Investigates the participation of black Africans, usually referred to as "Ethiopians," by the Greek and Romans, in classical civilization, concluding that they were accepted by pagans and Christians without prejudice.

In this account of black-white contacts from the Pharaohs to the Caesars, Snowden shows that the ancients did not discriminate against blacks because of their color. He sheds light on the reasons for the absence in antiquity of virulent color prejudice and for the difference in attitudes of whites toward blacks in ancient and modern societies.

North American scholars of archaeology, geology, anthropology, linguistics, and other fields present ten essays addressing historical research and archaeology under way in Egypt, North Africa, the Sudan, and the Horn of Africa. Contributors attempt to show that Egyptian contacts with Africa to the south were culturally significant and that the region was an ethnic and cultural mosaic, among other themes. c. Book News Inc.