545 Abibisika (Black Gold) Points

Rank: Unranked Obibini

This paper critically examines Ataa Ayi Kwei Armah’s Wat Nt Shemsw: The Way of Companions, challenging its portrayal of Maat (𓌳𓌴𓀭) as aligned with egalitarianism, a concept the authors argue is foreign to classical Kmt (𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖, “Black Nation/Land of Blacks”). By contrasting Armah’s interpretations with primary textual and iconographic evidence from Kmt, the authors demonstrate that Armah’s claims about a pre-dynastic egalitarian society led by Osiris (𓁹𓊨𓀭) are unsupported by indigenous sources. Instead, they reveal Osiris as a divine ruler whose myths emphasize hierarchy and kingship. The paper critiques Armah’s reliance on non-indigenous interpretations (e.g., Plutarch) and his omission of Kmt’s own records, arguing that this misrepresents Maat as truth (𓌳𓌴𓀭) and perpetuates a Eurocentric “rhetorical ethic.” The authors advocate for grounding African scholarship in direct engagement with ancestral texts to restore accurate understandings of Kmt’s cultural legacy.