african religions influenced by egyptian religion

8/6/2019 African Religions Influenced by Egyptian Religion

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/african-religions-influenced-by-egyptian-religion 1/12



West African religious phraseology is deeply impregnated by Ancient Egyptian

phraseology. Vocabulary exist in parts of West Africa and are similar to, or identical with,those of Ancient Egypt: hence the irresistible inference of a close connection between those

parts of West Africa and Ancient Egypt. Orisa for example, is a religious term widely

distributed over thousands of miles in West Africa and in East Africa, its source of

diffusion being Ancient Egypt form of Osiris.

Religious Ideas

(i) The general religious ideas of the Ancient Egyptians have survived in West Africa. A

supreme deity is recognized, but worship is given to the local deities and ancestors.

(ii) The Great Gods of Ancient Egypt. The great gods have survived in West Africa in

name or attributes or in both. Special reference may be made to Osiris, Ra, Amen, Ptah,

Min and Horus. all of whose ideas have survived in East and West African religions.

(iii) Ideas relating to the divinity of kings. such as the references to the Sed Festival are

seen in East and West Africa.

(iv) Ideas relating to future life, to the judgment after death. and to the practice of making

earthly provision for the requirements of the dead in the next world are recognized in

several places. Particular attention should be paid to the doctrines of the Ka and of the Khu.

(v) Ideas relating to the pig and other sacred animals, the observance of festivals, the

importance of dancing, the prominence given to singing and the efficacy of offerings

suggest connections. The survival of the Mock King of Ancient Egypt has also suggested

connections.

(vi) The Chapters on Magic in West Africa show how closely related to the Magical Ideas

and Practices in Ancient Egypt are those of West Africa. The similarity and identity of

amulets have been noted. The amulet of the head-rest in Ancient Egypt has survived in theSika Gua, "The Golden Stool" of the Ashantis and other emblems in West Africa The

distinction between Heka as White Magic and Hekat as Black Magic survives in West

Africa.

Particular attention must be paid to the fact that some of the ideas mentioned above did not

exist in the pre-dynastic periods and that the worship of the different gods which came into prominence during the respective dynastic periods survive in West Africa. Khnum, for

example, Was probably a pre-dynastic deity, but it was during the dynastic period that the

conception of him as a potter came into existence, and the old ideas associated with himhad become lost before the Ptolemaic times. Khnum is known to West Africans only as a

"Creator god, a Potter."

Religious Practices

The survival of religious practices is another indicator. These practices centre around

(a) places of worship,



(b) services in groves and shrines,

(c) lustrations,

(d) use of music,(e) training for the priesthood,

(f) priests and their functions,

(g) dedicated objects, and(h) oracles.

Here again it may be observed that practices distinctive of the dynastic times, such as the

ways of training candidates for the priesthood and the performance of mystery plays at

Abydos, survive in West Africa. The wearing of the leopard's skin by the Chief Priest in

dynastic times also survives in West Africa. The "templum" idea, associated with the priesthood in Egypt and in West Africa, was a development of dynastic times.

Body Mutilations

The bodily mutilations are as follows:

A.Circumcision. The Ancient Egyptians attach great importance to this rite, especially

among the priests.

B. Excision. This rite was also practised by the Ancient Egyptians. Piercing of ears andnose and tattoing. These practices started during the pre-historic period and were

maintained during a great part of the dynastic times.

C.Shaving. This was one of the restrictions laid upon the priests. All these practices survive

in West Africa.

Funeral Practices

The Ancient Egyptian funeral rites survive in West Africa. Starting tom the pre-historicrite of dismembering or unfleshing the body, to the practice of skull or heart removal and

then on the practice of mummifi-cation, the traces of which survive in the practice of wrapping up dead bodies like mummies, the Ancient Egyptian rites survive in their

different stages.

Knowledge

There has been survival of pottery, glass and glaze work, stone work, and metal work

closely resembling those of the dynastic Egyptians.

The West African time measurement is based on Egyptian ideas. The four-day week and

its extensions-the eight-day week or the sixteen-day week-are based on Egyptian ideas. Theseven-day week is a survival of each section of the udjat (odjo-t) or the full moon period

consisting of two sections, each of seven days.

The West African systems of numeration and the names of numbers provide their own

evidence in support of the theory of contact with Ancient Egypt.

Social Practices



The social practices relating to salutations, respect for elders, import-ance of oaths,

observance of moderation, and others as observed in West Africa are similar to those of Ancient Egypt. Several moral maxims have survived which are clearly derived from

Ancient Egypt.

Names

(a) The importance of names, as constituting an integral part of the human economy, is the

same in West Africa as it was in Ancient Egypt This has been pointed out above.

(b) The names of the deities which survive in West Africa are numerous, including SOB-

KU survives as the name of a tribe, that is, SOBO, in Southern Nigeria.as does MIN in thename of two tribes, that is MINA in Togo-land and Dahomey, and IGBO-MINA in

Yorubaland and HA-OIRI-T survives as A-WO-RI, the name of a tribe in Yoruba land, U

PTAH, "The living soul of Ptah" survives in Yorubaland as JAKUTA, and ADUMUsurvives as the name of the Supreme Deity of the Ijaws in Southern Nigeria.

(c) Names of animals. O.J. Lucas gives under "The Religion of the Yorubas" a list

containing thirty names of animals which are derived from Ancient Egyptian words.

(d) Names of places. A select list of the Ancient Egyptian names of places which have

survived in West Africa from Egypt is also given in O.J. Lucas' book.

(e) Other names:

DANGA, the name of dwarfs in Ancient Egypt, survives as DANGA in Yorubaland, e.g. to

bi danga "go as quickly as a Danga dwarf." KHAFRA survives in AFARA, e.g. ma je afara

lit. "do not be afara," that is, do not delay, otherwise you will be caught and pressed intocompulsory service as King Khafra did in Ancient Egypt.

Sacred Numbers

According to Professor E. Wallis Budge, the sacred numbers in Ancient Egypt are' "3, 4,

7, 9, 27, 42, 75, 77, 110, etc. Thus we have three gods the triad), the three divisions of theworld, heaven, sky, and Tuat;four sons of Horus, four quarters of the world, four blazing

flames. ..four stairs four doors of heaven, four rudders of heaven, four vessels of blood, our

vessels of milk, seven Arits, seven hawks, seven-headed serpent, seven scorpions of Isis,seven Spirits; nine gods in a Company, nine chiefs, nine mutchis, nine nations who use the

bow; twenty-seven gods (three Companies 9 x 3); forty-two nomes, forty-two assessors;

seventy-five Aresses to Ra; seventy-seven in magical papyri; one hundred and ten years thelimit of a man's life.

Nearly all the above numbers are sacred in West Africa. According to Dr. Parrinder,

"Three and its multiples, and seven, are generally sacred- At Porto Novo, during funeralrites, a male corpse is placed nine times the grave before final rest, a female seven times;

for nine evenings following a fire is kept up at the threshold of the funeral chamber, seven

evenings for a woman; the same nine-seven motif is observed in infancy rites and in skull

removal. The belief is current among Fort and Yoruba hat men have nine pairs of ribs andwomen seven.„L To these maybe added the Ewe, Yoruba and lbo four-day week, the

Ashanti seven-day week the forty-two days constituting an Adae ceremony period, the



Yoruba expression meje-meje "seven-seven" and other examples of the redness of the

numbers, notably the threefold and the fourfold formulae.

It is noteworthy that all the numbers are considered sacred by the dynastic Egyptians; there

is no evidence that they were confined to the pre-dynastic period or that all the sacred

numbers existed in that period. Many of the numbers (e.g. the forty-two assessors) relate to

ideas which were developed only during the dynastic period.

Dress

Attention has been called to the similarity of the dress of priests in Ancient Egypt to that

used by priests in West Africa. In Ancient Egypt the high priest used to wear the skin of a

panther (black leopard). in West Africa the high priest as well as other priests wears theskin of a leopard.

Some of the pre-dynastic Egyptians, and even some dynastic Egyptians on occasions, go

naked. Children, too, up to a certain age go naked. All these survive in West Africa as well

as some of the types of clothing used in Ancient Egypt

Hieroglyphics

Hieroglyphics and emblems used by the pre-dynastic Egyptians and the dynastic Egyptians

survive in West Africa. They constitute a piece of evidence which opponents of the theoryof Egyptian influence on West Africa have not been able to assail.

The Hieroglyphics and the emblems which survive in West Africa have been described by

O.J. Lucas. Their origin is distinctly Egyptian-not "Phoenician" or "Atlantic," not "Islamic"

or "Arabian," not "Mesopotamian" or "Oriental," not "Hebraic" or "Palestinian," not

"unknown" or connected with some "primitive level of ideas, current in pre-historic

Africa."

CONCLUSION: (from O.J. Lucas):

The evidence has demonstrated the impress of Ancient Egyptian culture on West African

culture. It has dispelled the thick mist surrounding the origin of several West African

names, such as Fanti, Asanti, Foil, Yoruba Salug, which have hitherto been described asunknown. It has thrown light on several West African words hitherto described as

inexplicable. It has led to the "decipherment" of Hieroglyphics in West Africa.

The evidence adduced in this work in support of the theory of Egyptian influence is

cumulative; each piece of evidence is sufficiently strong to ensure the solidity of the whole

of the evidential structure. The cumulative effect of the evidence makes it irrefragable.

Efforts hitherto made to destroy some parts of the evidence have invariably resulted in the production of additional materials in support of the theory.

With one more important proof of the close relation existing between the Ancient

Egyptian religion and the West African Religions this work can now close. It is the identityof the philosophical or the metaphysical atlook in both cases. In the case of the Ancient

Egyptian religion Dr C- P. Tiele says,

"The leading thought of the Egyptian religion, that which ad on the whole most struck theEgyptian, and which he accordingly reproduced most prominently in his theology is: life in



its eternal un- changeable foundation, and its innumerable modes of manifestation, Life,

health, well-being' (arch, uza, seneb) is his motto, the sum of all his wishes The

indestructibleness of life, in spite of the hostile powers of death and destruction, was whatconstituted his whole faith and all his This was his great dogma, and all his innumerable

symbols were ailed in to aid him in giving it expression."'

The Egyptian motto "Life, Health, Well-being" or "Life, Health, Strength," survives inWest African religious phraseology and exercises no less in-fluence on West Africans than

it did on the Ancient Egyptians. The idea of life, and the word expressive of it, figure

prominently in West African religious conception The West African metaphysical outlook is identical with that of the Ancient Egyptians.

Writers on West African Religions have described the metaphysical or philosophical

outlook in terms which are almost identical with those used by Dr Tiele in the passage

quoted above. Writing about the African philosophy of life-a term which undoubtedly

includes the West African philosophy of life-Dr Parrinder says:

"This metaphysical outlook has been clearly expressed by Father Temples. He introduceshis thesis in these words: `There are, in the mouths of black people, certain words which

recur incessantly. These are those which express the supreme values. They are like

variations upon a leitmotiv which is found in their language, their thought and in all their deeds and gestures.

`This supreme value is force, forceful living, vital force.

`Of all the strange habits, of which we grasp neither the rhyme nor the reason, the Bantusay that they serve to acquire vigour or vital force, to live forcibly, to reinforce life, or to

assure its continuity in their descendants.'

This conception is not only of the Bantu, but perhaps of most parts of Africa.

"Force, power, energy, vitality, life, dynamism, these are the operative notions behind

prayers to God, invocations of divinities, offering to ancestors, everything that may be

termed religion, including therein what we are pleased to designate `magic' or `medicine.'The aim of all these practices being to strengthen and affirm life." A study of prayers. ..will

reveal most often the chief characteristic to be a demand: "Give me life, force, increase of

family."

The words generally used by West Africans are the words of the Ancient Egyptian

formula: "Life, Health, Strength."

It is this great and uplifting metaphysical outlook that has enabled the West African

peoples to face the difficulties of existence with fortitude, to survive such gruelling

experiences as those which were caused by the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and to strengthen

their faith with buoyant expectancy of a bright future. It is this philosophy of life that has

pre-vented the indigenous religions from being swept away by the powerful current of western civilization- Indigenous religions will lose their hold only in proportion to the

extent that Christianity, or for that matter any other religion, exercises sufficiently strong

influence to satisfy this deepest longing of the West African mind for life and to effect a practical realiza-tion of the truth of the saying: "I have come that men may have life, and

may have it in all its fullness."

Some ridiculous criticisms of the theory:



Comparison of O.J. Lucas' language arguements to people like Dan Crawford are being

lamebrain. Dan Crawford has identified Lesa, an African name for God with EL, theIsraelites' name for God, by an ingenious process. He suggests that the second syllable

should be cast away and the first syllable LE. inverted to become EL. Then he asks, "What

is LE but the wrong way o spelling the Semitic EL. The present theory, involving the

derivation of words, customs and practice from Ancient Egypt, is not a repetition of thenumerological method of explanation.

Some of the criticisms arise from the difficulty of checking up the origin of words from a

dead or unfamiliar language. Whilst philologists can sometimes be able to trace the origin,

the average reader unfamiliar wit the dead or foreign language is apt to treat the derivationas fantastic. The difficulty can also be great as in the case of a living or familiar language.

For example:

(i) "Bikasi Gado ben lobbi ala soema so, tee a gi da won lobb Pikien vo hem abra; vo ala

soema, disi bridebi na hem, no moe go Iasi ana vo dem habi liebi vo tugo:" °

(This is John 23 of the Bible in English of the Surinam nation ). Other critics have saidthere is no unity in Ancient Egyptian religion."Each town, and indeed each village, honoured its own divinity, adored by the respective

inhabitants.-.. The Egyptians believed that each place was inhabited by a great number of

spirits, and that the lesser ones were subject to the chief spirit."-

Dr Margaret A. Murray feels that "by dividing the deities of Egypt into four categories the

bewildering pantheon becomes intelligible. The categories which are far from being

watertight compartments, are as follows:

I. Local Gods, originally animals, later represented with human bodies and animal heads.2. Osiris and the attendant deities.

3. Deities without temples, originally belonging to the Pharaoh only. 4. The sill, and other

deities.

The forms of the religion according to the chronological order accepted by most of the

leading Egyptologists are as follows:

1. The Religion of Thinis-Abydos. The gods worshipped were: Osiris (Asiri, Osiri, or

Ausar, Lord of Abydos, Sun-god, Son of Scb and Nu; later described as Horus the Elder),

Isis (wife of Osiris); Horus the Younger (Horu-sa-Ast or Hori-se-Ast, son of Osiris and Isis;later husband of his mother); Nephthys (the sister of Isis and the husband of Set), Hathor

(identified with Isis), Thoth (Telnuti or Zehu, god of time, eternity, righteousness and

widom) and Maat the goddess of truth and righteousness.

2.The religion of Heliopolis: The gods worshipped were: Ra (the sun god identified with

Osiris and Horus). Atum (or Tum name for the same functional good in the Lower

Kingdom), Shu the life giver born without a mother, and Tefnut his wife.

3. Religion under the Old Kingdom: The capital was Memphis, and the chief gods were

Ptah, Sechet (Bast), Neith.



4. Religion under the Middle Kingdom: Munt, Chem (Min), Cheminis, Amon, Khnum,

Sebek, Tannit, Hapi.

5. Relgion under the New Kingdom: Sutech(Set, as chief diety), Amun-Ra, Mut, Khonsu,

Aten(Sun god) and Aten-Ra (another sun god).

6. Religion from fall of Thebes to the Persian Conquests: Khnum was the chief god, god of

creativity and life giving in general, Ra (the upper heavens) and Shu(air), Set (earth), and

Osiris(underworld).

The fundermentals of the religion was (after Wallis Budge): 1. Belief in the immortality

ofthe soul and the recognition of friends and relatives after death.

2. Belief in the resurrection of the spiritual body occuring after death.

3. Belief in the continued existence of the heart-soul, the Ka and it's shadow.

4. Belief in transmutation of offerings and the efficiency of funerary sacrifices and gifts.

5. Belief in the power of words including names, incantations.

6. Belief in a judgment, the good rewarded with everlasting life, the evil destroyed totally.

It should also be noted that the common people were not often admitted to the temples of

the great gods, and the practices of the common people differed from that religion rituals

performed by the priests. Magic became explicitly entwined during the Roman period withthe religion as it then existed.

Professor E. A. Wallis Budge says:

"Greek writers tell us that their own sages and philosophers Archimedes, Hecataeus, Plato,

Pythagoras, Solon, Thales, went and studied in Egypt in order to become acquainted with

the wisdom and learning of the Egyptians.... Stephen the Martyr, in his dying speech (Actsvii, 22) says that Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians."

It is clear that the influence of Egypt on civilizations in Europe, Asia and North Africa as

well as America and Australia through Europe is acknowledged. This acknowledgment can

be seen in several other works than those quoted above. Somehow, the influence of Egypt

on African countries south of the Sahara has not received such attention from writers.,'

Some writers even question or deny the possibility of the existence of such an influence.`Others have lamented the absence of information on the subject and stressed the need for

research.' Others again have only pointed out what they regard as traces of Egyptian

influence.

O.J. Lucas' work emphasizes the influence of Ancient Egypt on West Africa. Valid

criticism of his work notes that he selected evidence, but of a typical nature from the tribes,



• Deification of ancestor heroes is a common practice in much of Africa. Budge notes

that Osiris in the form of Khenti-Amenti stands as the ancestor god of Egypt while

Isis is the ancestor mother goddess. He notes the uncanny resemblance between thewidespread African practice of giving birth in the "bush" to a bas relief found at

Philae. Among Africans, birth in the bush is done in solitude with the father and the

shaman waiting from a comfortable distance until after the delivery. The relief atPhilae shows Isis in a stylized papyrus swamp suckling Horus. The papyrus would

thus stand here for the "bush." Standing on either side of Isis is Amen-Ra,

representing the African father, and Thoth, representing the African shaman. Budgethinks the symbols found under Isis could represent the placenta and blood

associated with child birth. Interestingly, Budge cites a passage in which Isis

speaks of her loneliness during labor, which mirrors the African tradition of givingchild birth in solitude. Specific examples are given from Uganda and the Sudan.

• Amulets are seen as partial residences for ancestral spirits in ancient Egypt and

throughout Africa. Budge notes that the "fetish" quality of amulets, often stressed

by Western observers, is secondary to the importance of communion with theancestors.

• The beetle and frog are amulets of new life in both ancient Egypt and modern

Africa.

• In predynastic Egypt, Budge gives evidence of the practice of consuming the bodies

of slain enemies. This also appears to have persisted, to some extent, even into the

dynastic period. Passages are cited relating how King Unas of Sakkara obtainedsupernatural powers through eating human flesh. The same story is repeated in the

pyramid of Teta in the VI dynasty. The practice of consuming one's slain enemies

and the consequent powers gained survived among some African peoples in Budge's

day. However, Budge goes overboard in giving citations of cannibalism inmedieval and modern Egypt and Africa. In many cases, such events were driven by

hunger during famine or war and have little to do with the concepts illustrated from

ancient Egypt.

• In ancient Egypt, slaves and others were often put to death at the funerals of kings

and important people. Budge cites the same practice at the funerals of chiefs in

Sudan, the Gold Coast, Benin, along the Niger and Congo and elsewhere. Theresting of coffins on human heads in Sudan is linked to a similar practice illustrated

on the tomb of Seti I.

• The tall hats and horned crowns worn by African chiefs resemble the White Crownand horned crowns worn by Osiris. Examples are given among the Bayanzi,

Imbangela, Lomani, Lulongo-Maringo, Bangala, N. Ngombe and Alunda. Two

ostrich feathers decorate the White Crown of Osiris. These feathers are worn by

various peoples in Africa also.• The plaited beard common in old Egyptian art is quite common in various parts of

Africa. Budge cites examples among the Makarkas, Mpungu, Fang, Bayanzi, Lunda

and Luba.

• The "scalework" on the body of Osiris is thought to be related to the body painting

or tatooing found among various African peoples particularly those in the Sudan.

• Budge notes that both modern Africans and ancient Egyptians practiced preservation of the dead body: "The Egyptians removed the intestines and brain,

and embalmed the body with great skill, and then swathed it in linen, and laid it in a



coffin or sarcophagus. The modern African removes the more perishable parts of

the body by ways which will be described further on, and dries or smokes the corpse

very effectively. He also anoits it with unguents, and wraps it up in much cloth, andthen places it in a coffin or on a bier." (p. 90)

• The mention of the jawbones of the deceased Unas, Re-stau and enemies of Horus

in Egyptian texts are explained by the African practice of removing and preservingthe jawbones of kings, or using the jawbones of enemies as trophies. Specifially

mentioned are the Sudani, Dahomey, Baganda, Ashante and various peoples of

Uganda.

• The Egyptian concept of the ka, meaning"double" has its counterpart throughout

wide regions of Africa. Among the Tshi it is known as kra or kla meaning "soul"

and as doshi among the Bantu which means literally "double" (as in the Egyptian).In both Egypt and the rest of Africa, the ka differs from the Western idea of "soul."

The ancient Egyptians and modern Africans had the idea of at least three types of

"souls" inhabiting each person. The ka is an immaterial double of the physical body

that persists after death. The ka though is distinct from the person, and is a type of guardian spirit. The ka in both Africa and ancient Egypt must be cared for after a

person dies or the ka itself will perish. Egyptians and Africans made images in

which the ka dwelt and to these were offered meals and worship.

• The sahu or "spirit-body" arose in the "Other World" after one's death. Among the

Tshi, the "shadowy person" that comes to live in the "Other World" after death is

known as Srahman. Similar ideas were cited amongst the Yoruba, Uvengwa andBaluba. Like the ba, the sahu could perish in certain circumstances.

• The Egyptians considered the shadow or khaibat as a type of "soul." Similar beliefs

among the Nsism, Wanyamwesi, Nandi, and Busuko and in various parts of the

Lower Niger, Congo, Southern Guinea and Mashonaland were mentioned byBudge.

• The khu was the imperishable spirit and had its counterpart in the "dual soul"

concept of West Africa. The belief in transmigration of the dual soul and shadowwas common in Africa. Reincarnation was widely found among the people of the

Niger Delta who made a practice of identifying which people in a community were

the souls of persons deceased in earlier times. Among the Pygmies, Banza and WestMubangi the spirit was reincarnated in animal form and this type of belief was held

by some segments of the Egyptian population.

• Both modern Africans and ancient Egyptians took care to protect the buried bodyfrom contact with the earth, which was seen as contaminating. The African burial

usually consists of a deep pit into which a niche is carved so that the body does not

come into contact with the earth. The Egyptian tomb was also built in a pit with a

sarcophagus taking the role of the niche. In some African burials the niche wassealed off with stones as with the Egyptian sarcophagus.

• The Egyptians, like modern Africans, saw the journey to the "Other World" after

death as difficult. In both cases, rituals were performed to "open the way" for thedeceased.

• The Egyptian concept of Tuat found its counterpart in the African "God's Town" or

"Njambi's Town."

• The concept of divine kingship linked ancient and modern cultures.



• Ancient Egyptians and modern Africans both had priests/shamans adept in both

"white" and "black" magic. Unlike the Hebrew or Mesopotamian priest, who

usually eschewed magical practices, the Egyptian priest's schooling involvedlearning innumerable magical incantations and potions.

• The use of "black magic" by Egyptian priests often resembled practices common in

Voodoo. These included the making of wax dolls in the image of specific persons.These wax dolls could be cut and slashed to inflict pain on those persons or burnt to

inflict death. In one passage, a wax crocodile was fashioned that turned into the real

thing in order to attack the intended victim.

• Budge notes that spitting had a religious meaning among ancient Egyptians. He

found similar beliefs among the Kordofan, Dyur, Barotze, Nandi, Suk, Kytch and

Masa.

• In a somewhat unrelated notice, Budge mentions that Egyptians commonly made

figures of steatopygous women. He mentions specifically the dolls and

representations at the 4th Egyptian Room in the British Museum. He compares

these with the figures of the steatopygous queen and princess of Punt.• Budge notes that African cultures, including Egypt, often worship the snake and

crocodile. The symbolism of the serpent uraeus is specially noted.

• The use of multiple "mighty names" among ancient Egyptians was similar to the useof "strong names" among African peoples.

african religions influenced by egyptian religion

Documents