Kenya: National Museums Defends the Digging Up of Ancient Kingdom

All Africa ^ | 13 September 2010 | Mazera Ndurya

[SunkenCiv]

The National Museums of Kenya has defended archaeological work to locate the ancient settlement of Malindi Kingdom.

A press release by the joint Sino-Kenya archaeological team said digging at the ancient sites in Mambrui Village in Magarini District was legal and all procedures had been followed.

The head of the Chinese team, Prof Qin Dashu and his Kenyan counterpart, Dr Herman Kiriama of the NMK, said the sites were selected on the recommendations of Kenyan scholars.

"The sites are not in the burial sections and the team tried to strictly adhere to Islamic laws where graves are not supposed to be tampered with nor bodies or human skeletons exhumed.

"This has been observed to prevent damaging both ancient and contemporary graves in accordance with Islamic traditions," the statement said.

The statement was issued following what the archaeologists said were negative media reports quoting the Mambrui community that the excavation was being done in disregard of Islamic traditions...

From the initial findings, the archaeologists have concluded that Mambrui has a long and rich history with evidence that the settlement traded with the Middle East and Asia.

The archaeologists say the history of the East African coast could be re-written after a three-year excavation on the mainland and Lamu, where a Chinese ship sank some 600 years ago, is concluded.

While little is known about Chinese involvement in early trade with East Africa, the excavations could change the perception that Europeans were the first foreign visitors to Africa.

[SunkenCiv]

[that's a pretty stupid thing to say -- the Romans were in Africa more than 2000 years ago; the Greeks were in Africa hundreds of years before that; the Phoenicians settled in port colonies along the western coast of Africa (at least!) hundreds of years before that. And we haven't begun to find out even earlier activities. ]

[SunkenCiv]

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[Don Corleone]

Maybe they will stumble upon somebody’s ‘long form BC.

[Fast Moving Angel]

Dangit, you beat me to the punch :-)

[Fred Nerks]

No birth certificate, sorry, the best I can do is this photo of some Luo relatives from 1900.

[SunkenCiv]

;’D

[ApplegateRanch]

You mean Greeks and Romans weren’t Europeans? LOL! I DO know what you mean, though.

Besides, Ye Olde Two Kings Trading Company, founded by Kings Solomon & Hiram, was definitely not European.

Okay, I’ve probably mined this enough.

[Cheetahcat]

Those must be the Kenyan scholars!

[a fool in paradise]

If it helps them turn up Barack Obama’s birth certificate, I’m all for it.

[SunkenCiv]

;’)

[Doulos1]

“Kenyan scholars” now there is an oxymoron for ya.