this fact. The genetic data proves that: “Arabia was indeed the first staging post in the spread of modern humans.” Verónica Fernandes et al, “The Arabia Cradle: Mitochondrial Relicts of the First Steps along the Southern Route out of Africa,” The American Journal of Human Genetics 90 (2012): 1-9. (Thank you Bro Orell) “European researchers say genetic studies suggest the first humans leaving the Horn of Africa to the rest of the world first settled in Arabia.” “Arabia saw first humans out of Africa,” Science News, UPI.com, 1/26/2012: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/01/26/Arabia-saw-first-humans-out-of-Africa/UPI-65001327616469/#ixzz1ksJQNUqh Archaeogenetics indicate that the progenitor African group that gave birth to today’s human population migrated out of Africa into Arabia about 70,000 years ago. Richard Gray, writing for the Telegraph [UK] announced May 09, 2009: “The entire human race outside Africa owes its existence to the survival of a single tribe of around 200 people who crossed the Red Sea 70,000 years ago, scientists have discovered…Research by geneticists and archaeologists has allowed them to trace the origins of modern homo sapiens back to a single group of people who managed to cross from the Horn of Africa and into Arabia. FROM THERE they went on to colonize the rest of the world.” Richard Gray, “African tribe populated rest of the world,” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/5299351/African-tribe-populated-rest-of-the-world.html. FACT: the first location the Out-of-Africa migrants touched down in was Arabia, and there they developed for millennia before going on to populate other parts of the world. Don’t get mad, get up-to-date: P.A. Underhill et al, “The Phylogeography of Y chromosomes binary haplotypes and the origins of modern human populations,” Annals of Human Genetics 65 (2001): 43-62.

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J.R. Luis et al, “The Levant versus the Horn of Africa: Evidence for Bidirectional Corridors of Human Migrations,” American Journal of Human Genetics 74 (2004): 532ff. Bernard Vandermeersch, “The Near Eastern Hominids and the Origins of Modern Humans in Eurasia,” in Takeru Akazawa, Kenichi Aoki, and Tasuku Kimura (edd.), The Evolution and Dispersal of Modern Humans in Asia (Tokyo: Hokusen-sha, 1992): 29-38. P. Andrews, W.R. Hamilton and P.J. Whybrow, “Dryopithecines from the Miocene of Saudi Arabia,” Nature 274 (1978): 249-51. Michael D. Petraglia, “The Lower Paleolithic of the Arabian Peninsula: Occupations, Adaptations, and Dispersals,” Journal of World History 17 (June 2003): 144-179. Norman M. Whalen and David E. Peace, “Early Mankind in Arabia,” ARAMCO World 43:4 (1992): 20ff. Jeffrey I. Rose and Michael D. Petraglia, “Tracking the Origin and Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia,” in Michael D. Petraglia and Jeffrey I. Rose (edd.), The Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia: Paleoenvironments, Prehistory and Genetics (London and New York: Springer, 2009) 1-12. "We, the tribe of Shabazz, says Allah (God), were the first to discover the best part of our planet to live on. The rich Nile Valley of Egypt and the present seat of the Holy City, Mecca, Arabia.” The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Message to the Black Man. Warning: Before you get mad again and respond to this post angrily: STOP, do a few ‘Mooo Saaa’s to calm down, and check the above sources. Then get back with me. #stoptheemotionalism

— with NafisAllah Khalifah.

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ASAR’S INITIAL RESPONSE:

Peace and Blessings. I hope all is well. I am interested in seeing what the controversy is here? I would like to know what African-Centered scholars are arguing that African people didn't settle in what is now Arabia? I'm trying to see how this is news since African scholars have been arguing this since the 1800's, with more fervor in the 50's. I'm trying to see where one needs to be "up-to-date" on this here. 70,000 years is virtually young evolutinarily speaking. These Africans who settled and migrated there would not be older than the Africans who settled in central and southern Africa some 200,000 years ago. There are settlements at the Klasies River Mouth (south Africa) that are 120,000 years old. African-Centered scholars know very well the human migratory routes and have been arguing for many years the global spread of African people. All humans are Africans. This is not news. If one is trying to suggest that somehow these Africans that settled in Arabia 70,000 years ago were Semitic speaking people, that would be a stretch that would ultimately be wrong. I'm interested to know who these African-Centered scholars are who are arguing that the first settlers to migrate outside of Africa proper were not Black African people??? And I'd like to know how one would argue that Arabia is the "cradle" of civilization with settlements in Africa that are older by as many as 70,000 years?