World Religions, Sixth EditionWarren Matthews

Chapter Two:

Religions of Africa

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Religions of Africa

Ancient Egyptians of the Nile River – pyramid builders and inventors

of hieroglyphics, believed in complex souls and divine pharaoh

Basongye of the Congo – farmers and fishermen who viewed earth

as a flat circle between water and sky, believed god was in control

Zulu Peoples of South Africa – cattle ranchers who believe that

religion and life are one, that all life has religious significance

Yoruba Peoples of Nigeria – farmers as well as traders who live in

urban areas, believe that spirits and ancestors are active in their

lives

Modern Africa, Home to Many Religious Traditions

Ancient Egypt

Egypt is one of the founding sources of civilization

Written records in Egypt begin around 3100 BCE

Egypt centers on the Nile

Urban habitations clustered around Nile

Farming and fishing provided sustenance

Pyramids and other buildings show early skills

Nile Centers of Ancient Egyptian Civilization

Ancient Egypt

History

Long periods of internal development interspersed with chaos

and external conquest

Written records date back to 3100 BCE

For over 2,500 years, various kingdoms and dynasties ruled,

imposed their beliefs, and led to a more national view

From 1100 BCE on, the people were subject to foreign conquest

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptian religion was polytheistic

One exception was seen during Early New Kingdom

King Akhenaton proclaimed monotheism, later his son-in-law,

Tutankhamen, Egypt returned to polytheism

Gods were represented in the forms of animals, human beings, or

combinations of the two

Temples served as locus of reverence to gods

Sky, sun, earth, and Nile conceived as a unit characterized by

regular cycles

Characteristics of Divine/Mythic Figures

Egyptian worldview

Dependability was emphasized

Unity was expressed in service to the patron deity

Life, and life after death, were large themes in Egyptian religion

Mummification

Ka was a spiritual form that mirrored the body and needed to

be maintained in afterlife

The dead were later judged

Tomb of Nektamun

Ancient Egypt

Egyptian gods

Story of Isis and Osiris

Reflected self-renewing vitality in nature

Represented key tale for Egyptian religious

Horus – son of Isis and Osiris, symbolized as a falcon

Hathor – goddess who created the earth

Mayet – goddess of order and truth, and judge of the dead

Bast – cat-headed goddess of joy and fertility

The Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza

Basongye People of the Congo

Basongye

In eastern part of Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire)

Hunting and farming society

An Efe Man of the Congo

Basongye Worldview

Earth regarded as a flat circle resting between subterranean waters

and the waters of the sky

Gods

Efile Mukulu – a beneficent deity, seen as rarely intervening in

earthly affairs

Kafilefile – a maleficent deity, understood to have left the earth,

leaving an evil influence in his wake

A person is essentially their kikudu, or spirit, to which their body is

subordinate

Basongye Worldview

Ancestral spirits are active and usually beneficent in human affairs

Witches and sorcerers have magical powers

Witches threaten human well-being

Sorcerers can identify the cause of people’s deaths

Mankishi figures and sacred masks are used magically to

influence weather or attack others

Zulu Peoples of South Africa

Reasoned system explains how powers of universe affect their lives

Patterns of individual, family, and kraal (community) life are reflected

in views of the universe

As there is a hierarchy of heaven, so there is a hierarchy on earth

As there are rules for dealing with human powers, so there are rules

for dealing with spiritual powers

Traditional rituals and customs maintain the vital balance among the

living and their relationships with their ancestors and deities

Zulu Peoples of South Africa

Zulu people live in kraals, or circles of houses

They do some farming and keep cattle

Circles dominate Zulu architecture

The kraal as a community is circular

Each house in a kraal is circular

Cattle corrals are circular

Zulu Peoples of South Africa

Each house has an umsamo, a place place to honor and consult with

the ancestors

The male head of family leads in dealing with the ancestors

The kraal also has an umsamo

The chief officiates and is responsible for keeping the ancestors

happy

Zulu rites of passage mark birth, puberty, marriage, and death

Zulu Divine/Mythic Figures

Izinyanga zezulu – storm herders who serve the sky god

Inkosazana – the Princess of Heaven, sends rains for crops and

protects women and children

Inkosi Yezulu – the Lord of the Sky, sends thunder and lightning

Creator deity – a being who is remote from human life on earth

Traditional Rondoval Houses and Cattle Kraals of Zulu Village

Role of Ancestors in Zulu Society

Ancestors of the kraal intervene in their descendants’ lives

Ancestors communicate with diviners through dreams or visions

Failure to maintain a proper relationship with the ancestors can result

in the increased power of witches to attack people

Yoruba Peoples of Nigeria

Yoruba religion channels spiritual energy for beneficial results

Deities, ancestors, and spirits all intervene in human lives

Communal festivals and sacrifice maintain good relationships

among these figures and human beings

Orishas are intermediary deities of spirit and human worlds

Divination allows human beings to know their fate

Olorun/Olodumare determines fates of all persons at creation

Ife, the central Yoruba city, is where creation began

Yoruba People of Nigeria

Ase – divine energy

Oba – community chief who conducts religious rites

Elegun – a medium who can be possessed by divine powers

Oloogun – a medical expert who can diagnose illness and prescribe

treatments

Egungun – masked dancer who represents ancestors at communal

festivals

Common Features of Indigenous Religions in Sub-Saharan Africa

Not animistic but hold various beliefs in a deity who rules over a

hierarchy of gods

World filled with energies that can be used benevolently or for harm

Good relations between humans and spirits necessary to well-being

Spirit or soul is essential part of every human and disassociates from

the body after death, belief in an afterlife

Personal destiny uncovered with the help of deities, divination useful

Masks and symbols are salient elements of religious life

Yoruba Head Mask with Crown