Testing the Efficacy of the Axioms of Migrations and Movements in Mwalimu Toyin Falola's Work:
An Ancient Egyptian behsâu-pehsa (Predator-Prey) Mathematical Treatise
Introduction
In his work dealing with nationalism and African intellectuals, Mwalimu (Honorable Teacher) Toyin Falola postulates a number of axioms for migrations and movements of African intellectuals which suggest the ancient Egyptian behsâu-pehsa, or predator-prey, phenomenon: i.e. the supposition that there are two species that interact as predator and prey. In its simplified version, the predator population only preys on this prey species, the prey is only preyed upon by this predator species, and the prey population's needs and desires are not taken into account (Damiano and Freiji, 2012:64).
Ancient Egyptian mathematicians working in the pantheon of Sais within the framework of the tutelary deity Neithhotep (or Neith) of the ancient southern city of Ta-senet or Iunyt during the First Dynasty (c. 3050-2890 BC) would model predator-prey relationships in terms of differential equations: i.e. applications of physical phenomena by equations that mention the rate of change of a quantity. This means that the derivative of the quantity is present in the equation (Diop, 1981/1991; Shaw and Nicholson, 1995; Kuhrt, 1995; Lützen, 2010).
Correspondingly, this paper entails three major sections. The first section presents and discusses the axioms of migrations and movements in Mwalimu Falola's work. The second section entails a discussion of the mathematization of the behsâu-pehsa,or predator-prey, model. The third section tests the efficacy of Mwalimu Falola's axioms by subjecting them to differential equations using relevant quantitative data. This is important because as mathematicians are fond of saying, the number one task in science is solving differential equations, since they describe the universe. In the end, conclusions are drawn and suggestions are made based on the findings. Before doing all this, however, it makes sense to briefly describe the Egyptian notion of predator-prey in the rest of this section.
At least two aspects can be discerned from the ancient Egyptian notion of predator-prey. One aspect concerns the dominant predator (apex) of Egypt's desert animals. While in the rest of Africa the lion (Kiswahili: Simba) was and continues to be perceived as the apex predator, in ancient and modern Egypt the cat—as in the same species of the domesticated cat we have today (Kiswahili: Mondo)—was and is still believed to be the apex predator (Rachels, 2013). The cat was domesticated in Egypt more than 4,000 years ago and remains the most widespread predator in the world (American Bird Conservancy, 2013).
The other aspect is that in ancient Egypt names were derived from several different things, including a person's station in life, a person's occupation, and the gods and/or goddesses a person worships, and also in Predator Turned Prey, in Sirap, the gods and goddesses who took interest in a person decided his/her name. For example, Djedefre means "Enduring like (the god) Re" and Ankhesenamun means "She lives for (the goddess) Meryre" (Crescent, 2002-2013).