James was the author of the widely circulated Stolen Legacy: The Greeks Were Not the Authors of Greek Philosophy, But the People of North Africa, Commonly Called the Egyptians, first published in 1954. In this book, James claims that, among other things, the ancient Greeks were not the original authors of Greek philosophy, which he argues was mainly based on ideas and concepts that were borrowed without acknowledgement, or indeed stolen, from the ancient Egyptians. He argues that Alexander the Great "invaded Egypt and captured the Royal Library at Alexandria and plundered it", that Aristotle's ideas came from these stolen books and that he established his school within the library. The book draws on the writings of freemasonry to support its claim that Greco-Roman mystery religion originates from an "Egyptian Mystery System". James invokes Greek sources such as Herodotus who describe the cultural debt of Greece to Egypt. He also mentions prominent Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato who are said to have studied in Egypt. He attributes Democritus's use of the term atom to the Egyptian deityAtum, who symbolizes completeness and indivisibility.
Responses
Stolen Legacy and its thesis have been controversial since the book was published. Ronald B. Levinson dismissed the book in a 1955 review, writing that "only social psychologists and collectors of paradoxes will find here grist for their mills" and presenting some of James's claims as self-evidently ridiculous. William Leo Hansberry in 1955 wrote in support of the book's key premises, including the conclusion
that in view of the remarkable similarities between the basic ideas and concepts as expressed in the Egyptian inscriptions and in the writings and teachings of the Greek philosophers, it may be very reasonably assumed that it was from the Egyptian priests and teachers with whom the Greeks associated during their travels in Egypt that they acquired many, if not most, of the philosophical concepts which they, without mentioning their origin, subsequently passed off as their own and for which they have been so long—and so unjustly—renowned.
Hansberry acknowledged that the book might contain some errors and would upset Hellenophiles, but pointed to the work of established historians such as James H. Breasted in support of the theory of Egyptian influence on Hellenistic culture. Stolen Legacy has strongly influenced the Afrocentric school of history, including leading exponents such as Asa Hillaird, Yosef Ben-Jochannan and Molefi Kete Asante.
Lefkowitz–Bernal arguments
In the 1990s, classics professor Mary Lefkowitz emerged as a prominent critic of Afrocentrism and of James. Her critique of Stolen Legacy makes the following arguments:
Stolen Legacy is unscholarly, relying heavily on repetition of claims about Alexander's "theft" of Egyptian material, and lacking precise footnoting.
Alexandria was founded after Alexander's conquest of Egypt and never integrated into Egyptian society, and the Library of Alexandria was built still later; therefore, it contained no repository of Egyptian culture for the immigrant Greeks to steal.
James misrepresents his masonic sources, who in discussing the "Egyptian mysteries" actually mean Greco-Roman mysteries operating in Egypt, and cites other outdated sources on Egypt which do not take modern scholarship into account.
Similarities found by ancient writers between Greek and Egyptian deities do not imply Egyptian origin. Egyptian philosophy does not include a doctrine of transmigration of souls. Other purported connections in mathematics, science, and philosophy are also insubstantial.
The great philosophers Socrates and Aristotle are not said to have traveled to Egypt.
Martin Bernal, author of the Black Athena trilogy which also argues for Egyptian influence on Greece, in turn criticized Lefkowitz for poor sourcing, double standards for evidence, and omission of key details. Bernal points to modern scholarship indicating pre-Hellenistic origins of the Hermetic Corpus. Bernal argues that archaeological data, as well as Greek and Latin sources, demonstrate a diffusion of the cult of Isis, mystery religion, and initiation ceremonies from Egypt to Greece. Finally, Bernal recapitulates the historiographical argument of Black AthenaVolume 1 that the "Ancient Model" of Egyptian influence on Greece was standard until it was eclipsed in the 19th century, for ideological reasons, by the "Aryan Model". Lefkowitz, replying in the same journal, wrote that Greek philosophy borrowed from Egypt, but neither "borrowed massively" nor "stole", and Greece was influenced by other cultures as well. She responds to his critique of her reading of Diodorus and clarifies other points. She remonstrates that Bernal uses needlessly charged terms such as "attack", "rage", and "Aryan", which distract from the matter at hand.
