Aerial view of Zanj irrigation system, Basra, IraqDurham University
Posted on 06/05/2025 9:04:04 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The Shatt al-Arab floodplain outside of Basra is marked with thousands of manmade earthen ridges and canals. Archaeologists have long suspected that these may have been part of an ancient agricultural system, but they did not know when or by whom it was built. New research has demonstrated that not only is this theory true, but that the massive infrastructure was dug by a huge labor force of enslaved Africans. The Associated Press reports that researchers identified more than 7,000 features spread across 300 square miles that formed an extensive farming network. Using radiocarbon dating and a technique called optically stimulated luminescence on finds from the sites, they were able to date the system's creation to the ninth century a.d. This was a time when the Abbasid Caliphate was exploiting enslaved Africans known as the "Zanj," traditionally thought to have been taken from the East African Swahili Coast. It is now thought that harsh conditions involved with creating this agricultural system may have directly provoked the famous a.d. 869 Zanj Rebellion, in which enslaved Black Africans revolted against the Abbasid state. The dating evidence indicates that the network was maintained until the mid-thirteenth century, suggesting that the use of slave labor likely continued for several centuries after the unsuccessful uprising. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
Aerial view of Zanj irrigation system, Basra, IraqDurham University
Ol’ man river,
Euphrates River,
She dost know somethin’
But don’t say nothin’,
She just keeps rollin’,
She keeps on rollin’ along...
Regards,
If only they’d just submitted to the armed hordes of the Religion of Pieces...
[Shocking Blue] I’m your river, I’m your Tigris...
Unpossible! Everyone knows whitey in America invented slavery! Duh!
The Zanj rebellion lasted for about ten years before it was finally crushed. The conditions the slaves worked under were horrible, which is why they revolted in the first place. Since this bit of history goes against the liberal narrative most people know nothing about it.
Oh, so now the woke academics will start calling Mesopotamians “white suprermacists”.
The truth is, I'd never heard of it before. I'm sure that's not just part of some academic chicanery though. /s
I like the new code word ENSLAVED OR ENSLAVED PEOPLES about as well as I like using the words misogynist or homophobe
I for one have never heard of this at all.
Nobody know, de trubble ah seen
“Indeed, Nāṣir Khusraw saw large numbers of African slaves working in the “fields and gardens” of al-Ahsa ... “
Big Sam say when it be revoltin’ time at al-Ahsa ... revoltin time, revoltin time!
Are these people ever happy?
“ Should have dug their own damned earthen ridges and canals!
Regards,”
*************************************
The Arab Muslims typically castrated their slaves shortly after capture. Minimal chances for later demand of reparations.
Not really. There was a time about 4000 years ago when they were flying biplanes around
the pyramids. That was jolly time, no mournful blues! Then the White Man came and stole their
technology. Dey jes tryin' to keep da black man down!
Reparations
Thanks for the perfect illustrations!!
Then the White Man came and stole their
technology.
And then they ALLOWED themselves to become enslaved.
There must be some corelation between slavery and technology that I am unable to comprehend...
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