Africans In Early Europe- MOORS

Africans In Early Europe
Contrary to popular notions, the first encounter of Africans and Europeans spans centuries before the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Africans and Europeans have shared the same continent since the most ancient times. Africans have been portrayed in European art as monsters and gods, slaves and conquerors, servants and kings, sorcerers and saints. They have been seen in prehistoric France, early Britain, ancient Greece, Rome, Islamic Spain and more. Below are just a few accounts of Africans in Early European history.
CHRONOLOGY OF AFRICANS IN EUROPE
1897BC Egyptian king Sewosret colonizes Greece: founds Athens (Legend)
202BC Carthaginian Hannibal defeats Rome
256BC-253AD Thousands of Africans serve in Roman army
711-1492AD Islamic North and West Africans and Arabs invade and rule Spain
827AD Moors begin invasion of Sicily and Rome
It is generally accepted that the earliest evidence of anatomically modern man come from the African continent. These migrants soon spread out across the Earth. It is not until around 60,000 years ago that some of these inhabitants begin undergoing drastic phenotypic change thus branching off into the many different physical "racial types" we see today. The first homo sapiens sapiens enter Europe around 40,000BC replacing existing Homo neanderthalis types by 28,000BC. (Photo and Information courtesy of Europe in Prehistoryand Nature Magazine
The Ancient Mediterranean

The ancient Mediterranean has long been home to Africans. In ancient Greece Africans figured prominently into many aspects of society and contact between the two groups was frequent. Black types can be found as early as Minoan Crete and are mentioned frequently in later Grecian writings. The Greek historian Herodotus stated, "Almost all of the names of the gods came into Greece from Egypt...The Egyptians were the first to introduce solemn assemblies, processions, and litanies to the gods, all of which the Greeks were taught to use." The relationship of several Greek deities to African deities has long been noted. Examples include the following: Athena to Neith; Hermes to Thoth; Hesphatus to Ptah. It is also Herodotus who tells us of the legend which lists the Egyptian king Sewosret (Seosteris I, II, or III) as the colonizer of Greece and founder of Athens. Alexander the Great, like many of his fellow Greeks, had a great respect for African religion. After his conquest of Egypt, he sought the advice of the oracle of the African god Amen. Thereafter he denounced his own father, Phillip of Macedonia, and proclaimed himself the son of Amen. He even went so far as to have his body buried in the Egyptian city he built for himself, Alexandria. Here he is pictured wearing the ram horns of Amen on a silver coin dated around 300BC. (Photo and Information courtesy of Black Spark, White Fire by Michael Poe , Blacks in Antiquity by Frank Snowden, and Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization by Anthony T. Browder)
The presence of Blacks in the ancient Mediterranean figure significantly into the mythology. Quite a few important figures are designated the title "Ethiopian" within Greek texts. These include Andromeda, heroine of the Perseus myth, and Memmnon of the Illiad saga. Pictured above is another such figure, the sorceress Circe of the Odyssey. Here she is seen offering a magic potion to Odysseus (Ulysses). The painting is displayed upon a Grecian vase dated back to the 5th century BC. Circe's niece was Medea, the sorceress responsible for helping Jason secure the legendary Golden Fleece. (Photo and Information courtesy of Blacks in Antiquity by Frank Snowden)