Black and slave : the origins and history of the curse of Ham / David M. Goldenberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goldenberg, David M., 1947- author.

Series:

Studies of the Bible and its reception ; Volume 10.

Studies of the Bible and Its Reception ; Volume 10

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Black people in the Bible.

Black people--Public opinion--History.

Black people.

Ham (Biblical figure).

Ham.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (370 pages).

Place of Publication:

Berlin, [Germany] ; Boston, [Massachusetts] : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2017.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Studies of the Curse of Ham, the belief that the Bible consigned blacks to everlasting servitude, confuse and conflate two separate origins stories (etiologies), one of black skin and the other of black slavery. This work unravels the etiologies and shows how the Curse, an etiology of black slavery, evolved from an earlier etiology explaining the existence of dark-skinned people. We see when, where, why, and how an original mythic tale of black origins morphed into a story of the origins of black slavery, and how, in turn, the second then supplanted the first as an explanation for black skin. In the process we see how formulations of the Curse changed over time, depending on the historical and social contexts, reflecting and refashioning the way blackness and blacks were perceived. In particular, two significant developments are uncovered. First, a curse of slavery, originally said to affect various dark-skinned peoples, was eventually applied most commonly to black Africans. Second, blackness, originally incidental to the curse, in time became part of the curse itself. Dark skin now became an intentional marker of servitude, the visible sign of the blacks' degradation, and in the process deprecating black skin itself.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter One. Black and/or Slave: Confusion, Conflation, Chaos

Chapter Two. Skin Color Etiologies

Chapter Three. The Origin of Black Skin in Noah's Ark

Chapter Four. The Origin of Black Skin in Noah's Tent

Chapter Five. The Beginnings of the Curse of Ham

Chapter Six. The Dual Curse of Slavery and Black Skin

Chapter Seven. The Curse of Ham Migrates to the West

Chapter Eight. The Dual Curse in Europe

Chapter Nine. The Curse of Ham in America

Chapter Ten. The Beginnings of Chaos

Chapter Eleven. Which People Were Cursed with Black Skin?

Chapter Twelve. The Meaning of Blackness and the Curse of Ham

Chapter Thirteen. Conclusions

Appendices

Appendix I. The Curse of Ham in Europe, 18th-19th Centuries

Appendix II. The Curse of Ham in America, 18th-20th Centuries

Appendix III. The Curse of Cain: 17th-19th Centuries

Excursus

Excursus I. Did Ham Have Sex with a Dog?

Excursus II. A Passage in Ṭabarī's History

Excursus III. Was Canaan Black?

Excursus IV. 'Kushite' Meaning Egyptian or Arab in Jewish Sources

Excursus V. A Curse of Ham in Origen?

Bibliography

Subject and Name Index

Index of Modern Authors

Index to Scripture

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9783110521672

3110521679

OCLC:

988761214