vEarly observers of the Khoi peoples noted
features of their
culture that set them apart from both San and Bantu. It was widely assumed these
were evidence of Semitic
origins.
vKolb (1731) observes ‘These customs, in
which the Hottentots
agree with both the Jews and the Troglodytes, being, ‘tis pretty certain,
all or most of
’em as old as the time of Abraham, which was but 300 Years after the Flood, refer
their Tradition so clearly
to Noah, as to put the matter almost out of doubt’.
vThis
is repeated by many authors, including MDW Jeffreys, who maintained there were Semitic influences on Hottentot culture. All of these writers drew the conclusion that the ancestors of the Khoi must therefore have
migrated from elsewhere, most likely
NE Africa.