Page 126 - STOLEN LEGACY By George G. M. James

(iv) The doctrines of the attributes of nature, according to Aristotle, states that nature consists of
motion and rest and that the motion moves from the less perfect to the more perfect by a definite
law. I suppose the law of evolution. This teaching however did not originate from Aristotle for
the problem of motion and rest permanence and change were not only investigated by the Eleatic
and later Ionic philosophers, but by the Egyptians in whose creation story, the Memphite
Theology, nature is shown to move from chaos by gradual steps to order. Certainly the doctrine
of the attributes of nature came from the Egyptians.

(v) The doctrine of the soul, according to Aristotle, states that the soul is a radical principle of
life which is identical with the body, and possesses five attributes, being sensitive, rational,
nutritive, appetitive and locomotive. Other philosophers have defined the soul (a) as material and
composed of fire atoms (b) as a harmony of the body through the blending of opposites, and (c)
as the breath of life in the creation story of Genesis. The true source of Aristotle's doctrine of the
soul has however been traced to the philosophy of the soul found in the Egyptian Book of the
Dead. There we find the soul explained as a unity of nine inseparable souls in one just like the
Ennead a God Head of Nine in One, with necessary bodies. In this Egyptian philosophy, the
attributes of the soul of the physical body have been found to coincide with those described by
Aristotle, and it therefore shows the Egyptian source of Aristotle's doctrine, which relates to a
small fragment of the Egyptian philosophy of the soul.

ARGUMENT VI: The Education of the Egyptian Priests and the Curriculum of the Mystery
System show that Egypt was the source of Higher Education in the ancient world, not Greece.

The first idea that we get from chapter seven is the fact that the Institution of Holy Orders
originated from the Egyptian Mystery System, where African priests were organized into various
Orders and trained according to their rank. This made the priesthood the custodians of learning
until the dawn of the modern age and pointed to Africans as the first professors in Higher
Education. The second idea that we get is that the Seven Liberal Arts also originated from the
Egyptian Mystery System, because these subjects formed the basis of the education of the
Priests, who in addition, had to be versed in the 42 Books of Hermes and to specialize in Magic,
Hieroglyphics, secret language and mathematical symbolism. The third idea that we get is that
the Curriculum of the Egyptian Mystery System was coextensive with the needs of the highest
civilization of the ancient world. Its text books consisted of:

(i) The 42 Books of Hermes.

(ii) The therapeutic use of the Seven Liberal Arts, for the cure of man's soul.

(iii) The applied Sciences and Arts as revealed by the monuments such as sculpture, painting,
drawing, architecture, engineering.

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Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy by George G. M. James
The Journal of Pan African Studies 2009 eBook