250 THE LEGEND OF THE FIVE SUNS IN BRIEF I n Aztec mythology, the present Here are wisdom tales made world was not the first to exist; long ago, of how the earth was THEME it was preceded by four others. established, how everything The cycles of creation Each world began with the creation was established … how all the of a new sun and ended with its SOURCE destruction. Our world, therefore, suns that there were began. “The Legend of the Suns,” is the Fifth Sun. History and Mythology Codex Chimalpopoca, Anonymous, 1558; History and Before the creation there was of the Aztecs Mythology of the Aztecs, John Ometeotl, who resided on the Bierhorst, 1992. highest level of heaven. The deity, change. Yet Quetzalcoatl, jealous whose name means “dual cosmic that Tezcatlipoca had been chosen SETTING energy,” was both male and female. to be the First Sun, knocked him The beginning of time. Ometeotl gave birth to the first down from the heavens into the generation of gods: Tezcatlipoca, sea. Tezcatlipoca rose from the KEY FIGURES Quetzalcoatl, Xipetotec, and water in the form of a giant jaguar. Ometeotl Creator deity. Huitzilopochtli. These four gods In his fury, he ordered the jaguars of created all of the other deities, then the world to devour the race of Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, made the world and its flora and giants. The earth was plunged into Xipetotec, Huitzilopochtli fauna. To give light to this world, darkness. After 676 years, the age First-generation gods. Tezcatlipoca (“Smoking mirror”) of the First Sun was over. was chosen to be the First Sun. At Tlaloc God of fertility and rain. this time, a primitive race of giants, Another race of people was who subsisted only on roots and created. Quetzalcoatl became the Chalchiuhtlicue Second wife acorns, peopled the Earth. Second Sun. This world lasted only of Tlaloc. 364 years. Tezcatlipoca ended it The relationship between Tlaltecuhtli Sea monster. Quetzalcoatl (“Feathered serpent”) and Tezcatlipoca became the Mictlantecuhtli Lord of driving force of creation. The two the dead in the Underworld. gods had markedly different characteristics. Quetzalcoatl was Tonatiuh, Fifth Sun Sickly associated with harmony, balance, god Nanahuatzin, transformed. and learning. Tezcatlipoca was a force of destruction, conflict, and The Aztec Empire product of one such union, founded the Aztec imperial The Aztecs arrived in central dynasty in 1376. In 1428, the Mexico from the north around emperor Itzcoatl allied with two 1250 ce and settled in marshy other city-states in the Aztec swampland. According to Triple Alliance and led the legend, they chose the site of conquest of other neighboring their capital—an island in Lake city-states. Tenochtitlán became Texcoco where Mexico City now the capital of a vast Aztec stands—after seeing an eagle Empire and was one of the eating a snake on a cactus. They world's largest cities when the founded the city in 1325 and Spanish conquistadors arrived named it Tenochtitlán (“Place in 1519. However, the Aztecs of the cactus fruit”). To protect could not withstand European themselves, Aztec rulers made weapons and the diseases the marriage alliances with other Spanish brought, and the empire city-states. Acamapichtli, the was overthrown in 1521.
THE AMERICAS 251 See also: The epic of Gilgamesh 190–97 ■ Cherokee creation 236–37 ■ Spider Woman 238–39 by avenging his earlier slight, striking down Quetzalcoatl and creating a great hurricane that swept all the people away. Drought and floods world to ash. The Third Sun was Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca lock As Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca the shortest lived of all, existing in combat in an image from the Codex had selfishly brought disorder to only for 312 years. Borbonicus (ca.16th century). Aztec creation through their rivalry, the scribes painted with pigments derived other gods decided that someone When Tlaloc remarried, taking from plants, trees, rocks, and insects. else should have the honor of being Chalchiuhtlicue, the goddess of the new sun. The Third Sun was streams and still waters, as his was supplied by Tezcatlipoca on the rain god Tlaloc. He was married wife, Quetzalcoatl allied himself the condition that they eat nothing to Xochiquetzal, goddess of beauty. with her, and she became the else. As the flood waters subsided, Their union ended when Fourth Sun. Tezcatlipoca, however, Tata and Nene caught a fish and Tezcatlipoca kidnapped and again helped to bring an end to roasted it, defying Tezcatlipoca’s seduced Xochiquetzal. Mourning this world. He told Chalchiuhtlicue instructions. When the god found his beloved wife, the grief-stricken she did not sincerely love the out, he turned them into dogs. The god refused to send down rain to people of this fourth world, but was Fourth Sun had lasted 676 years. nourish the earth and the world only benevolent because she became parched. The people wanted their praise. United against the enemy continuously beseeched him to end Realizing now that their disputes the drought, but to no avail. Tired of Chalchiuhtlicue cried so hard had caused only destruction, their appeals, Tlaloc instead sent that her tears created a great Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca down torrents of fire that turned the deluge that flooded the world and began to work together. A vicious lasted for 52 years. All but two sea monster called Tlaltecuhtli had Five Suns people were turned to fish. The taken up residence in the oceans. couple who survived were called Its body was covered with multiple Tezcatlipoca—676 years Tata and Nene. They floated on a mouths to satisfy its relentless ❯❯ hollow log and subsisted on just a Quetzalcoatl—364 years single ear of maize each, which Tlaloc—312 years Chalchiuhtlicue—676 years Tonatiuh—Aztec era
252 THE LEGEND OF THE FIVE SUNS The Aztecs used a dual calendar—a solar the Earth. First he had to seek calendar of 365 days for agriculture and a sacred permission from Mictlantecuhtli, ritual calendar of 260 days. The latter is grouped lord of the Underworld. When into 20 equal periods for 20 deities, each Quetzalcoatl requested the bones, lord of its own domain, Mictlantecuhtli said he would hand encircling the sun Light Flower them over if Quetzalcoatl walked Wind Storm around him four times while god, Tonatiuh. blowing a conch-shell trumpet. It was a trick. The conch Quetzalcoatl Temple Flint was given had no holes to blow through. Undeterred, the god Dragon Quake accomplished the task by using worms to eat holes in the side of Serpent Condor the shell and placing bees inside it to make it hum. Quetzalcoatl is Skull Eagle often depicted with a conch shell on his chest. Deer Jaguar His plot foiled, Mictlantecuhtli Rabbit Reed handed over the bones, but then sent servants ahead of Quetzalcoatl Water Dog Monkey Grass to dig a hole to trap him. On his way back to earth with the bones, appetite. To defeat this formidable and Huitzilopochtli transformed it the god stumbled into the pit. He foe, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca into elements that could sustain clambered out, but in the fall the took the form of serpents, and human beings in the future. The bones broke into pieces. Tezcatlipoca used part of his body monster’s hair became trees and as bait to try to catch Tlaltecuhtli. grasses, its skin was turned into Quetzalcoatl sought the help of When the monster surfaced, plants, its nose into hills and the fertility goddess, Cihuacoatl, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca valleys, its eyes and sockets into who ground down the bones and seized it and ripped it in two. Half wells and caves, and its shoulders poured the dust into her cauldron. was thrown upward to create the into mountains. Tlaltecuhtli’s The gods then gathered around sky and stars; the other half floated voraciousness still remained, and and pierced their bodies, letting in the ocean and became the he demanded human blood as a their blood flow into the bonemeal. earth. In the fight, Tezcatlipoca form of sacrifice. From this mixture, they created lost his right foot; he is often depicted with a piece of obsidian Re-creating humans \"Gods, what will in its place. Quetzalcoatl decided to journey to [the human race] eat? the Underworld to gather the bones Let food be looked for.\" Taking the earthly body of of previous generations of humans Then the ant went and got Tlaltecuhtli—still living even after and create a new race to repopulate its violent division—Xipetotec a kernel of corn … History and Mythology of the Aztecs
THE AMERICAS 253 the present race of humans, whose Mictlantecuhtli, the god of the dead goddess descended with the other first woman and man were called and ruler of the Underworld, was often Tzitzimimeh from their celestial Oxomoco and Cipactonal. depicted as a skeleton. To placate him, home to Earth to find Mayahuel. the Aztecs are said to have practiced When they discovered the tree, ❯❯ Feeding the new world both human sacrifice and cannibalism. The newly created human race needed food. Quetzalcoatl spotted a scattered across the world, red ant carrying a maize kernel. He providing nourishment for the followed it until it disappeared into human race. a crack in a mountain—Mount Popocatépetl, the mountain of The quest for happiness sustenance. Quetzalcoatl was so The gods were happy that the curious about what lay within that humans had food, which gave he transformed himself into a black them the strength to work, but ant and crawled through the narrow Quetzalcoatl noticed that their opening. There he found a chamber lives were joyless. He decided that filled with seeds and grain. humans needed something that would bring them excitement and It was clear to Quetzalcoatl that happiness, and make them dance this mountain had the potential to and sing. He went on a journey feed humans if they could only get across the heavens to find a inside it. The god tried to lift it with solution and met a beautiful ropes but was unable to break it goddess called Mayahuel. They fell open. He asked Oxomoco and madly in love. To show their deep Cipactonal, who had the ability to affection for each other, they came divine the future, what to do. They down to Earth and transformed told him that Nanahuatzin—a themselves into a single tree, each humble and sickly god, whose becoming one of its two branches. name meant “full of sores”—was destined to help him. Nanahuatzin Mayahuel’s grandmother was was duly called forth to the food one of the Tzitzimimeh, a nocturnal mountain. There, with the help of group of skeletal fertility goddesses. rain and lightning gods, he split it Furious that her granddaughter had open. The contents were then run off with Quetzalcoatl, the Women and children, as well as Blood and sacrifice of sacrifice was to pull out the conquered warriors, were among the victim's heart. The process was victims sacrificed by the Aztecs to Sacrifice was the central feature of carried out on an altar at the top propitiate the gods. Aztec religion, as it was how man of a temple, where the victim repaid the gods for their actions. was held down by four men The letting of blood was an while a specially trained priest important act that Aztec priests plunged a flint knife into the often carried out on themselves. ribs, allowing the heart to be They drew blood by stabbing extracted. In each 18-month themselves with thorns or \"cycle,\" Aztec priests would stingray spines in the cheeks, sacrifice one person in this arms, legs, and even penis. manner each month. They sacrificed thousands of people The Aztecs also practiced each year, also killing them human sacrifice in order to through gladiatorial combat, appease the gods—both of their drowning, decapitation, own people, and enemy prisoners burning, and burying alive. of war. The most common method
254 THE LEGEND OF THE FIVE SUNS they swept down on it and split it asunder. The Tzitzimimeh fell on Mayahuel, tearing her apart. Quetzalcoatl, who survived the attack, was heartbroken. He gathered together Mayahuel’s scattered remains and buried them, weeping on the ground. From this grief sprang forth the maguey plant—the source of the joyous drink Quetzalcoatl had set out to find. Its sap could be used to make pulque, a thick, milk-colored, alcoholic drink. The Aztecs and other Mesoamerican people considered pulque to be a sacred beverage, and it was drunk ritually during sacred ceremonies. The Fifth Sun purify themselves by ritually Tonatiuh, the last sun god, receives The world was still in darkness. A shedding blood. Tecciztecatl blood from a bird in a painting from the council of gods gathered in the city ostentatiously burned costly Codex Borgia (ca.1450). The image also of Teotihuacán to determine who incense. When the time came to let depicts the 13 holy birds, Quecholli, would become the Fifth Sun and his own blood, he lay down on representing the 13 divine Aztec lords. provide light for humanity. Whoever feathers instead of the customary was chosen would have to sacrifice branches of the fir tree and pulled jumped off the platform and themselves by jumping into a huge jade spines from a gold ball to prick plunged into the fire and was fire from a high platform constructed his skin. In contrast, Nanahuatzin incinerated. Shamed, Tecciztecatl above it. The first contender was the used the thorns of the maguey plant quickly followed suit. haughty and rich god Tecciztecatl, a to draw out his blood, and because son of Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue. he could not afford incense, he The flames died down. Suddenly, The poor and sickly Nanahuatzin burned scabs from his own body. Nanahuatzin burst into the skies also volunteered for the honor, albeit and became the Fifth Sun, which reluctantly. Before the gods chose, The other gods built up the fire brought light to the world again. the two contenders had to fast and as Nanahuatzin and Tecciztecatl His new name was Tonatiuh. made their preparations. After four Soon afterward, Tecciztecatl also But [the Fifth Sun] spent days of rituals, the decisive moment soared into the skies. There were four days without moving, arrived. First to prove himself was now two suns at the same time. Tecciztecatl. The arrogant god This was not what the gods had just staying in place. mounted the platform but, gripped envisioned. The cowardice of History and Mythology by fear, could not bring himself to Tecciztecatl had shown that he leap into the flames. Nanahuatzin, was not worthy of being a new sun. of the Aztecs however, showed no hesitation. He Papaztac, the god of the sacred
drink pulque, threw a rabbit at frost with the dawn. The gods THE AMERICAS 255 Tecciztecatl’s face. It dimmed his realized they had to make an light, ensuring he would never offering to persuade Tonatiuh to Teotihuacán shine as brightly as a sun. He move. Numerous gods offered became Metztli the Moon, which themselves to Quetzalcoatl, and he The city of Teotihuacán was still bears the imprint of a rabbit. removed their hearts with a sacred a place of pilgrimage for the knife. Their blood ensured that the Aztecs, who admired its Sacrifice of the gods Fifth Sun moved through the magnificent ruins and thought Tonatiuh, the Fifth Sun, hung heavens. The gods had sacrificed it the cradle of civilization. motionless in the sky for four days. themselves to help mankind. Teotihuacán (“the place where The gods begged him to move, but gods are created”) is the Aztec he refused to do so until he had The Aztecs believed this word for the city; its original received a blood sacrifice. At this, sacrifice by the gods was key to the name is lost to us. The city lay Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, god of the survival of all humanity. Aztec 30 miles (48 km) northeast of planet Venus, grew angry and warriors had a responsibility to their capital, Tenochtitlán, and launched a dart at the Sun using an capture enemies to sacrifice to had been built between the atlatl (an Aztec tool that increased Tonatiuh; they thought that if they 1st and 7th centuries ce. At its the velocity of projectiles). The dart ceased to replicate the gods’ blood peak in the mid-5th century, it missed. Tonatiuh threw a dart back offerings, the world would end with was probably the largest city at Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli and it a series of earthquakes. Only acts of in pre-Columbian America. pierced his head, turning him into sacrifice could ensure that the Fifth Its major thoroughfare—the the god Itztlacoliuhqui, who spread Sun kept moving across the sky and Avenue of the Dead—was that the world continued to exist. ■ flanked with civic buildings, temples, and tombs. Leaders of Aztec Religion The city's most impressive The Aztec Emperor was the feature was its immense gods' representative and the Pyramid of the Sun, and there high priest of Tenochtitlán. was also a slightly smaller Pyramid of the Moon. Both The High Priest The High Priest structures are mentioned in of the god of Tlaloc shared the Fifth Sun myth, as the Huitzilopochtli the leadership, “hills” raised by the gods served as joint head directing lower where, before their ordeal, of all priests in the orders serving in Tecciztecatl and Nanahuatzin capital Tenochtitlán. the community. purified themselves. Priestesses served in the Every temple Priests took At the heart of Teotihuacán temples. Priestesses, and every god charge of rituals is the citadel, a large courtyard who cut their hair had its own and ceremonies. where a third pyramid was to signify chastity, priestly order. They also taught built ca.200 ce. When the often cleaned or novice priests. great seven-tiered Temple of lit the fires. Quetzalcoatl was completed, more than 200 people from outside the city were then sacrificed there, including 36 young warriors.
256 IBBCNEERIFTENOHAGRTEEECBDATE,LHGTLIIHSENEDNWRIVNEOIGRRW,ALAACDNSOWDCAAHSA VIRACOCHA THE CREATOR IN BRIEF L ying over 12,500 feet destroyed them and created the (3,800 m) above sea level in human race instead. Viracocha THEME the Andes mountains, Lake demanded that people should live Creation of the world Titicaca straddles the border without pride or greed, but they between Bolivia and Peru. It is the disobeyed him. Angered, he sent SOURCE largest lake in South America, and a great flood, which swept his The History of the Incas, Pedro the Inca people viewed its vast creations away. Sarmiento de Gamboa, 1572; waters as the font of all life. An Account of the Fables and Teaching humanity Rites of the Incas, Cristóbal de The lake existed in the darkness After the land had dried, Viracocha Molina, ca.1575. before all things, and from it the started again from scratch. First, he creator god Viracocha emerged. In brought light to a dark world. In the SETTING the darkness, Viracocha made a southern part of Lake Titicaca lies The Andes, the beginning race of giants to populate the void. the Island of the Sun. Sleeping on of time. Realizing they were too large, he this island were the sun, the moon, and the stars. Viracocha roused KEY FIGURE them from their slumbers and gave Viracocha The creator god; them their places in the heavens. god of the sun and of storms. The sun was jealous of the moon’s brightness, so Viracocha threw Ymaymana Servant of ashes over the moon’s face to Viracocha. make it cloudy and dull. Tocapo Servant of Viracocha. He then enlisted the help of two servants whom he had saved from the flood, Ymaymana and Tocapo, who, in other versions of the story, were his sons. Aided by them, Viracocha gathered clay Viracocha the creator god is depicted with his signature white hair and beard in this pottery from the Moche people, who lived in northern Peru from the 1st–7th century ce.
THE AMERICAS 257 See also: Izanagi and Izanami 220–21 ■ The legend of the five suns 248–55 ■ Makemake and Haua 324–25 Lake Titicaca is home to dozens of populated islands, including Isla del Sol, where Viracocha is believed to have commanded the sun to rise. from the shores of Lake Titicaca beard, carrying a staff and book. to make the flames die down. The and used it to make mankind and Walking from town to town, he grateful people of Cacha built a all of the animals. He assigned observed the people’s behavior, shrine to Viracocha and made him each animal its place, and gave punishing all who treated offerings; later, the Incas would the birds their songs. him unfairly and rewarding erect the largest of Viracocha’s all who treated him kindly. temples on the site of this miracle. Viracocha and his servants fanned out from Lake Titicaca, Merciful god Viracocha moved on to Urcos, walking northwest while calling All was peaceful until Viracocha where the people treated him well. out and telling people to go forth arrived at Cacha. There he was As an act of gratitude, he created and settle the world. They named attacked by its inhabitants, who a monument—or huaca—there. all of the different trees and plants, did not realize who he was. The Then, in Cuzco, which would and informed mankind which fruits disguised god brought down flames eventually became the capital of were safe to eat or use as medicine. from the heavens, burning the the Inca Empire, he declared that So that he would not overwhelm or countryside. The awestruck people a great empire would form there. frighten any of his human subjects, pleaded the god for forgiveness, and The last stop in Viracocha’s journey Viracocha traveled disguised as an Viracocha complied, using his staff was Manta, in modern-day Ecuador. old man in a white robe with a long From there, he walked west across the water, until he finally disappeared over the horizon. The Incas believed that, in crossing the water, Virococha relinquished his spirit and control of humans to the Inca pantheon and to nature. From this moment on, Virococha no longer took part in the affairs of humanity. ■ Some were swallowed up Huacas This allowed the worshipper to by the earth, others by the interact with the supernatural Huacas are structures, objects, world and lobby the gods for sea, and over all there or landscape features believed favors such as a good harvest, came a general flood. by the Incas to be charged with victory in battle, or protection spiritual forces. Almost anything from illness. The History can have this sacred property, of the Incas from an oddly shaped ear of The most important huacas corn to a natural spring. At the were in Coricancha, a temple in most significant huacas are Cuzco dedicated to the sun god shrines where priests performed Inti, and Wanakawri, a mountain rituals. The word “huaca” comes nearby. After conquering the from the Quechua word huacay, Inca Empire in 1572, Spain which means “to wail.” This tried to eradicate the huacas is because people prayed to and convert the region to the gods by crying out to them. Catholicism. However, many huacas survive to this day.
258 TAHWEOCNADNEORE WAS THE FIRST CANOE IN BRIEF M ayakoto, a hunter in the Warao Indians in a dugout canoe, Orinoco Delta, lived with in the Orinoco River Delta, Venezuela. THEME his two wives, who had The Warao (boat people) live by fishing, Escape from the each given him a baby son. The hunting, and gathering berries, and supernatural younger baby’s name was Haburi. still use canoes for transportation. Mayakoto carried a flute that he SOURCE played when he was returning flute as he returned. So they Folk Literature of the home from fishing as a signal for gathered their children and fled Warao Indians, collected by his wives to light the cooking fire. into the jungle. Hahuba chased Johannes Wilbert, 1992. after them, but they managed to One day Mayakoto was escape. One of them scattered SETTING swallowed by the snake god locks of her hair on the ground, The Orinoco Delta in Hahuba, who assumed Mayakoto’s and it turned into a fence of thorns. northeastern Venezuela, form and went home to his wives. the homeland of the Warao. The wives, however, knew that The wives came to the house something was amiss because of Wauta, an old frog-woman. At KEY FIGURES their husband had not played his first, Wauta would not let them in, Mayakoto A hunter, also known as “The Roaster.” Haburi One of Mayakoto’s two children. Hahuba A double-headed snake god. Wauta An elderly frog-woman. Dauarani A goddess known as the Mother of the Forest.
THE AMERICAS 259 See also: Fire and rice 226–27 ■ Viracocha the creator 256–57 ■ The sky makes the sun and earth 260–61 but once she heard the cries of The head fell on the floor, their mothers paddled away. Wauta the babies she relented. Hahuba, bouncing up and down. splashed after them and managed who had caught up with the group, Folk Literature of the to clamber aboard. It appeared they banged on Wauta’s door. The frog- were stuck with her, but then woman opened it a crack and, Warao Indians Wauta spied a beehive. The greedy when Hahuba peeped through, woman jumped off and threw she decapitated the snake god while the men were out hunting, herself on the tree to suck off the with an axe. Its headless body some otter people told them about honey. The quick-thinking Haburi ran off into the jungle. their mothers’ true identity. When threw a tree trunk on Wauta, the men returned to Wauta’s house trapping her, and she later Wauta’s greed and told their mothers the truth transformed into a frog for good. Mayakoto’s wives settled in about their parentage, they decided Wauta’s household, but one day they should all flee. At world’s end while they were out gathering food, The men and their mothers paddled Wauta turned the babies into men. Haburi attempted to fashion to the mountains at the world’s end, When the wives returned to find canoes so that they could escape. where the Warao believe the gods the babies gone, Wauta pretended He tried to do so with clay, and reside. When their journey ended, not to know what had happened. then wax, but neither held. Finally, the canoe changed into a giant The men did not recognize their he made a perfect canoe with the female serpent and the paddle mothers, and the women did not bark of the cachicamo tree—the turned into a man. The couple recognize their sons. Wauta made world’s first canoe. The men and became lovers and returned to the the men hunt birds for her, and took Orinoco Delta, where the woman the best of their haul for herself. became the goddess Dauarani, the Their mothers were given only “Mother of the Forest.” small birds to eat, and Wauta urinated on those before handing Dauarani, who did not like the them over. damp swamps, left her lover for the mountains at the edge of the earth. Matters became worse after Her soul lived in the east where the Haburi unwittingly committed sun rises, and her body in the west incest with his mother. One day where the sun sets. ■ Hahuba are parts of Hahuba that have The extensive network of inlets emerged above the water. and tributaries, shown in this The Warao see their world as The Warao live on the highest satellite image of the Orinoco Delta, being totally surrounded by the ground and build their houses is home to around 20,000 Warao. sea. In the center, beneath the on stilts for protection from landmass that is the Warao’s the annual floods. home, lies a double-headed snake god known as the “Snake When a baby is born, the of Being,” or Hahuba. He Warao believe that Hahuba sends encircles the Warao’s land, and a warm breeze to welcome the the gap between his two heads child. In day-to-day life, babies is the mouth of the Orinoco and small children often hang on River, where it flows into the to their mothers’ necks in order to Atlantic Ocean. get around. Living in the swampy environment of the Orinoco River Hahuba’s movements are Delta, in Venezuela, many Warao what cause the movement of learn to swim and paddle before the tides, and the sandbanks they can even walk.
260 HOTHFASETHCAELRWEWAAOTYORSRLEDXISTED THE SKY MAKES THE SUN AND EARTH IN BRIEF K óoch, whose name means could not see any more clearly. He “sky,” was the Tehuelche reached out a finger to scratch at THEME creator, believed to have the shadows. As he did so, a bright Creation of the world always existed. For a long time, he spark leaped from his hand and lived alone among the dark clouds became the sun, lighting up the SOURCE in the east because there was no ocean and the sky. Folk Literature of the sun. Realizing how solitary he was, Tehuelche Indians, Johannes the creator wept. He cried for so After Kóoch had created the Wilbert and Karin Simoneau, long and so hard that he created wind, the clouds, and the light, he 1984. the ocean, the first element of the pulled an island up from the bottom natural world. He then sighed of the ocean. He populated it with SETTING deeply; his breath became the all kinds of animal-people, made The beginning of the world winds that dissipated the dark in the mythology of the clouds and created twilight. Tehuelche paintings of animals, Tehuelche hunter-gatherers hunters, and human hands, in the of Patagonia. Surrounded by the dimly lit Cueva de las Manos, or \"Cave of the ocean, Kóoch wanted to see the Hands,\" in Patagonia, Argentina, KEY FIGURES world. He rose up into space but date back to ca.7000 bce. Kóoch The creator, a being who brought about the ocean, the sun and the moon, and the stars. Nóshtex A monstrous giant created by the night; father of Elal. Cloud-woman Raped by Nóshtex; mother of Elal. Elal A friend of animals, and creator of the Tehuelche people.
THE AMERICAS 261 See also: Cherokee creation 236–37 ■ The legend of the five suns 248–55 ■ Viracocha the creator 256–57 ■ The first canoe 258–59 birds and insects that flew through Tehuelche youths dance, wearing Elal and Karro the air, and filled the ocean with feather \"horns,\" to celebrate a girl's fish. The sun sent light and heat, reaching puberty. Depicted by English The evening star, Karro, and the clouds brought rain. explorer George Chaworth Musters in was the daughter of the sun At Home with the Patagonians (1871). and moon. She was also Sun and moon sometimes portrayed as a Seeing how dark the island was that she had brought a curse siren. The mythical hero Elal after the sun had gone to sleep, on him. Nóshtex wanted to eat fell in love with her and flew Kóoch put the moon into the sky. the baby he had ripped from her up to the stars on the back of At first, the sun and moon were womb, but Elal was saved by his a swan to ask Karro to marry unaware of each other, but the grandmother, the field mouse, him. After Elal passed many clouds soon spread the word who arranged for him to be taken tests, Karro's parents agreed and carried messages between away from the island to safety to the union and the two were them. They longed to meet, but on the mainland. married. Elal later turned when they did, they wrestled for Karro into a mermaid; she three days, arguing over who Creating the Tehuelche lived in the sea and created should travel the sky by day. Elal inherited the supernatural the tides for her mother, the As they fought, they became powers of Kóoch, and made a new moon. Her songs played an lovers, and the sun scratched home in Patagonia, where he took important part in religious the moon’s face. all the animal-people from the rites. After that, Elal lived in island where he had been living. the stars, waiting for the souls Night was displeased by the They were pursued by the giants, of the Tehuelche when they light and incensed by their but Elal defeated them all, died. They were guided to him lovemaking, so he brought forth including his father Nóshtex, just by the good spirit, Wendeuk, monstrous giants. One was as Kóoch had foretold. Elal created who kept account of people's Nóshtex, who raped a cloud- the Tehuelche people from sea deeds, and told Elal all the woman and fathered Elal, whom lions, gave them the gift of fire, things they had done in life. Kóoch declared would be greater and taught them how to survive. The dead were transformed than his father. Nóshtex then killed Then he left them, to live in the into stars, and they looked the cloud-woman, whose blood can sky forever. ■ down from the sky on those still be seen at sunrise, believing they had left behind. It was when the moon wrestled the sun, and when this world was made. Folk Literature of the Tehuelche Indians
AANNDCIAEFNRT
IECGAYPT
264 INTRODUCTION The Pyramid Spells and advice to Greek philosopher In the “Scramble Texts are etched guide people through Plutarch revisits for Africa,” into the tombs of 10 the Egyptian myth Egyptian rulers by the Underworld are of Isis and Osiris. European powers unknown scribes. collected in the Book divide the African continent into colonies. of the Dead. 2494–2181 BCE CA.1550–50 BCE 1ST CENTURY CE 1881–1914 CA.2181–1650 BCE 30 BCE 17TH CENTURY CE 1906 Hundreds of funerary spells With the defeat European traders begin E. A. Wallis Budge are inscribed on the tombs of Mark Antony to enslave Africans researches the realm of ordinary Egyptians and and the death of and ship them overseas, of the dead (Duat) in Cleopatra, Rome The Egyptian Heaven are later collected as the conquers Egypt. ultimately creating Coffin Texts. a global diaspora. and Hell. T he continent of Africa is the Common Era. Such a long time of the sun, regarded as the sole rich in myth, which divides period—with separate eras defined creator and sustainer of the world. into two categories: the by cultural development—would This radical move threw Egypt into mythology of ancient Egypt, which suggest that Egyptian mythology turmoil. An inscription in the name we know from ancient inscriptions might also have evolved, but in fact of Akhenaten’s successor, the boy and manuscripts; and the varied there is remarkable consistency king Tutankhamun, tells how “the and vigorous mythologies of sub- throughout Egyptian history. This temples of the gods and goddesses Saharan Africa, which we know is partly because the mythology fell to pieces. … The land was from robust oral traditions that was always very supple and turned topsy-turvy, and the gods began to be recorded in the 19th flexible, able to absorb ambiguities turned their backs on it. … If century by anthropologists. and downright contradictions. anyone prayed to a god or goddess for help, they would not come. Egyptian mythology Egyptian texts speak of “tens of Their hearts were broken.” The development of ancient Egypt thousands and thousands of gods,” can be broadly arranged into three but all these gods are, in essence, Over the course of 3,000 years, main periods: the Old Kingdom aspects of the original creator, the aspects of Egyptian myth that at (2686–2181 BCE), the Middle “lord without limit.” Therefore, gods first applied only to the kings were Kingdom (2055–1650 BCE), and the could split into two, or coalesce extended, until all Egyptians could New Kingdom (1550–1069 BCE). with other gods, as required. The hope for new life after death, in the Yet its roots date back to the Early pharaoh Akhenaten (1352–1336 BCE) Field of Reeds. This idealized vision Dynastic Period starting in 3100 BCE, tried to rationalize the overlapping of Egyptian life in the Nile Delta and its history stretches forward muddle of Egyptian deities and was located in the east where the into the period of Roman rule and focus all worship on the Aten, sun rises. Inscriptions of spells and represented by the visible disc prayers that first appear in the Old
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 265 M. A. Murray’s Marcel Griaule’s Nigerian linguist In Oral Literature Ancient Egyptian Conversations with Wande Abimbola of the Maasai, Naomi Legends details 11 collects poetry from mythological tales Ogotemmêli Kipury elaborates on from ancient Egypt. transcribes Dogon the Ifá system the traditions of the of divination. oral traditions. Kenyan people. 1913 1948 1977 1983 CA.1930 1953 1981 2005 British anthropologists Paul Radin presents Pierre Fatumbi Stephen Belcher conduct field studies a wide array of Verger’s Yorubá collects origin Gods in Africa and in Africa, continuing myths in African in the New World myths from work informally begun by Folktales and throughout the missionaries and explorers. Sculpture. is published. African continent. Kingdom pyramids of the pharaohs adaptable, and can easily transfer Dogon village is laid out in the (Pyramid Texts) were adapted for across boundaries in this way. shape of a human body, and is private use in the Middle Kingdom Gods and traditions of West African regarded as a living being. (Coffin Texts), and by the New peoples such as the Yorùbá and the Kingdom they had been codified Fon traveled with enslaved Living religions in the most famous Egyptian text Africans to the New World, where The impact of Sub-Saharan of all, the Book of the Dead. Most they formed the basis of new mythologies on people’s daily lives Egyptian myths have to be pieced “voodoo” religions. Legba, the Fon is still evident. The East African together from mentions in such equivalent of the Yoruba god Eshu, myth of En-kai creating cattle spells, but a few were written became the Vodou god Legba. and giving them to the Maasai laid down in narrative form, notably The the cultural foundations for that Contendings of Horus and Seth—a If the system of Ifá divination people’s way of life. The poetic violent and comic tale of trickery presided over by Eshu—a god who myths of the San Bushmen of the and rivalry between two gods. can assume 256 different forms— Kalahari desert in southern Africa seems complicated, it is nothing tell of the doings of the Early Race Sub-Saharan tales when compared to the convoluted of beings who are both human and The Akan-Ashanti trickster metaphysics of the myths of the animal, such as the creator Kaang. Ananse, who is both a man and a Dogon in Mali. Their highly Both man and mantis, Kaang spider, is a fountainhead of comic complex belief system embodies dreamed the world into being. and violent storytelling, and the fundamental idea that humanity Today, San shamans still enter a Ananse stories have spread across is the “seed” of the universe, and similar dream state to exercise West Africa, to the Caribbean and the human form echoes both the powers such as rainmaking, the US. Oral storytelling is fluid and first moment of creation and the healing, or hunting magic. ■ entire created universe. Each
I WAS ALONE OCEANWITH THE PRIMEVAL THE CREATION AND THE FIRST GODS
268 THE CREATION AND THE FIRST GODS IN BRIEF I n the beginning there was The god Khepri—who later merged nothing but the primal ocean, with Atum—was depicted in scarab THEME called Nun—“nonbeing”— form. Because the beetle appeared to Creation according to the ancient creation hatch from nowhere, the Egyptians myths described in images and likened its birth to the world’s creation. SOURCES hieroglyphic inscriptions on tomb Pyramid Texts, Anonymous, walls in Egypt. At Heliopolis, one the end of time (when all creation 2700–2200 bce; Coffin Texts, of Egypt’s most ancient cities, now would pass away, and once more Anonymous c.2050–1800 bce; part of Cairo, people worshipped the world would be covered by the Book of the Dead, Anonymous, Ra, the sun god. In his function as infinite flood). Then Atum caused c.1550–1550 bce; Book of creator, Ra was worshipped as the primal waters to recede, so that Smiting Down Apophis, Atum, meaning “the all.” he had an island on which to stand. Anonymous, c.312 bce; Memphite Theology, Pharaoh The first gods Resting on this hillock, called Shabaqo, c.710 bce; The Atum emerged from the chaos of the “benben” mound, Atum brought Destruction of Mankind, Nun in whose waters he had the world into being. He used three Anonymous, c.1279 bce; dwelled inert. From his own body, transcribed in Legends of the he created other gods. From his Within this ocean were Gods, E. A. Wallis Budge, 1912. nostrils Atum sneezed out Shu, the the potentialities of god of air, and from his mouth he all creation. SETTING spat out Tefnut, the goddess of Ancient Egypt. moisture, sending both far across A limitless god the water. Later, Atum sent his became aware KEY FIGURES right eye, the sun, to look for Shu of himself as Atum. Atum The creator god; also and Tefnut. This eye was the the sun god Ra, or Atum-Ra. goddess Hathor, a devouring flame full of wild and unpredictable force. Shu God of air. When she returned with Shu and Tefnut, she was angry with Atum, Tefnut Goddess of moisture. for another eye had grown in her place. She wept bitter tears, which Hathor The eye of Ra; also (in became the first human beings. lioness form) called Sekhmet. Atum took the eye that was Geb The land. both Hathor and the sun and set it on his brow in the form of an angry Nut The sky. cobra to rule over the world until Thoth God of reckoning. Osiris King on earth; ruler In the beginning, of the Underworld. there was only the ocean of nonbeing. Horus God of the sky. Seth God of the desert and disorder. Isis Goddess of marriage, This limitless god fertility, and magic. created everything Nephthys Goddess of death that exists. and the night.
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 269 See also: Prometheus helps mankind 36–39 ■ The night barque of Ra 272–73 ■ Ra’s secret name 274–75 ■ Osiris and the Underworld 276–83 innate forces to call forth all the cursed his daughter to never again of both order and chaos. Osiris— elements of creation. They were: give birth in any month of the year. first king on earth, then ruler of the Heka, creative power or magic; Sia, However, Thoth, a god of reckoning Underworld—embodied order. Seth, the gift of perception; and Hu, for and learning, gambled with the who lived in the desert and tried to pronouncement. The forces became moon god Khonsu and won Nut five usurp Osiris’s power, embodied gods in their own right and were extra days, to be added to the 12 chaos. Each took one of their sisters his companions in the solar lunar months of 30 days each. On as a wife; Osiris married Isis and barque—the vessel that Atum these days she gave birth to Osiris, Seth married Nephthys. Seth also sailed across the sky as Ra, the sun Horus, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys. lusted after Isis, and Osiris had a god. All was regulated by a fourth child, the god Anubis, by Nephthys. power—the goddess Maat—who To prevent further offspring— represented cosmic harmony. or, according to another source, to Horus, the other child of Geb leave Atum some space to create and Nut, was a god of the sky, The gods multiply and populate the world—Shu whose name means “he who is ❯❯ Atum’s firstborn, Shu, the dry air of decided to separate the couple. calmness and preservation, and He wrenched his sky daughter Nut The Nile Tefnut, the moist air of change, away and held her aloft with his together created Geb, the dry male hands, then pinned down his son The Egyptian creation myth is land, and Nut, the moist female sky. Geb, the earth, with his feet. This influenced by the flooding of Nut lay on top of Geb, and the sky story is thought possibly to have the Nile Delta, an annual mated with the earth. inspired the later Greek legend of event that ancient Egypt’s rich Atlas—the Titan condemned to civilization depended upon. The children of Nut and Geb bear the sky on his shoulders. The inundation deposited new were the numberless stars. Such fertile silt along the banks of fecundity angered Shu, who then The nine greatest gods the river, enabling the ancient Nut, Geb, and their five children, Egyptians to farm on a grand Ra sails beneath the arched form of together with Shu and Tefnut, were scale. The flooding of the Nile Nut above the reclining earth god Geb, known as the Ennead and were the was worshipped as the work in a scene from the Book of the Dead, nine greatest gods under Atum. of Hapi, god of fertility, who compiled in the 16th century bce. Like him, they contained the forces lived in a cavern at the first cataract at Aswan. “He floods all the fields the sun god [Ra] has made, giving life to all creatures,” one hymn related. Hapi, half-male and half- female, was a chid of Horus. The regenerating Nile flood almost certainly inspired the creation concept of the waters of Nun, the primeval ocean that the Egyptians believed had covered the world at the beginning of time. It is also no coincidence that Atum-Ra, sun god and creator, was symbolically born from this ocean in their mythology, just as the fields of the Nile Delta appeared each fall when the floodwaters receded.
270 THE CREATION AND THE FIRST GODS The Eye of Horus, personified as the goddess Wedjat, was often used to protect against danger in the afterlife. This bracelet is from the tomb of the pharaoh Shoshenq (9th century bce). far above.” Horus was depicted as a falcon with outstretched wings, whose eyes were the sun and moon. Thanks to his inability to see on dark, moonless nights, the god was also sometimes known as Blind Horus. Quelling a rebellion temporarily blinded without the This “death” of the gods did not After Atum had created the world, moon’s light—Horus not only cause their extinction; instead, he faced a revolt from his children defeated the rebels, but also cut off they carried on much as before. or, according to some sources, from the heads of many gods loyal to Horus was the only god who died the henchmen of Seth. As Atum Atum. The other gods fled, and in during the revolt, and his divine was growing old and was too frail the chaos the solar barque came to essence was incorporated in Osiris to fight the rebellious gods himself, a halt as one of the four pillars that as “Horus who is in Osiris.” This on the advice of Thoth, he named held up the sky fell into the sea. enabled him to be reborn as Horus, Horus as his champion. Taking on The universe was about to collapse. the child of Isis and Osiris. For this the form of a great winged disk, reason, the first Horus is sometimes Horus faced them in single combat. Horus dies and is reborn known as the Elder Horus, but his His opponents turned themselves Osiris stepped into the breach to miraculous rebirth means that the into birds, fish, hippopotamuses, restore order, and the humiliated two gods are, in fact, one and the and crocodiles, but Horus soon Seth was forced to carry him on his same deity. Horus, son of Isis and caught and defeated them all. back. Osiris then brought Seth’s Osiris, later died when stung by testicles back to him and restored a scorpion, but was resurrected A second battle followed. Seth the eye of Horus, which became by his mother’s magic. plucked out Horus’s left eye, the a powerful symbol of wholeness, moon, and Horus tore off Seth’s protection, strength, and perfection. Hathor terrorizes humans testicles. In his battle rage—and Horus, however, was too weakened Just as the gods had earlier rebelled by his wounds, and after giving his against the authority of Atum, so, Horus, the Youthful One, eye to Osiris, he died. Osiris used too, did humankind. To punish cometh in peace, and he the eye to rebalance the universe these new insurgents, Atum sent hath made manifest on and give the gods back their heads. down his right eye, the goddess Hathor, in her form as a lioness, in his journey deeds of After their defeat at the hands which she was called Sekhmet. very great might. of Horus, Atum called the rebels Thoth before him and swallowed them. His intention was to alarm and Inside his stomach, the gods punish the ungrateful humans and Anonymous inscription on the quarreled and killed one another. reduce their numbers, but once walls of the Temple of Horus at Edfu
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 271 A sistrum, a sacred rattle in the shape of an ankh—the symbol of life—was played to worship Hathor. This sistrum handle (c.664–525 bce) depicts the horned head of the cow goddess. I [Amun] created every man and the remaining humans were identical with his neighbor; spared. From then on, Hathor— in her lioness form as Sekhmet— I did not order them to became associated with an annual commit perversion; it is festival that celebrated the survival their hearts that violated of humanity. During the festivities, people drank beer mixed with what I said. pomegranate juice. Coffin Texts A complex goddess motherhood. Women visited her Sekhmet had tasted blood, she Atum valued the strength of shrine to pray for children. In lost control. Lusting for more, she Hathor’s fiery nature and wanted contrast to her lioness aspect, killed everyone she found, wading her close by him to protect him. Hathor was usually represented through their gory remains. When she returned to him, the as a cow. Her cult, probably rooted creator god is said to have in early fertility rites, was said to At nightfall, in a bid to placate welcomed her back as “Beautiful predate the dynastic period. People Sekhmet, Ra mixed red ochre into One,” which was one of the also believed that Hathor could help barley beer so that it looked like goddess’s many names. souls to be reborn in the afterlife. ■ blood. He then poured 7,000 jugs of the liquid over the land where she A highly popular deity and was intent on her killing spree. At worshipped throughout Egyptian dawn, Sekhmet saw the “blood” society, Hathor was accorded and voraciously lapped it all up. multiple roles. She was sometimes She became so drunk that she fell worshipped as the wife of Horus asleep for three days; when she and mother of Ihy, a child god of awoke, her bloodlust had passed, music. She was the goddess of love, beauty, dance, pleasure, and, most significantly, procreation and Egyptian trinity heart and gave it form by naming it. At Thebes, the Differing creation myths evolved “hidden god” Amun was the in ancient Egypt’s major cities— creator god, in the form of the Heliopolis, Memphis, Hermopolis, serpent Kematef. Elsewhere, it and Thebes. A black stone tablet was Atum, “the all,” who was from Memphis, ground down also Ra, the sun god. almost to illegibility by its use as a millstone, names the creator as A hymn from the reign of Ptah, a limitless almighty divinity. Ramesses II (1279–1213 bce) Called the “giver of life at will,” declares that “God is three gods he conceived all creation in his above all—Amun, Ra, and Ptah. His nature as Amun is hidden; Ptah, the patron god of craftsmen, he cannot be known. He is Ra in was worshipped in Memphis, one of his features, and Ptah in his Egypt’s great cities. Ptah was said to body.” The words suggest that have shaped the physical world. all three were viewed as aspects of the same creator god.
272 REHAAACI,LHPETDROAFYYE!OCUT, THE NIGHT BARQUE OF RA IN BRIEF R a was god of the sun and Seth spears the serpent Apophi, also a creator god, who from a detail on an Egyptian scribe’s THEME rose from chaos to create coffin (ca.984 bce), representing the Rebirth and renewal himself. Every day he crossed the victory over the forces of darkness heavens in a barque, or ship, the that allowed the sun god to rise again. SOURCES “Boat of Millions of Years,” bringing Book of Amduat, Anonymous, sun to the land. When Ra rose each divine personifications of his ca.1425 bce; Coffin Texts, morning, the barque was called powers: Heka (creative power), Sia Anonymous, ca.2050–1800 bce; Manzet (“becoming strong”). By (perception), Hu (the word of god), Book of the Dead, Anonymous, sunset, the boat was known as the and Maat (cosmic harmony). All ca.1550–50 bce; Book of Mesektet (“becoming weak”). night, Maat held up the ankh, the Smiting Down Apophis, hieroglyphic sign for “life,” so that Anonymous, ca.312 bce. Every night, Ra undertook a Ra, although now dead, could later deadly journey as he sailed through nurture new life inside himself. SETTING the Underworld, Duat, in his night Also with him in the night barque Ancient Egypt and Duat, the barque. With him in the boat were Underworld. KEY FIGURES Ra The sun god. Heka, Sia, Hu, and Maat Ra’s companions in the night barque. Thoth Moon god and steersman. Isis Goddess of magic. Seth Ra’s protector. Khepri God of rebirth.
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 273 See also: The creation and the first gods 266–71 ■ Ra's secret name 272–73 ■ The sun god Osiris and the Underworld 276–83 Ra was not the oldest of the Over the body of Ra, the barque. The goddess Isis disabled ancient Egyptian gods, but serpent Mehen casts his Apophis with her words of power, he became revered above protecting coils, for now is Seth speared the serpent, and Ra, all others as the creator of in the form of the Cat of Heliopolis everything. From the Second the time of danger. (“Sun City”), cut off its head. Chaos Dynasty (ca.3000 bce), his Ancient Egyptian was held at bay for another day, chief center of worship was although a revived Apophis lay in the city of Heliopolis (now part Legends wait again the next night, hoping of Cairo). By the Fifth Dynasty to swallow Ra and so extinguish (ca.2500 bce), the pharaohs were other gods, including the the sun forever. of Egypt were identifying steersman Thoth; Isis, whose spells themselves with Ra and made the boat move; and Seth, who The sun rises again building temples to the god. guarded and protected Ra’s lifeless As Ra passed through the eighth Later pharaohs referred to body as he journeyed through the land of Duat, called Sarcophagus themselves as \"sons of Ra\" 12 gates that marked the passage of the Gods, embalmed and and added his name to theirs. of the hours of darkness and the 12 mummified deities cried out in Ra himself took three main countries of Duat. praise of Ra. In the tenth country, forms. As the rising sun, he the god of rebirth—Khepri, in the was Khepri, the scarab beetle. Into the underworld form of a scarab beetle—united As the midday sun, he was Beyond the first gate, a great his soul with the soul of Ra to Ra, usually shown with the company of gods greeted Ra. They accompany him through the body of a man and the head of prepared the barque for its journey remaining stages of the journey. a falcon, surmounted by a through the night and took hold of golden disc encircled by the the tow ropes running through the The twelth and final country sacred cobra, Uraeus. As the 12 countries of the Underworld to took the form of another monstrous sun setting in the west, he pull the boat along the river. serpent, named Life of the Gods. was Atum, the god of creation, But the barque was towed safely sometimes protrayed as an old In the seventh and most through the serpent’s mouth, Ra man leaning on a stick. This perilous country of Duat, Isis was fully transformed into Khepri, daily cycle of death and summoned up the serpent god, and his old body was thrown rebirth came to symbolize the Mehen, to form a sacred protective overboard. The Manzet, the sunrise life cycle of humankind, with canopy over Ra. However, another barque, then emerged into the the hope of finding, as Ra serpent lay in wait for the sun glorious dawn. ■ himself had, a new birth at the god—the chaos serpent, Apophis end of life. (or Apep), Ra’s eternal enemy. Hail to thee, Ra, at thy Stretched along a sandbank in the rising; the night and the A chest ornament, or pectoral, middle of the river to conceal his found on a mummy of the 1st monstrous form, Apophis fixed the darkness are past. millennium bce, shows a scarab gods with his hypnotizing gaze Ancient Egyptian beetle, whose form Ra took at the and opened his mouth wide to end of his journey through Duat. swallow the river and the night Legends
274 IOTWSHFIOSEARKLWDINSVOOEMOWDFALINPNE,ODTWWGHEHEEOROFFOHRADM RA’S SECRET NAME IN BRIEF F or the Egyptians, a name When Ra regained his voice, he was essential to a person’s summoned the other gods to him, THEME being. To erase someone’s and asked for their help. Then Isis, Rivalry between gods name after death was to destroy radiant with power, whose words that person in the afterlife. Ra, king could make a man choked to death SOURCES of gods and men, had so many live again, offered to cure the sun Papyrus Turin 1993, names that even the gods did not god, but said that to do so he would Anonymous, ca.1295–1186 bce; know them all. Isis, the mistress of have to tell her his name. Finally, Papyrus Chester Beatty 11 magic, had power over words and in fear of death, Ra released his Anonymous, ca.1295–1186 bce. learned the names of all things, secret name from his heart. Using so that she would become as great the name, Isis chanted a spell, the SETTING as Ra. Eventually, the only name Isis poison left Ra’s body, and he was Ancient Egypt. did not know was Ra’s secret name. made strong again. ■ KEY FIGURES Ra sailed across the sky each Ra The sun god; tricked into day, and each day he grew old. His revealing his secret name. mouth went slack, and his spittle dribbled to the ground. Isis caught Isis Goddess of magic; up Ra’s spittle and shaped it with Ra’s sister and wife; her some dust into a snake, which she Egyptian name was Aset left in Ra’s path. When he stumbled (“Queen of the Throne”). over it, the snake bit him, and Ra fell down with a terrible cry. The other gods heard him and asked, “What is wrong?” But Ra could not reply. The snake’s bite had taken the fire of life from him, and his limbs trembled as the poison surged through his body. Isis stands behind Ra as he receives an offering on this carved stele from Egypt’s Third Intermediate Period (ca.1069–664 bce). Ra is identifiable by the sun disk over his head.
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 275 See also: The creation and the first gods 266–71 ■ The night barque of Ra 272–73 ■ Osiris and the Underworld 276–83 Ra Isis Ra cries out in pain. What’s Amun-Ra I have been wounded by wrong? some deadly thing—some thing Has a serpent Ra, the sun god, was visible to dared to lift its head the naked eye (especially in that I did not make. against you? I will his form as Aten, the disk of Be quick, for my eyes drive it away with my the sun), but the creator god are blurring. I am shaking all over, words of power. was also worshipped by the and covered in sweat. Tell me your name. Egyptians as an unknowable That is the word of mystery in the form of Amun, I am he who made power that will make the hidden god. Amun was heaven and earth. I knitted often fused with Ra as Amun- together the mountains, and made the you live. Ra. His cult center was at the waters. When I open my eyes, it Tell me your great temple of Karnak at becomes light, and when I close my name so that I can Thebes (now Luxor). Although the temple’s rituals were the eyes, it becomes dark. heal you. exclusive preserve of its My name will pass from priests, who acted in the my body into yours—the name king’s name, there is some that I have kept secret since the evidence that Amun was regarded as a god to whom dawn of time. the poor and dispossessed could plead for help. He is Isis saves Ra from death Flow out, described in an ancient by snake poison, but only as a poison, and spill to the Egyptian hymn as “the great ploy to learn his name and so ground! By the power of his god who listens to prayers, assume some of the sun god’s name, which has passed from who comes at the voice of the power, which she then passes poor and distressed, who to her son, Horus. his heart to mine, gives breath to the wretched.” Ra shall live! Under the merged identity of Amun-Ra, Amun became the chief god of the Egyptians, worshipped as the creator of all things, who brought himself into being by saying, “I am!”—the source and sustainer of all existence.
OSIRIS’’FN‘‘TUIHTR,ISTSHISETGM-RYBEASOTO,NRS,ANMYSY,: OSIRIS AND THE UNDERWORLD
278 OSIRIS AND THE UNDERWORLD IN BRIEF O siris—son of the earth god The Medjed fish, depicted here in Geb and the sky goddess bronze, was said to have eaten Osiris’s THEME Nut—originally ruled as phallus when his body parts were Death and the afterlife a king of mortals. It was he who scattered. It was sacred to the city of taught the Egyptians how to Per-Medjed, later called Oxyrhynchus. SOURCES survive, how to make and use tools, Book of the Dead, Anonymous, and how to cultivate and harvest to the coast and across the sea to ca.1550–50 bce; The Book of wheat and barley. His sister and Phoenicia. A tamarisk tree grew up Am-Duat, Anonymous, wife, the goddess Isis, taught the around it, enclosing the chest in its ca.1425 bce; The Contendings women how to spin and weave, and trunk, with the dead king inside. of Horus and Seth, how to make bread and beer from Anonymous, ca.1147–1143 bce; grain. Isis herself was worshipped The search for Osiris De Iside et Osiride (“Isis and throughout Egypt as the goddess The king of the city of Byblos saw Osiris”), Plutarch, lst century. of mothers, fertility, magic, healing, the tamarisk tree and admired its and funerary rites. Her cult later size. He ordered it to be cut down SETTING spread to Greece and across the for use in his palace. The trunk, Ancient Egypt, Phoenicia, and Roman Empire. with the chest still concealed in it, the Underworld. was made into a pillar to support Leaving Isis as his regent, the palace roof. KEY FIGURES Osiris then traveled around the Osiris Wise ruler and later world teaching his skills to the rest Meanwhile, Isis grieved for king of the Underworld. of mankind, for which he earned Osiris and set out to find him. the title Wennefer, meaning “the After a long search, she arrived Isis Sister and wife of Osiris. eternally good.” Osiris’s brother in Byblos and sat weeping by a Seth was jealous of his gifts and spring. When the maidservants of Seth Jealous brother of Osiris. acclaim, and was enraged that the queen of Byblos came to the Osiris had left Isis, rather than spring, Isis braided their hair and Ra The sun god. him, to act as regent. gave it a lovely fragrance. The queen sent for Isis, befriended her, Nephthys Sister of Isis. Seth’s cunning plan and made her nursemaid of her Horus Son of Osiris and Isis. When Osiris returned from his baby. Isis nursed the child by Anubis Jackal god associated travels, Seth plotted to kill him, giving it her finger to suck, and with mummification. take his throne, and marry Isis resolved to make the infant himself. He invited Osiris to a immortal. At night, she enveloped Isis, when the tidings great banquet, where he produced the child in flames to burn away reached her, at once cut off a wonderful casket that was made its mortal parts. In the form of a one of her tresses and put of cedar wood and inlaid with swallow, she also searched for her on a garment of mourning. ebony and ivory. Seth promised husband. The bird called plaintively to give this chest to whomever fit as she flew about the wooden pillar De Iside et Osiride exactly into it. His guests all tried where the chest was concealed, the chest for size, but it fit none of knowing that Osiris was nearby. them. At last Osiris took his turn, and he fit perfectly—for Seth had carefully constructed the chest to Osiris’s precise measurements. Before Osiris could get out of the chest, Seth and his 72 accomplices slammed down the lid and nailed it shut. They sealed the chest with molten lead and threw it into the Nile. The chest—now Osiris’s coffin—was washed down the river
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 279 See also: The creation and the first gods 266–71 ■ The night barque of Ra 272–73 ■ Ra’s secret name 274–75 Isis and Nephthys are depicted lamenting over the murdered Osiris. The scene decorates a gilt coffin from the Roman period of ancient Egypt, ca.1st century bce. When the queen of Byblos saw her of papyrus reeds. Seth was out wax model of it and left the model baby on fire, she screamed in terror hunting that night and found the in the care of local priests, thereby and broke the magic, preventing coffin. Wrenching it open, he cut establishing shrines to Osiris the child from becoming immortal. Osiris’s body into 14 pieces, which across the whole of Egypt. Isis now revealed her true self and he scattered across Egypt. pleaded with the queen for the When the sisters had gathered pillar with the chest inside to be Isis and her sister Nepthys, together the god’s dismembered taken down. Isis then removed the however, gathered up the parts of body, they sat beside it and wept. wood that had grown around the Osiris’s body. Wherever they found Ra, the sun god, took pity on them, chest containing the body of her a piece, Isis magically made a and sent the jackal god, Anubis, ❯❯ beloved Osiris. Throwing herself upon his coffin, she uttered such terrible cries that the queen’s youngest son died of the shock. Seth finds the body Isis put the coffin on a boat and sailed away across the sea back to Egypt. When she landed and came to a quiet spot, she opened up the coffin and laid her face on the face of Osiris, weeping. The goddess then concealed the coffin, with the corpse inside it, in a thicket Colorful stone reliefs dating from Abydos of the god from the temple to a the 12th-century bce adorn the walls tomb believed to be the god’s, of the impressive temple to Osiris at The cult center of Osiris was at attended by a great procession Abydos, Egypt. Abydos, in Upper Egypt, about of Osiris’s worshippers. 6 miles (10 km) from the Nile River. Here, for more than 2,000 years, At the same time, a public the mysteries of the god were festival would reenact the story celebrated annually in the last of Osiris’s murder, the grief of month of the flooding, as the Isis and Nepthys, the trial of waters receded. Although little Seth, and the battle between is known about the rituals of the the supporters of Seth and temple, their objective was to Osiris. At the end of the drama, ensure eternal life for the souls the actor playing Osiris would of the dead when they entered reappear in triumph in the the Underworld, where Osiris sacred barque, and the djed- reigned. In a public ceremony, pillar, a stylized sheaf of corn priests would also carry an image which symbolized his rebirth, would be erected.
280 OSIRIS AND THE UNDERWORLD The murder of Osiris The coffin drifts Isis sails away with the and its aftermath down the Nile and is coffin but Seth finds it, swept over the sea to cuts Osiris’s body into 14 Phoenicia, where a pieces, and scatters them tamarisk tree grows across the whole of Egypt. around it. Seth envies his Isis finds the coffin brother, King Osiris. after a long search With an evil trick, he and weeps over it, traps Osiris in a kissing the face of casket and throws it Osiris. into the River Nile. and the ibis god, Thoth, to help His divine force, however, was not In time, Horus sought to challenge them. Together they pieced Osiris’s quite spent: Isis changed herself Seth and establish his right to the body back together into its true into a kite and, hovering over the throne of his father, Osiris. Horus shape. Then Anubis embalmed mummified body, fanned the breath and Seth appeared before the the body with fragrant ointments of life back into Osiris for long Ennead. This council of the nine and wrapped it in linen bandages, enough to conceive a child, Horus, major gods met for 80 years without before laying it on a lion-headed who would avenge his father. Then reaching a decision as to which of bier. The wrapped and embalmed Osiris descended to the Underworld the two had the better claim. body of Osiris became the first and became its ruler. Isis devoted mummy, setting a pattern for all herself to caring for the shrines of Vying for the throne of the kings that followed. her dead husband. Thoth wrote to Neith—creator of the universe, mother of the sun god Ra, and goddess of war—to ask for a judgment. Neith awarded the throne to Horus. Ra favored Seth, however, because Seth protected him every night from the chaos serpent, Apophis. Outraged by Neith’s decision, Ra became neglectful of his duties and only cheered up when the goddess Hathor exposed herself to him and made him laugh. Despite Neith’s judgment, the gods continued to dispute the question of who should rule, until Isis tricked Seth into The jackal god, Anubis, attends to the dead in a wall painting from the tomb that the artisan Sennedjem built for himself in Set Maat, near Thebes, in the 12th century bce.
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 281 The child, Horus, Seth and Finally, Osiris, challenges Seth and Horus turn into Lord of the Dead, asserts his right to his hippopotamuses intercedes for his father’s throne at a in a contest which son, and Horus is council of the gods. neither wins. crowned king. Anubis mummifies Isis turns herself Osiris’s body after into a kite and fans Isis and Nepthys life into Osiris so that recover the pieces. she can conceive a child to avenge him. speaking against his own case. Falcon-headed Horus stands with Furious, Seth challenged Horus to his father, Osiris, and his mother, Isis, a battle. Both gods transformed on this funerary stele dedicated to themselves into hippopotamuses the gods of Abydos in the reign of and stayed underwater to see who Seti I (1290–1279 bce). could remain submerged for longer. harpoon. This so infuriated Horus Isis fashioned a harpoon with a that he leapt out of the water and copper barb and flung it into the cut off his mother’s head. Then the water. First it hit Horus; he cried goddess transformed herself into out to his mother, who quickly a headless statue of flint so that the recalled the harpoon. She hurled it Ennead could see what her son, back into the water, and this time Horus, had done to her. it pierced Seth. He, in turn, asked Isis how she could so mistreat her Quarreling continues when Horus was asleep, Seth lay brother, and again she recalled the The gods searched for Horus to between his thighs, and spilled his punish him. Seth found him asleep semen into Horus’s hand. When It is no good, this cheating beneath a tree and gouged out both Horus revealed to Isis what Seth me in the presence of the his eyes, burying them in the had done, she cut off her son’s Ennead and depriving me of ground, where they grew into two hands and threw them into the the office of my father, Osiris. lotuses. When the goddess Hathor water, replacing them with new The Contendings of found Horus weeping in the desert, hands. Then Isis took semen from she captured a gazelle and milked Horus and smeared it on the lettuce Horus and Seth it. Then she knelt beside the young that was Seth’s staple food. Seth ❯❯ god and poured the milk into his eye sockets to restore his sight. Hathor told the gods what Seth had done, but they had wearied of the quarreling and declared a truce. Appearing conciliatory, Seth invited Horus to come to his house, and Horus accepted. That night,
282 OSIRIS AND THE UNDERWORLD duly consumed the lettuce, Nile in stone boats. Seth built a O my heart of my unaware that it contained his huge boat from the solid stone of a different forms! Do not stand rival’s potent semen. mountain peak. Horus’s boat was of up as a witness against me … cedar wood, which he disguised to Still pursuing his quest for the look like stone by coating it with do not be hostile to me in throne, Seth dragged Horus before gypsum. His boat floated, but the presence of the the Ennead and claimed that he— Seth’s sank. In fury, Seth turned Seth—must be made ruler, because himself back into a hippopotamus Keeper of the Balance. he had taken the male role in his and scuttled Horus’s boat. Book of the Dead intercourse with Horus. The horrified gods spat in Horus’s face. The gods were no nearer a final dangers. There were occasional Horus categorically denied the decision, so they asked Thoth to respites, such as when the goddess charge and demanded that his write to Osiris in the Underworld. Hathor met the deceased at the end semen and that of Seth should be Osiris asked why his son should be of the desert kingdom of the falcon called before the Ennead as cheated of his rightful inheritance, god, Seker, and offered rest in the witnesses. When summoned, the and Horus was at last installed as shade of her sacred sycamore tree, semen of Seth cried out from the king of Egypt. Seth went with Ra to and fruit and water for refreshment. water where Isis had thrown it, but thunder in the skies, as the god of In the main, however, the path from the semen of Horus called out from storms, violence, and the desert. this world to the next was beset the body of Seth. The judgment with terrifying creatures, such as a was clear. The gods declared in A fearsome Underworld nameless dog-headed beast; it tore favor of Horus, which infuriated Osiris ruled as the Lord of the out hearts, swallowed shadows, Seth. He demanded a further Dead. The Egyptians thought of and dwelled by the Lake of Fire. contest with Horus, calling for Duat, the Underworld, as a narrow them to race each other down the valley with a river running through The deceased used spells, many it. It was separated from the land of of which appear in the Egyptian The Weighing of the Heart, the living by a mountain range; the Book of the Dead, to negotiate this illustrated here in the Book of the Dead, sun rose from the eastern end each terrifying obstacle course. They was one of a series of trials the morning and sank into the western had to pass through as many as deceased were thought to undergo in end at night. The path to the seven gates, each with its own the immediate afterlife. Underworld was fraught with grotesque guardian. Then they were led by Anubis into the Hall of the Two Truths, where their heart was weighed in a balance against the feather of Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. Anubis checked the balance, and Thoth, the scribe of the gods, recorded the result on leaves from the tree of life. If the heart was so weighed down with the guilt of evil thoughts and acts that it outweighed the feather of truth, it would be cast down to be gobbled up by the
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 283 The passage from death to new life in the Underworld Books of the dead Each pharaoh was When the pharoah In the era of the Old Kingdom, revered as the died, he was only Egyptian kings could mummified secure for themselves or living embodiment like Osiris. others a new existence in the of the god Horus. afterlife. During the Middle Kingdom years, nonroyal In death, the pharoah In the Underworld, individuals started to make devoured the other the pharaoh funerary arrangements, in imitation of the king. The Old gods to assimilate became Osiris. Kingdom prayers and spells— their power. the Pyramid Texts from the royal pyramids—were adapted People outside the Everyone in the Middle Kingdom for use royal families adopted could hope to by private individuals as the find new life in Coffin Texts, and codified in the same rituals. the Underworld, the New Kingdom into the under the rule Book of the Dead (sometimes translated as “Spells for of Osiris. Coming Forth by Day”). The Pyramid Texts show that the she-monster Ammut. This devourer Osiris might hope for eternal life in pharaoh believed that in death of the dead had the head of a the Field of Reeds (a perfect version he would be embodied as crocodile, the foreparts of a lion, of Egypt); to sail as stars across the Osiris; Nut and Geb would and the rear of a hippopotamus. night sky; or to join the throng in claim him as their son, and he Ra’s great barque to be reborn would become a ruler in the Final judgment anew each morning with the sun. Underworld. In one spell, the If the heart did not outweigh the king hunts and eats the other feather of truth, the deceased could When he put Osiris in charge of gods, “feeds on the lungs of continue on their journey. Horus— the Underworld, Ra promised that the wise ones, and is satisfied now in the Underworld with his his reign would last for millions of with living on hearts and their father and the other gods—took the years, but would end. Ra said, “I magic.” Once he has absorbed deceased by the hand and led them will destroy all creation. The land the power of every god, “the into the presence of Osiris. The will fold into endless water … I will king’s lifetime is eternity.” Lord of the Dead was seated in his remain there with Osiris, after I shrine with Isis and Nepthys have changed myself back into a A depiction of Ammut, from the standing behind him, and the four serpent.” This serpent, the original Book of the Dead of Nebqed sons of Horus before him on a lotus true form of Ra, contained the (ca.1400 bce), reveals the she-monster flower. Forty-two judges of the forces of creation and chaos. The waiting under a lake of fire for those Underworld assisted Osiris in his serpent would sleep in the cosmic who fail the feather of truth test. deliberations. Those who pleased ocean, its tail in its mouth, until it awoke to re-create the world. ■
284 FDFIOERSRECTIRESUACTIVE SAN CREATION MYTH IN BRIEF T he San believe that in the birds and other animals, they had beginning people lived no fur or feathers to keep them THEME beneath the ground, where warm. Contrary to Kaang’s Man’s relationship with everything was light and warm, instruction, the people decided to animals even though there was no sun. light a fire. Although this warmed However, the creator god, Kaang, them and gave them some light, the SOURCE decided that he wanted to make fire also terrified the other animals. African Myths of Origin, another world above ground, and so Stephen Belcher, 2005. he produced a tall and expansive Kaang punished the humans for tree. Proud of his creation, he called their disobedience by rendering SETTING a man up from the earth to take a them and the animals unintelligible The beginning of time look at this tree. The man was to one another. Instead of words, in present-day Namibia, followed by a woman, and then all the animals now heard shouts and Botswana, and South Africa. the other creatures followed. cries and fled in fear—destroying the harmonious relationship that KEY FIGURES The people and the animals had previously existed between The San Bushmen; the soon made their home in Kaang’s humans and other creatures. ■ indigenous hunter-gatherer new world. He told them all to talk people of southern Africa. to one another and live in peace. He also forbade them to light a fire, as Kaang The supreme and it had great destructive force. creator god of the San people. However, this new world had a disadvantage: the sun was warm, but the nights were cold and dark, and people realized that, unlike the San hunters shoot antelope with poison-tipped arrows, then track their dying prey over several days—depicted here in rock art from Game Pass shelter, in the Drakensberg Mountains. See also: The creation and the first gods 266–71 ■ En-kai and the cattle 285 ■ Ananse the spider 286–87 ■ The Dogon cosmos 288–93
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 285 I WILL GIVE YOU SCOALMLEETDHICNAGTTLE EN-KAI AND THE CATTLE IN BRIEF T he Maasai, a nomadic May the milk cattle-raising community, of my cattle be poison THEME historically with a fierce Beloved creatures warrior-like reputation, are believed if you ever taste it. to have orginated in the lower Nile Maasinta, Oral Literature SOURCE valley and migrated to the savanna Oral Literature of the Maasai, of East Africa in the 15th century. of the Maasai Naomi Kipury, 1983. Their one supreme god, En-kai, is often associated with the thunder sky. Maasinta was angry with SETTING clouds that bring the rains, causing Dorobo and cursed him and his The East African savanna. the grass to sprout and provide people to be forever poor and fresh grazing for their herds. without cattle, living by hunting KEY FIGURES wild animals. This explains why En-kai The supreme god of In the beginning, En-kai told the Doroba clan were hunters and the Maasai. Maasinta, the first Maasai, to build blacksmiths, not pastoralists. an enclosure using thorn bushes. The Maasai A nomadic En-kai then lowered a leather rope The Maasai people believe that community that graze their from a black storm cloud, and down En-kai granted all of the cattle on cattle on the grasslands of this rope descended a multitude of Earth to their community. When East Africa. cattle—creatures that the world the Maasai take cattle from others, had never seen before. they believe that it is not theft; they The Doroba A clan within are simply reclaiming what En-kai the Maasai community, who Dorobo, who lived with Maasinta had declared was rightfully theirs. ■ were formerly hunter-gatherers and was the first of the Doroba clan, and blacksmiths. was upset, complaining that he had not gotten any of the cattle. In some versions of the tale, Dorobo shouted so loudly that En-kai took back the rope; in others, Dorobo used his metal-working skills to make a knife, then cut the rope. Either way, no more cattle descended from the See also: Spider woman 238–39 ■ The Woge settle a dispute 240–41 ■ San creation myth 284 ■ The Dogon cosmos 288–93
286 BCTYOIELEHIUMTINWBHDEITLYCHLOAEBULTEAARBANEABDESLTHEHTEON ANANSE THE SPIDER IN BRIEF I n the beginning, Nyame, the python heard this, he slithered out sky god of the Asante people, of his hole and offered to stretch out THEME was the repository of all stories on the branch and be measured. As How wisdom was spread and knowledge. Ananse, a trickster he lay there, however, his body hero in spider form, went to Nyame began to twitch. The spider offered SOURCE and brazenly asked how much all to tie him to the branch so that he Oral tradition, recorded this wisdom would cost. Surprised could determine his precise length. in African Folktales and by the spider’s audacity, Nyame When the python consented to this Sculpture, edited by Paul set him a seemingly impossible plan, Ananse trussed him up and Radin, 1953; African Folktales task. To win the knowledge of the carried him off to Nyame. in the New World, William sky god, Ananse had to bring back Bascom, 1992; Anansi: The four items: a python, a leopard, a A spider’s deceit Trickster Spider, Lynne swarm of hornets, and a fairy. Ananse continued to use tricks for Garner, 2014. the remaining tasks. To catch the Ananse set off and, standing leopard, Ananse dug a deep hole SETTING outside the hole where the python and covered the opening with West Africa at the beginning lived, he wondered aloud whether leaves. The leopard fell in and, of time. the snake was longer than a palm seeing Ananse at the rim, begged branch above him. When the him for help. Ananse offered to KEY FIGURES weave a dense web around the Nyame The high god and The spider wanted leopard to lift him out. The leopard creator; also known as to own all the stories agreed, but then found himself Nyankupon. known in the world. stuck in Ananse’s web, and the African Folktales in spider had a second prisoner. Ananse A trickster hero; took the form of a spider. the New World To catch the hornets, Ananse trickled water into their nest and Ntikuma The son of Ananse. began to drum on the ground with little sticks to create the sound of falling rain. He then called out and offered the hornets a dry refuge in his calabash (gourd). The grateful hornets flew in, and immediately Ananse inserted a plug and took the captive insects to Nyame.
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 287 See also: San creation myth 284 ■ En-kai and the cattle 285 ■ The Dogon cosmos 288–93 ■ Eshu the trickster 294–97 Very great kings were not able don’t you tie the calabash behind Ananse and Br’er to buy the sky god’s stories, you?” suggested Ntikuma, “and Rabbit but Kwaku Ananse has been then you will be able to climb the able to pay the price. tree.” Ananse was angry that his When Africans were taken African Folktales and son had watched his failed as slaves to the New World, Sculpture attempts, but he followed their stories went with them. Ntikuma’s advice. As he was Ananse’s trickster exploits Lastly, Ananse trapped the fairy rearranging the calabash, however, traveled to the United States by putting out a doll covered with it fell to the ground and shattered. and the Caribbean with the sticky gum—a tar baby—beside a At that very moment, a fierce storm Asante people from the Gold bowl of yams. The fairy thanked hit the forest, and torrential rain Coast (now Ghana), West the doll and, when it did not reply, washed the contents of the Africa. Another well-known touched it and became stuck. calabash into the river and out to African-American trickster Ananse then carried her off to the sea. The wisdom of Nyame figure, however, is Br’er Nyame, who was amazed that the spread all over the world, allowing Rabbit, a figure from the spider had managed to complete all people to inherit a share. folklore of south and central the tasks he had set. True to his Africa, who became well word, he made Ananse the god of As Ananse went home with known through the Uncle all stories and fables. Ntikuma, he consoled himself with Remus stories. Narrated by a the thought that the wisdom had fictitious former slave in the proved of little value; it had taken a American south, the stories small child to set him right. ■ were adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris and Clever but unwise Ananse the Spider is depicted at the were first published in 1881. When Ananse had received all the center of the finial of a decorative wood wisdom in the world, he stored it in and gold leaf staff, dating from around The tales of Ananse and his calabash, a hollowed-out gourd, 1900, that was carried by a linguist Br’er Rabbit share similar then set out to look for a safe place (storyteller) of the Asante people. themes. Br’er Rabbit gets to hide it. Going into the forest, he stuck to a tar baby that Br’er found a tall tree with spiky bark Fox has left out to trap him. and decided to climb it and deposit Ananse, too, is trapped by a the calabash high up near its tar baby as he steals his wife’s crown. However, the calabash was peas, and he himself uses a large and, when he tied it in front tar baby to catch a fairy and of him and tried to climb the tree, complete Nyame’s challenges. he could not reach out far enough to grip the trunk, and kept falling down. Unbeknownst to Ananse, his young son Ntikuma had followed him into the forest, and was laughing at his father. “Why
IAMLL TPHUATRWAES WATERWAS CAST OUT WITH THE THE DOGON COSMOS
290 THE DOGON COSMOS T he Dogon are a reclusive Large figures of a male-female pair people who live in an are common representatives of the IN BRIEF isolated part of West Africa mythical progenitors of the Dogon. The that extends from Mali in the statues receive sacrifices intended to THEME southeast to Burkina Faso in the protect a community from hardships. The duality of mankind northwest. Dogon mythology is SOURCES highly complex, relies on oral The Nommo were hermaphrodites, Conversations with tradition rather than texts, and has green in color, and half-human, Ogotemmêli, Marcel Griaule, many variations. The central myth half-serpent. They had red eyes, 1948; “Dogon Restudied: concerns the creation of the forked tongues, and flexible arms A Field Evaluation of the universe by the Dogon high god without joints. The Nommo were Work of Marcel Griaule,” Amma, the birth of the twin present in all water, and without W. E. A. van Beek, 1991, Nommo spirits, and the death of them the beginning of life on earth Current Anthropology; Dogon: Lébé, all of whom are key figures would have been impossible. Africa’s People of the Cliffs, across the Dogon tales that have Stephenie Hollyman and W. E. been recorded by anthropologists. The Nommo ascended to the A. van Beek, 2001. heavens to be with Amma. From SETTING Birth of the Nommo their lofty position, the twins saw West Africa; the beginning The Dogon creator deity, Amma, that their mother, Earth, was of time. shaped the cosmos out of clay. First naked. To remedy this, they KEY FIGURES he flung clay pellets into the sky to descended with plants from heaven Amma The creator god; make the stars, and then he made to clothe her. The fibers of these foremost deity of the Dogon. the sun and moon as two clay plants helped to carry the watery Nommo The first pair of twin bowls, inventing the art of pottery. essence of the Nommo across the spirits created by Amma; also The sun was encircled with red land and bring fertility to it. the name for the eight copper, and the moon with white. ancestors of the Dogon. With the celestial bodies in place, Male and female Lébé The oldest human Amma turned to terrestrial matters. The Nommo (or Amma, in some ancestor; a priest. He took the clay, squeezed it versions of the myth) drew two between his hands, and spread it outlines on the ground, one on top This flat earth was a north to south and east to west to of the other. One of them was male, female body, with an ant’s form a flat earth, which was female. and the other was female; from nest as its sexual organ. these two outlines, the first man Amma was lonely. Filled with and the first woman emerged. “Dogon Restudied: sexual desire, he longed to have Whereas the first jackal had only a A Field Evaluation intercourse with the earth, but when he tried to penetrate an of the Work of ants’ nest (the earth’s vagina), a Marcel Griaule” termite mound rose up. After he cut the mound out of the way, Amma was able to couple with the earth. However, his assault upset the balance of the cosmos, and so his seed produced only a jackal—a creature the Dogon associate with deformity and disorder. The next time Amma planted his seed in the earth, it produced twin beings “born perfect and complete.” Called the Nommo (or Nummo), their twin nature represents the perfect balance of creation.
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 291 See also: Ananse the spider 282–83 ■ San creation myth 284 ■ En-kai and the cattle 285 ■ Eshu the trickster 294–97 Each human being male and female circumcision Diverse ideas was endowed with two severs the spiritual link between a person’s soul of the opposite gender The first study of the Dogon souls of different sex. and is an important coming-of-age came from Marcel Griaule, Conversations with rite in Dogon society. whose Conversations with Ogotemmêli: An Introduction Ogotemmêli Twin connections to Dogon Religious Ideas was The first two people had eight published in 1948. Over 32 single soul, these first humans and children: two pairs of male twins successive days, Ogotemmêli, their descendants had two souls of and two pairs of female twins. This a blind Dogon elder, had met opposite genders; one inhabited the set of eight twins were also called with Griaule and spoken about body, while the other dwelled in the the Nommo. They are the ancestors Dogon mythology. sky or in the water, connecting of the Dogon. These Nommo are humanity to nature. This dual represented by eight animals—the Scholars today view the nature manifests itself physically; snake, tortoise, scorpion, crocodile, study as the ruminations of the Dogon believe males and frog, lizard, rabbit, and hyena— one member of the community, females are born with physical because, according to Griaule, rather than a detailed exposé aspects of the opposite gender and these animals were born in the sky of Dogon thought in general. that there is still some feminine at the same time as the Nommo, African religions place greater essence inside of every man and and shared a soul connection with emphasis on doing the right some male essence inside of every them. Each individual Nommo had thing (orthopraxis) than woman. The Dogon tradition of both a human twin and an animal believing the right thing twin, and although the eight were (orthodoxy). As a result, different species, the animals ❯❯ within any one group there can be a range of varying Cave paintings from the Bandiagara individual beliefs and ways of Escarpment in Mali depict figures and describing the world and its symbols which are most likely of the creation. Later studies of the Dogon. Some, however, believe they are Dogon have therefore given examples of Sangha or Songo art. rise to many different myths and interpretations.
292 THE DOGON COSMOS were also paired together. This set of his own. He procreated through In order to purify the universe off a chain of links, extending sexual intercourse with the and restore order to it, Amma beyond animals to plants to create placenta that held him inside the a vast network. The Dogon believe womb of his mother, Earth, but the sacrificed another Nommo. that each individual has a soul fruits of this incestuous union were Art of the Dogon connection to one-eighth of the solitary and impure. Contaminated living things in the world. by this abominable act, the world Kate Ezra, art historian (1988) faced the prospect of descending According to some versions of into a state of utter chaos, but Amma filled with his seed when he the myth, the eight ancestors were Amma regained control of the impregnated the earth. Their bases created when one of the first two cosmos by murdering the other were square to represent the four Nommo rebelled against Amma Nommo. He was torn apart, and his cardinal points—north, south, east, and tried to create a separate world body was scattered across the and west. earth; the eight Nommo ancestors were then created from his body Chaos and sacrifice parts. The Dogon later created The eighth Nommo was impatient ancestral shrines (called binu) at and descended to earth before her places where the parts had landed. sister, the seventh Nommo. This angered the seventh Nommo so Early humans much that she turned into a giant The eight Nommo procreated and serpent, but humans feared the began to populate the earth. At snake and made weapons to kill this stage, humans were primitive her, using the skills taught by the beings who lived in holes in the first Nommo, the blacksmith. ground like animals and could only use basic sounds to communicate. The death of the seventh When the Nommo had produced Nommo brought more chaos. The many children, the eight ascended other ancestors decided that they to heaven. must sacrifice Lébé, who was the first Hogon (spiritual leader of the However, when the Nommo community) and the oldest man in realized that the human world was the family of the eighth Nommo. in chaos, they returned to earth Lébé was the first human to die, one by one, in order of age, each and thereby brought mortality to bringing a valuable skill. First the mankind. His body was buried in a eldest Nommo, a blacksmith, primordial field with the head of the introduced humans to fire and seventh Nommo, under the anvil of metalworking by stealing a piece of the blacksmith Nommo. The the sun in the form of a live ember blacksmith struck the anvil with and a white-hot iron rod. Another his tools, awakening the spirit of Nommo taught the art of weaving the seventh ancestor. The serpent to mankind, and another the art of then devoured Lébé—combining constructing clay granaries. These the spirits of the seventh and were topped with a thatch to eighth Nommo forever. These two prevent rain washing away the clay, and were modeled on the anthill The Nommo are often depicted with upraised arms, as in this small sculpture. This is thought to represent a reaching toward the heavens in prayer for rain.
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 293 Dogon dancers don masks for dama Nommo to humanity. They held Water and the Dogon funerary rites in Tireli, Mali. These are Lébé’s life force, and were a enacted to lead spirits of the deceased physical manifestation of speech. Water is crucial in the myths out of the village and toward their final The stones also absorbed all that and lives of the Dogon people. resting place with the ancestors. was good from the ancestors and Mali, the Dogon homeland, cleansed the people of their sits on the edge of the Sahara Nommo represented language, impurities with the water that was Desert, where water can be which was considered the essence the Nommo’s essence and life force. scarce and the amount of of all things: the seventh Nommo When Lébé’s remains were being rainfall dangerously variable. was the master of the Word and the ejected, torrents of purifying water The water cycle in the area is eighth was the Word itself. also came forth. It brought fertility variable. Both droughts and to the land and enabled humanity monsoons afflict the region, Cleansing gifts to plant crops and farm. and rivers and lakes appear When the serpent vomited Lébé’s and disappear again. remains out in a series of stones, The Dogon view Lébé as the they made the shape of a body. manifestation of the regenerative Rejecting the pressure to First came eight dugé stones, forces of nature. To this day, Hogon convert to Islam, the Dogon which are formed when lightning wear stones that symbolize Lébé’s first set up their villages at strikes the ground. These stones remains and remind them of their the base of Mali’s Bandiagara marked the joints at the pelvis, link to their ancestors. Although Escarpment 1,000 years ago, shoulders, elbows, and knees. Then Amma is the supreme deity in attracted by its defensibility came the smaller stones, forming Dogon religion, and prayers and and its springs; they later the long bones, vertebrae, and ribs. sacrifices are made to him, the spread to the nearby plateau, The stones were a gift from the chief focus for most of the Dogon’s where they built deep wells. rituals is ancestor worship. ■
294 IN BRIEF KWTHIALELNQTYSUOEUTEON THEME Chaos and balance ESHU THE TRICKSTER SOURCE Ifá Divination Poetry, Wande Abimbola, 1977; Orixás: Deuses Iorubas Na África e No Novo Mundo (“Yorùbá Gods of Africa and the New World”), Pierre Fatumbi Verger, 1981. SETTING Yorùbáland, western Africa. KEY FIGURES Eshu The trickster. The king A selfish ruler who was punished by Eshu. A queen One of the king’s many wives. The heir The king’s eldest son. Two women Best friends who were blessed by Eshu. A Babalawo A priest and diviner of the Ifá religion. I n Ifá, the religion of the Yorùbá people of western Africa, individuals interact on a daily basis with spiritual entities known as orisha. These include nature spirits—Shango, for example, is associated with lightning, and Ogun with iron and metalwork—as well as heroes from the past who have become deified. One of the figures often found in myths about the orisha is Eshu the trickster, also known as Èsù-Elegba. Sometimes Eshu’s activities are funny or harmless, but at other times his behavior is actively destructive to humans. Many Yorùbá-influenced religious traditions have been influenced by
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 295 See also: San creation myth 284 ■ En-kai and the cattle 285 ■ Ananse the spider 286–87 ■ The Dogon cosmos 288–93 Christianity, and Eshu has been one in particular felt aggrieved by Eshu is depicted with a headdress likened to the devil. However, her husband’s lack of attention. of gourds in this wooden figure from scholars have concluded that the Eshu visited her in the form of a Nigeria (ca.1880–1920). While Eshu is “devil” featured in these religions wizard and said that if she could usually considered to be male, the owes his character more to cut off a few whiskers from the trickster is portrayed here as a woman traditional conceptions of Eshu the king’s beard, he would use them with protruding breasts. trickster than the Christian model to make an amulet with magical of Satan. Eshu is a being of chaos, power that would reignite the but is also essential to meting out king’s affection for her. justice, keeping the universe in balance, and ensuring that no Next, Eshu visited the king’s individual becomes too powerful. eldest son and heir. The king feared the young man wanted to usurp The selfish king his authority and seize power. Eshu often acts to punish others, Taking the form of one of the king’s especially those who have not servants, Eshu told the son to shown him sufficient respect. prepare his warriors and meet at There was a king who, despite his the royal palace that very night, wealth and the large tracts of land because the king was intent on he owned, never sacrificed going to war. anything to Eshu, not even a chicken or some kola nuts. Eshu Finally, Eshu took the form of decided to teach him a lesson. a trusted page and visited the king himself. “Your Majesty,” the The king had many wives, but trickster whispered, “one of your he was negligent toward them— wives is jealous of your power and she plans to kill you this night ❯❯ Eshu’s Eshu decides to teach Spread of religion punishments the selfish king a lesson. could be harsh, Eshu tells the king that his The Yorùbá community in with consquences wife and son will steal southwest Nigeria and parts extending beyond of Benin number more than those who had the throne. 40 million people, but its done wrong. influence has been far wider as a consequence of the His wife cuts his His son brings an army Atlantic slave trade from the beard to make to the palace, with 16th to 19th centuries. Large a love charm. disastrous results. numbers of men, women, and children suffered appalling The king and his family are killed in conditions on a journey to an punishment for their lack of respect. often short and brutish life in the New World. Yorùbá religious thought and practice traveled with the slaves, and their influence can be seen in religions such as Candomblé in Brazil, Vodou (often misnamed “voodoo”) in Haiti, and Santería in Cuba.
296 ESHU THE TRICKSTER This ca.1900 Nigerian Adjella-Ifa depicts a woman, with a baby on her back, carrying a divination bowl topped with a hen. A Babalawo will cast nuts into the bowl for divine insight. did everything together: when they planted yams in the field, they did so side by side; they wore the same dresses; they had even taken a pair of brothers as their husbands. The women promised each other that they would remain friends for the rest of their days. To secure this pact, they visited a Babalawo (diviner), who cast his sacred palm nuts and discerned that to have their friendship blessed, they needed to offer a sacrifice to Eshu. However, they neglected to carry out these instructions and Eshu, in turn, decided to teach them a lesson. and place her son on the throne.” have the wizard make the charm. The hat trick Eshu warned the king, “You had Thinking that she wished to kill One day the two friends were better take care and keep vigil.” him, the king jumped up and pried working in the fields, singing the knife from her hand. The together as they worked the soil That night, as the king commotion alerted the king’s son, with their hoes. Eshu appeared pretended to sleep, his aggrieved who was outside with his warriors, wearing a flamboyant hat, one half wife stole into his chamber with and they now rushed into the red and the other half white, and as a knife, intent on cutting a few bedroom. Seeing his distraught he walked between the two whiskers from his beard so as to mother and the king with a knife in women, they both greeted him. his hand, he thought that his father After he had gone on his way, one Eshu turns right into wrong, wished to harm his mother. of the women turned to the other and wrong into right. Meanwhile, the king, seeing the and commented on his appearance. Yorùbá Poetry warriors, assumed that his son had “What a wonderful red hat he was come to seize power. A massacre wearing!” she exclaimed. “Are Bakare Gbadamosi ensued, in which the king and his you blind?” asked her companion. and Ulli Beier, 1979. family all lost their lives. “Surely you saw that the hat was white!” When Eshu returned later The two friends that day, he passed between While Eshu punished those who the women again as they rested did not know their place, he also on their hoes. This time, he rubbed rewarded those who behaved well. their tired backs. There were once two young women who were the best of friends. They “I am so sorry,” said one woman to the other, “you were indeed right and his hat was red.” “Are you mocking me?” replied her friend. “I could see it was clearly white!” Offended by each other’s
ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 297 contrariness, the two friends came Eshu wore a hat with Eshu assaulted to blows, but rather than jeopardize a different color on each the king’s wife in their friendship, they decided to side facing north, south, daylight in front of follow the Babalawo’s advice. They prepared a sacrifice to Eshu, who east, and west. witnesses. accepted their offering and blessed their relationship so that they Others saw The goat said that remained the best of friends to the different colors, the culprit was wearing end of their lives. depending on where they stood when they saw the a red hat. Eshu and divination While Eshu is a figure of both attack. Eshu’s hat of many colors chaos and order, this is not his only featured in more than one myth. role in the Ifá religion. He is also a Eshu got He wore it to best King Metolonfin, messenger, a being of multiple away with murder who boasted that his amazing faces and personas who links because nobody could four-eyed goat (actually the sun) everyday people with Olodumare, allowed him to be all-seeing. Ifá’s supreme god. The Yorùbá agree on what the other. A Yorùbá divination believe that Eshu plays an important they saw. poem gives this warning: “All and dual role in divination; first, ori gathered to deliberate but the spirit constantly monitors the concepts of ori and ese, meaning they did not invite ese. Eshu transaction between the human “head” and “legs,” respectively. Ori said, ‘You do not invite ese; world and the divine. Then, when is essentially a person’s potential we will see if you are able to a human makes a sacrifice, Eshu and destiny, while ese is their hard achieve success.’” ■ acts as an active conduit for divine work. The Yorùbá believe that both energy—he lends the diviner ashe are necessary to succeed in life— (power) and transports this power one cannot be effective without to the gods. In return, he brings divine gifts, such as knowledge or healing, back to the human world. Duality plays an important role in Yorùbá mythology, not just in the dual nature of Eshu, but in the Gods of the Yorùbá Olodumare is the creator and The orisha Yemoja is the mother of supreme being, it (the Yorùbá do all other orisha and the goddess of Yorùbá cosmology does not take not assign a gender to the deity) the ocean and water. Accordingly, a single coherent form. This is is remote from the people. she is typically depicted in blue. largely due to the fact that many ethnic groups were, over the The Yorùbá have not erected years, absorbed and assimilated any monuments to Olodumare, into the community that we now instead interacting with and know as the “Yorùbá.” The appealing to minor spirits, the diverse groups brought their orisha, who control various own religious knowledge and aspects of everyday life. The insights, and these were often orisha are either associated with incorporated into the evolving the color white (for calm and Yorùbá religious system. gentle spirits) or black and red, denoting a more aggressive or As in many African religions, mercurial nature. Eshu is the Yorùbá believe in a high god, traditionally depicted in a black called Olodumare. Although and red hat.
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