Black Panther and African S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)

The story of Marvel comic’s Black Panther is an interesting fictional story which weaves together and draws on multiple fascinating factual elements found throughout various African cultures throughout time.  Perhaps the most important of the facts and themes in the story of the Black Panther is the significance of Metallurgy and Blacksmiths in African culture, spiritual systems, and technological development.

The Story of Black Panther and Wakanda
10,000 years ago a meteorite comprised of a metal called Vibranium crashed on earth and landed in the country of Wakanda in Northeastern Africa.  The crashed Vibranium created a mountain, or mound, which was discovered by the Panther Tribe in Wakanda who became the guardians of the Vibranium mound.  Bast and Sekhmet are two of the feline deities of the Panther Tribe, and the King and protector of the Panther tribe is a warrior who holds the title of “The Black Panther”.  The Black Panther also has a group of female warriors who serve as his personal bodyguards called the Dora Milaje.  As guardians of the Vibranium metal mound, the Panther tribe became skilled blacksmiths and metallurgist in antiquity which translated into a highly technologically advanced and economically stable African country in the present day, where one of the major resources of the country of Wakanda is Vibranium.  Because of their high level of advanced technology, Wakanda has never been conquered, colonized, or enslaved.

Metal from the Sky 
The earliest known iron artifacts are 9 small beads, dated to 3200 BC, from Ancient Egypt in Northeast Africa, identified as meteoric iron shaped by careful hammering.  This evidence shows the Ancient Africans in Egypt were the first to use Iron prior to the official start of the “Iron Age” in 1300 BC.  The Ancient Egyptians called this Meteoric Iron “BAA EN PET” meaning “iron of the sky” or “metal of Heaven.”  The Ancient Egyptian’s word for the Blacksmith’s Forge was “Khepesh”, and that same word was a homonym to the word for a scimitar sword shaped metal weapon casted in the forge, as well as to the constellation of the Great Bear - Ursa Major.


The Iron King:
The 7th Pharaoh of the Ancient Egypt’s 1st dynasty was named Anedjib Mer-ba-pen (spelled various in English as Merbiape, Meribiap, Merbapen, Miebîdós, and Mibampes) which literally meant “Lover of Iron”. Anedjib ruled around 2930 BC.

African Blacksmiths
Ancient Africans in Egypt who were Blacksmiths and Metallurgists had knowledge of several different types of Metals and Metal alloys as attested to in the Medu Neter from Ancient Egypt:

• Meteoric Iron    - baa en pet
• Iron        - benpi
• Gold        - Nub
• Silver        - hetch
• Copper        - hemt
• Tin, Lead    - anak
• Electrum     - nub waas
• Bronze        - ut

The Medu Neter word for "Blacksmith" was Mesen (singular) and Mesniu (plural - the 7 mythic blacksmiths of Heru who made weapons).  The Medu neter word Mesen may be related to the English word "Mason".  The Mesniu are also called the Heru-shemsu  (the blacksmiths of Edfu).  Additionally, the word Nebi in Medu Neter meant "to smlet, to work in metals" and was also a homonym to the word Nebi or Nebibi meaning “Leopard or Panther”.

The Blacksmith deity in Ancient Egypt was Ptah, who represented the Primordial Mound, and he had two wives Sekhmet (Southern Egypt) and Bast (Northern Egypt) represented by Felines.  The Ancient Egyptian Blacksmith deity Ptah’s son by Bast was the Lion-Headed deity of war named Maahes, who was called Apedemak in Nubia and Meroe.  The “Sem” priests of Ptah (who were more scientists than "priests") were also Blacksmiths and Metallurgists who wore Leopard Skins.  The wearing of Leopard Skins was also a custom of the Nubians of Meroe, and the Nubian Kingdom of Meroe was huge Iron smelting capital.  It is important to know that Panthers are Melanistic Leopards.

Overtime, various Leopard “Secret Societies” who were also Blacksmiths, spring up across the African Continent:

• Ekpe - Nigeria (uses the Nsibidi script) 
• Abakuá - Cameroon and Nigeria
• Anyoto Aniota - Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, and Nigeria
• Leopard Society of Bassaland - Liberia (uses the Vai script)

In the books "African Jungle Doctor" by Werner Junge and "Jungle Pilot in Liberia" by Abe Guenter, an experience in Bassaland (Liberia) during the early to mid 1900s is described where reports were made about "Leopard Men" and people who would dress in Leopard skins and fashion and wear claws of steel with which they would use as weapons.  Brass Metal rings called 'Dwin', 'tien' or 'nitien', meaning “water spirits”, or 'Gods of water' were forged by the blacksmiths of the tribes of Bassaland and left as offerings to the “Brass God” of the Leopard Men.  The Kru and Grebo people believe these objects are living creatures that can be found in creeks, rivers and lagoons.  These objects have shared interpretive meanings with the Dikenga from the African Congo, Thor’s spinning Hammer Fylfot (also called Swastika), and Ptah’s Hammer (the Djed, Ankh, and Waas).

Similar to the "Dwin - water spirits," the Mande, Bamana, and Dogon Blacksmiths of Mali tell stories of water Spirits called the Nommo who are Blacksmiths of a Metal from the star Sirius called SAGALA.  The Mande Blacksmiths control a force called Nyama, which is synonymous with Nyame of the Akan people.  An important Blacksmith ancestor in Akan culture is Nana Adade Kofi.  The Mande Blacksmiths of Mali form Castes called Nummu which is phonetically similar to the Nommo water spirits spoken of by the Dogon Blacksmiths.  One of the Nommo the Dogon Blacksmiths speak of is named OGO, who is synonymous with the Orisha Blacksmith OGUN in Nigeria.  The Blacksmith culture in Nigeria has existed since 1000 BC with the NOK culture.  The Blacksmith Orisha Ogun is called GU in the Dahomey culture of Benin.  The Blacksmith Ogun, OGO, or GU is said to be married to the warrior Orisha OYA.  The 19th century Kingdom of Dahomey (present day Benin) who were practitioners of the system of Vodun which ackknowledged Oya, developed an all-female military regiment who were an embodiment of the warrior Orisha OYA.  This group of African Warrior Women had various names including N'Nonmiton or Mino (meaning "our mothers"), Ahosi (meaning King's wives), and Gbeto (meaning "Elephant Hunters").  European narratives referred to these women soldiers as Amazons.  This “warrior Queen” characteristic found amongst the women of the  Dahomey Kingdom was also found amongst the Kandakes, or Candaces, who ruled the Nubian Iron smelting city of Meroe (800 BC - 350 CE).

The Role of the Blacksmith has been central and integral to African Culture, Society, Spirituality, and Technology throught the ages, and the Leopard, Panther, or Feline has been one of the Symbols associated with African Blacksmiths since Ancient times

Heka - Magic or Engineering

Magic is defined as the art of producing a desired result through the use of various techniques, such as special words or certain actions, which are perceived as supernatural powers, and presumably give the impression of human control over the forces of nature.  It’s important to note, that within the definition of the word “magic”, when the attribute of “supernatural” is applied to the words or actions which produce the desired result, it is based on the perception and presumption of the observer and onlooker. 

Magical Thinking is the attribution of causal relationships between actions and events which cannot be justified by reason and observation. In religion and superstition, “magical thinking” looks for meaningful relationships and correlations between rituals, prayers, sacrifices, or other traditional practices, to some event occurring in the natural world.  However, Magical Thinking is a type of causal logical fallacy, and Magical thinking is diametrically opposed to Scientific Thinking.  That is to say, without knowing the details of the method, without knowing the specifics of the process, without knowing the engineering algorithm, mathematical formula, or scientific procedure which goes into the production a certain result, the observer, in the search for an explanation, may qualify the production of the result as “Magic”.  This notion is embodied by the famous quote from the futurist Arthur C. Clarke, which states: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”  Indeed, since Engineering is the application of scientific knowledge to produce machines, tools, systems, and technology which facilitate the control over certain aspects of nature, then naturally, the analogy between magic and engineering is a plausible extension.  What differentiates Magic from Engineering is whether or not an observer is informed of, or ignorant of, the process that goes into creating a certain outcome.  An individual informed of the science which goes into the production of a certain outcome will likely qualify the production of said outcome as engineering, while an individual uninformed of the science which goes into the production of a certain outcome will likely qualify the production of said outcome as magic.

So when we consider the Ancient and traditional practices of Africans, on the continent and in the diaspora, which are qualified as “magic” by outsiders observing the culture, we have to take a second look at those same practices from an insider’s perspective to know if those practices are truly viewed as “magic” or “engineering” within the context of the culture.  This has been one of the many aims of the African Creation Energy series of books, to show the relationship between African Philosophies and Theologies to Scientific Theories, to show the relationship between African Symbolism and Myth to Modern Math, to show how African Artifacts, statues, and relics are related to technology, and to show how the African practices and techniques such as Vodoun, Hoodoo, and Ifa, which are relegated to the realm of “magic” by the uninitiated, should be in fact viewed as engineering within the context of those disciplines. 

A perfect case study which speaks to this point is the concept known as “Heka” from the culture of Ancient Kemet (Egyptian).  The word Heka is from the Medu Neter language of Ancient Kemet and is often translated as meaning “magic, spell, sorcery, charm, incantation, and words of power”.  However, we know that Heka was also considered a deity who was the patron of medicine and healing, and the doctors and healers in Ancient Kemet was called “priests of Heka”.  Since the earliest Medical text in the world come from the culture of Ancient Kemet, and these papyrus also provided detailed steps of the scientific method, then we must recognize that within the context of the culture of Ancient Kemet, Heka was viewed from a scientific perspective rather than from a “Magical” perspective.  Heka is also translated as meaning “to activate the Ka.” S,o if we consider that Heka is a scientific concept, then we would also have to investigate the concept of the Ka, which is often translated as meaning “spirit”, to see if there is some scientific association with the Ka as well (for example an electrical phenomena which serves as an “animating spark”).  Heka was also used to describe the process of sculpting or carving a statue, writing hieroglyphics, and building a structure.  In the medu neter language of Ancient Kemet, Heka was used as both a noun and a verb: Heka was something you could do, or Heka was something you could be.  Similarly, in English, the word Engineer is both a noun and a verb: you can Engineer a new invention, or you can be an Engineer.  It may be that outside observers to the culture of Ancient Kemet who were ignorant of the process and methodology of Heka, may have viewed it, understood it, and translated it as “Magic”, but clearly within the context of the culture of Ancient Kemet, Heka was used to refer to practices akin to Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Structural Engineering.  Hence, Heka was an Ancient African form of Engineering.

Contrary to popular opinion, there is such a thing as “African Science” and there is such a thing as “African Engineering”.  Just like there is such a thing as “European Science” or “German Engineering”.  No one would argue that there is no such thing as “African Art” or “European Art” or “African Language” or “European Language” or “African Food” or “European Food”.  What makes the Art, Language, Food, Clothing, Music, or Philosophy “African”, “European”, or otherwise, is the group of people who develop it.  What makes the Science or Engineering “African” or “European” or otherwise, is determined by the person or group of people who develop the scientific theories and engineering methodologies.  How many people have ever watched a Mercedes Benz commercial, or a Volkswagen commercial, which boast about “the power of German Engineering” and then said, “There’s no such thing as German Engineering”?  - I would wager to guess very few to none.  But when we discuss “African Science” and “African Engineering”, we get choruses of people saying “There’s no such thing as African Science and African Engineering”!  One of the reasons for this is because the vast majority of people have been convinced that many of the African Sciences are just African Myth and African Magic.

Unfortunately, over the years as Africans on the continent and in the diaspora have been subject to slavery and colonization, we have lost much of our traditional knowledge, and now our Sciences have become Theology and Religion, our Symbols for Math have become mere Myth, our Technologies have become mere fetishes, trinkets, and lucky charms, and our Engineering has been degraded down to mendacious Magic.  So we cry out as a people looking for answers, looking for results, looking for solutions to the problems which we encounter in life, and gravitate towards anything which seems like it may effect a change.  Now, void of our traditional knowledge and desiring quick and easy solutions, Magical thinking has become the order of the day, more prevalent than scientific thinking, while our problems perpetuate, and the world laughs at the new stereotype which they have attributed to us.  Let us return to our traditional African Scientific way of life.  Let us use our minds to discover the Science to accept things we cannot change, Technology to Engineer the things we can, and the Mathematics to know the difference.