02/02/2025
It is widely speculated that Africans taught Europeans how to bathe & maintain personal hygiene.
African Moors, during the over 800 Year African conquest of Spain, introduced Early European Society to bathing.
Although in Ancient Greece & Rome, bathhouses were a place for men to wash, in the Middle Ages, men and women in Europe gave up bathing altogether, for fear it would spread disease. Perfumes and ointments replaced steam and water ( ). One can only imagine the Stench, Foul odour, Plagues & Diseases that hovered around Europe for centuries.
Historically, Africans have always placed their personal hygiene as priority, while teaching other cultures to imbibe the same principles. For instance, prior to the coming of , many African cultures were known to use CHARCOAL AS TOOTHPASTE & carefully crafted teeth-cleaning twigs called Chewing Stick. West Africans also used BLACK SOAP, which is a mixture of , palm kennel & coconut oil, shea butter & other ingredients. African black soaps like Dudu-Osun are still used in Nigeria, Ghana, , etc.
Today however, distorted history will gaslight you into believing otherwise - particularly with the fall from grace of many African civilizations.
Abu l-Hasan Ali Ibn Nafi, also known as Ziryab, was born in circa 789 CE to a freed Ethiopian Moorish slave. His nickname, Ziryab, means blackbird and was given to him in reference to his complexion and stunning singing voice. He is known as the innovator of those hygienic practices such as BATHING, the use DEODORANT to get rid of bad odors, SHAVING and the use of TOOTHPASTE, PERFUMES and fragrant oils.
was a term Europeans used to describe indigenous Africans and while many people may have heard of the term, is not a name circulated in Western history and not many people understand the weight of his influence.
