Martin Gardiner Bernal (/bərˈnɑːl/; 10 March 1937[1] – 9 June 2013[2]) was a British scholar of modern Chinese political history. He was a Professor of Government and Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University. He is best known for his work Black Athena, a controversial[3][4] work which attempts to prove that Ancient Greek civilisation and language are Egyptian in origin.