Most people know about the Biblical Egyptian connection with Joseph, Moses and Exodus, but there are other African connections, and not only for the Old Testament. Edwin Yamauchi presents an interesting examination of these other ties between Africa and the Bible.

Yamauchi reviews various sources from different periods in history, presenting his research from the beginning - with the Book of Genesis, ending with the Acts of the Apostles. Although this book is on the academic side, that should not hold back leisure readers who are interested in African topics. One can more thoroughly research Africa’s connection with the Bible by using this book as a guide.

Yamauchi examines the curse of Ham, which many see as the legendary start of the African race and as the background for some racist ideas about Africans: that they were the receivers of this curse, their skin color being the tell-tale sign. He then moves on to the Cushite African wife of Moses, examining who the Cushites were and where they lived.

In chapter three, he examines the African connection of the Queen of Sheba and where she might have lived. In chapter six, Yamauchi delves into the story of the Ethiopian eunuch presented in the Acts of the Apostles. Was he really an Ethiopian, or not? Chapter seven examines the Gospel story of Simon of Cyrene (in present-day Libya), he who helped Jesus carry his cross. Chapter eight reviews the Afro-centric Biblical interpretation.

The body of Yamauchi’s text, which contains many black and white illustrations and several maps, is followed by an appendix including a review of Martin Bernal’s two-volume Black Athena: the Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization: 1987’s The Fabrication of Ancient Greece, 1785-1985 and 1991’s The Archaeological and Documentary Evidence. An extensive bibliography follows, as well as credits, a scripture index, author index, and subject index. This book is recommended to readers studying the Bible and the African connection. It is an academic book, but general readers may enjoy it, too.

Edwin M. Yamauchi has his Ph.D. from Brandeis University and is a history professor emeritus at Miami University, Ohio. He is the author of Mandaic Incantation Texts (2005), Gnostic Ethics and Mandaean Origins (2004), Pre-Christian Gnosticism (2003), New Testament Cities in Western Asia Minor (2003), Africa and Africans in Antiquity (2001), and Persia and the Bible (1997), and editor, author, and co-author of several additional books and articles.