Stop telling your kids Santa Claus brought it- Kunta Kinte / Haki Kweli Shakur

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Black Egyptian Cosmology

Black Egyptian Cosmology

 

Most people who study Ancient Egypt or those involved in the Kemetic Faith or Spirituality, actually do not know the cosmologies. The cosmologies are probably the most important aspect of understanding Ancient Egypt/Kemet.

Kemetic Cosmology comes from an older and more ancient place. We have recently found that Nabta Playa in Nubia is much older than Egypt (6,000 bc)  and the Megaliths there are a precursor to the Giza Plateau.  Recently, we have seen that the Megaliths in Southern Africa are up to 100,000 years old and important to these Megaliths that act as a calender are ancient Horus carvings. See Micheal Tellinger’s Book – Temples of the African Gods.

Often overlooked in Egypt/Khemet is the God Khnemu. Khnemu is actually the earliest God of Kemet – Pharoah Khufu named himself after him – he was actually Khufu Khemenu. After him – his Sons replaced their names with Ra.

Here is a section from The Legend of the Destruction of Mankind

Then the Aged One himself (i.e., Ra) embraced (?) the god Nu, and spake unto the gods who came forth in the east of the sky, “Ascribe ye praise to the god, the Aged One, from whom I have come into being. I am he who made the heavens, and I (set in order [the earth, and created the gods, and] I was with them for an exceedingly long period; ‘then was born the year and ………. but my soul is older than it (i.e., time). It is the Soul of Shu, it is the Soul of Khnemu (?), it is the Soul of Heh, it is the Soul of Kek and Kerh (i.e., Night and Darkness), it is the Soul of Nu and of Ra, it is the Soul of Osiris, the lord of Tettu, it is the Soul of the Sebak Crocodile-gods and of the Crocodiles, it is the Soul of every god [who dwelleth] in the divine Snakes, it is the Soul of Apep in Mount Bakhau (i.e., the Mount of Sunrise), and it is the Soul of Ra which pervadeth the whole world.”

Khnemu appears earlier in the Famine Text in the Third Dynasty – when Kemet is Plagued by Famine and Imhotep guides Djoser to pay attention to Khnemu. See Famine Text.

At some point Khnemu is replaced with Ra – However, the cosmology is basically the same.

I wanted to include the following blurb from a blog because it interesting and requires further research:

Of the Egyptian triad of primal creative deities (PtahTanen, Khnum and Herchef) the god Khnum comes closest to the Hebrew picture of the primal deity as creative artist. Khnum is a ram-headed god whose cult originated in Elephantine. He was like YHWH, a potter in creation who shaped men like a potter shapes with clay upon a wheel (the Hebrew picture of YHWH ‘loyim as primal potter is shown in Jeremiah 18:2-4). In Memphite theology Ptah, in his association with Khnum, is a dwarf spirit chief of the nine creative cosmic spirits collectively referred to as Khnum (“the potters”). The nine Khnum spirits are represented in statuettes with muscular bodies, bowed legs, long arms and big heads.

According to Memphite theology Ptah, assisted by the Khnum spirits, shaped the world and men like a potter shapes clay on wheel, thus, the dwarfs are often represented as earthenware elves. In the association of Khnum spirit with clay or earth, as medium of their creative expression, they are; often represented as dwelling underground, like artisans in subterranean workshops bring things to life from earthenware material; in the “womb of the earth.” The idea of subterranean workshop of creative dwarf spirits taken to be “primal potters” is widespread. The Chinese worshiped Pan Ku, Phoenician sailors revered dwarf statuettes. Creative dwarf spirits were associated with Tvashtar the “Modeller,” in the Rig-Veda hymns. “Black dwarfs” are identified as creative spirits in Teutonic mythology.
The highest conception of Ptah the Primal Modeller in Egyptian theology was rather abstract. He was (as already mentioned) the embodiment of the Cosmic Ego and omnipresent demiurgic spirit, creator of all things. All things took shape or emerged from his creative mind.
The writer JohnThomas Didymus is the author of “Confessions of God: The Gospel According to St. JohnThomas Didymus.”( http://www.resurrectionconspiracy.com/ ). If you have found this article interesting please read the article:CREATOR GOD AS SMITH-ARTIFICER: PROMETHEUS AS MESSIAH-SAVIOR FIGURE on his blog: http://johnthomasdidymus.blogspot.com/2010/11/creator-god-as-smith-artificer.html

Not surprising you find here – Khnum modelling men with the assistance of his wife Anquet holding an Ankh.

It is apparent that Khnum and his eight never leave Egyptian Cosmology and Khnum never leaves Nubia. Key to this is creation and what assist in creation. Khnum has eight helpers called the Khnumu. Latter in the Shabaka Stone – Ptah will have eight helpers again. Here is Kemetic Cosmology references in short:

The cosmology of Khmun or Hermopolis is one of the oldest cosmologies. At this point though Khnum and Khmun look closely similiar – one reflects the creative nubian deity and the other reflects a place – The City of Eight. However – The Hieroglyphic for the Khnum is a Jar to hold water or Nun  and the City of Eight also contains this Jar.

There are several cosmology themes but existing with variations of weather one, several or different combinations of the the following primordial dieties Amen/Amenet, Nun/Nunet, Kuk/Kukhet, Heh/Hehet. Tuhuti was called their father is some text and Maat their mother in another text. In this cosmology some event explosion took place that caused the combining of the eight

References are the “lake of two knives”, “island of flames”.

The cosmology of Khmun then combines with the cosmology of Yonew, Helipolis or On. In this cosmology precreation is not explicityl stated but Atum is created in some event with Nun and steps on the primieval hill and begins creation.

The next cosmology is that of Menefer/memphite/Hikuptah Cosmology. Here Ptah takes the role of Atun and embodies in his mouth the Eight and creates the Ennead. From the Shabaka Stone – which is a later rewriting of the Memphite Coslomogy – Ptah (c. 700 BC) he is altogether identified as eightprimitive forms of God; the first is ‘Ptah who is upon the great (i.e. primeval) place’, meaning the original spirit. Then Ptah-Niu – the waters ‘who was the father of Atum’, next is Ptah-Naunet – ‘the Primeval Mother who gave birth to Atum. Then ‘Ptah the very great one who is the heart and tongue of the Divine Compay’. Unfortunately several of the names have been lost to us, except Nefertum, the lotus. source:http://www.philae.nu/akhet/NetjeruP.html

From the Middle Kingdom Amen Hotep III begins the worship of Amun Re His Son Amen Hotep IV begins the worship of Aten Re combining older dieties into Aten. He takes this one step further by defacing the names of the other dieties.

Amen Tut Ankh (Tut Ankh Amun) restores the old religion Horemhab begins the persecution of the Aten priesthood

Amun Ra becomes the popular Dietity of the working people in Waset/Thebes. Amun is “that beloved God who hearkens to humble entreaties, who stretches forth his hand to the  humble, who saves the weak”, “who hears prayer, conies at the  voice of the distressed humble one, who gives breath to him that is  wretched”, and Re-Harakhte is called “august, beloved, merciful  God who hears him that prays, who hears the humble entreaties  of him that calls upon him, who comes at the voice of him that  utters his name.”

Amun Ra has 777 ears and milions of Eyes. He becomes the hidden one that we pray and hears our prayers and appears when we need him.

The Shabaka stone contains aspects of  all of the Cosmologies.  I asked Kemetic Professor  Mfundishi Jhutyms about the problems of the different strains of cosmology and he has an excellent metaphor that described helps. Basically, if a car runs in back of a bus – and there are three witnesses. Each witness will tell his story from his vantage point. But the fact is that the car hit the bus. So there is at least one agreement. Here life comes out of Nun/Nunet. I have earlier talked about Ptah and the Eight.

From other sources on cosmology

J. Hill’s website- http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/ogdoad.html

There are four central creation myths. The first held that the world was born from a cosmic egg created by the gods of the Ogdoad. It was invisible as the sun had not yet been born. When it opened, it revealed the “bird of light”, an aspect of the sun god Re (occasionally the egg was said to contain air, associated with Amun and Amaunet). Alternatively, the egg was laid by a celestial goose called the Gengen Wer (the primeval goose who was associated with Amun who took this form as a creator god). When Re hatched from the egg, he created the world and everything in it. The second version says that the egg was laid by an ibis, (a bird sacred to Thoth). However, the cult of Thothdeveloped after the original myth of the Ogdoad, so it is probable that this story was an attempt to incorporate Thoth into the pre-existing Ogdoad (who were sometimes known as “the souls of Thoth”).

The third myth states that a lotus flower emerged from the waters of “the Sea of the Two Knives” (a lake near to the temple in Hermopolis). The petals opened to reveal Re who then created the world. The fourth myth is similar, except it held that a scarab beetle (Khepri – the symbol of the rising sun) was revealed when the petals opened. The scarab transformed into a young boy whose tears formed the first human beings. The boy is generally considered to be Nefertum (“young Atum“) but once Re and Horus had been merged as Re-Horakhty the boy was sometimes considered to be the infant Horus.

The Hermopolitans claimed that their theory of creation was older than any other in Egypt and that it was the Ogdoad who gave birth to both the sun and Atum . It is also interesting to note the similarity between the Ogdoad and the description of the creation of the world found in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament).

copyright J Hill 2010

From http://www.egyptian-gods.info/2010/11/egyptian-gods-ruling-forms-and.html

The Egyptian Gods and the Natural Elements
According to the Hermopolitan view the eight primordial deities existed in four pairs of male and female, each associated with a specific aspect or element of the pre-creation: Nun (or Nu) and Naunet (water); Heh and Hauhet, Infinity; Kek and Kauket; Darkness; Amun and Amaunet, Hiddenness. These original ‘elements’ were believed to be inert yet to contain the potential for creation. James Hoffmeier has shown that interesting similarities exist between these elements and the conditions list immediately prior to the creation account in the biblical book of Genesis. In Egypt, however, the members of the Ogdoad were regarded as distinct divine entities and their names were grammatically masculine and feminine to reflect the equatin creation with sexual union and birth. They were called the “fathers” and “mothers” of the sun god, since this deity was the focal point of ongoing creation in the Hermopolitan world view – as he was elsewhere.

Just as the beginning of the annual season of growth has marked in Egypt by the Nile’s receding imundation and emergence of high points of land from the falling river, so the Egyptians viewed the original creation event as occurring when the primordial mound of earth (see Tatenen) rose from the waters of the First Time. It was said that a lotus blossom (see Nefertem) then rose from the waters or from the same primeval mound; and it was from this flower that the young sun god emerged bringing light into the cosmos, and with it the beginning time and all further creation.

The Power of the Sun God; The Heliopolitan View of the Egyptian Gods
Heliopolis, the chief center of solar worship, produced a somewhat different mythic system built around the so-called ennead or “group of nine” deities which consisted of the sun god and eight of his descendants. The Heliopolitan theologians naturally stressed the role of the sun god in their creation stories which focus, as a result, not so much on the intert aspects of preexistence but on the dynamic aspects of the resultant creation itself. The form of the sun god usually associated with this creation was Atum, who was sometimes said to have existed within the primeval waters “in his egg” as a way of explaining the origin of the god. At the moment of creation Atum was said to have been born out of the primordial flood as “he who came into being himself”, thus becoming the source of all further creation. The god next produced two children, Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture), from himself. Several versions of the story exist, but in all of them Atum’s children are produced through the exhalation of the god’s body fluids or mucus – either through the metaphor of masturbation, spitting or sneezing.

In return, this first pair produced their own children, Geb (earth) and Nut (Sky), who took their respective places below and above their parents, giving the creation its full spatial extent. Geb and Nut then produced the deities Osiris and Isis, Seth and Nephthys who viewed from one perspective represented the fertile land of Egypt and the surrounding desert, so that the key elements of the Egyptian universe were completed at this time. Frequently the god Horus, son and heir of Osiris and the deity most closely associated with kingship, was added to this group, thus supplying the link between the physical creation and societal structures. All these aspects, however, were viewed as simply extensions of the original coming into being of the sun god who lay at the heart of this world view and who was thus ‘the father of all’ and ‘ruler of the gods’.

While the scholars of Heliopolis focused mainly on the emergence and development of the sun god, Atum, the priests of nearby Memphis looked at creation from the perspective of their own god Ptah. As the god of metalworkers, craftsmen and architects it was natural that Ptah was viewed as the great craftsman who made all things. But there was also another, much deeper, link between Ptah the creation of the world which set the Memphite view of creation apart. The so-called Memphite Theology which is preserved on the Shabaka Stonein the Egyptian collection of the British Musem reveals this important aspect of the Memphite theological system. While the inscription dates to the 25th dynasty it was copied from a much earlier source, apparently of the early 19th dynasty, though its principles may have dated to even earlier times. The text alludes to the Heliopolitan creation account centred on the god Atum, but goes on to claim that the Memphite god Ptah preceded the sun god and that it was Ptah who created Atum and ultimately the other Egyptian gods and all else ‘through his heart and through his tongue’. The expression alludes to the conscious planning of creation and its execution through rational thought and speech, and this story of creation ex nihilo as attributed to Ptah by the priests of Memphis is the earliest known example of the so-called ‘logos’ doctrine in which the world is formed through a god’s creative speech. As such it was one of the most intellectual creation myth to arise in Egypt and in the ancient world as a whole.

Like Atum, however, Ptah was also viewed as combining male and female elements within himself. This is seen in early texts, and in the latest period of Egyptian history the name of the god was written acrophonically as pet-ta-heh or p(et)+t(a)+h(eh) as though he were supporting the sky (pet) above the earth (ta) in the manner of the Heh deities, but also bridging and combining the female element of the sky and the male element of the earth in the anarogynous manner of the primordial male-female duality Ptah-Naunet.

Egyptian Gods in Mythic Variants
As much as these three systems of comsogony and theogony differ in their details and in the stress placed upon differing deities by their own cults, it is clear that they all share a similar approach to creation. Although the differing approaches were apparently never combined into one unified myth, stories existed for many of the individual myths which fitted into the same overall ramework. In the stories stressing the solar origin of creation, for example, we find variants which proclaimed that the sun god came into being as a hawk or falcon, or as a sphoenix, in the form of a child, a scarab bettle, or some other creatures, but these all originated from the primeval waters or from the mound which rose from them. There are also variants of the manner in which the monad (the prime, indivisible entity) is said to have produced the rest of creation – a Middle Kingdom text found on coffins at el-Bersheh states of the ‘All-lord’: ‘I brought into being the gods from my sweat, and men are the tears of my eye’; but these do not differ radically from those of Heliopolis considered above. To some extent all these stories appear as kaleidoscopic variations of core mythic elements, and may indicate an effort on the part of the Egyptian theologians to incorporate deities which had arisen in different parts of Egypt, or at different times, into existing mythic frameworks. It is often the nature of the creator deities and the basis of their power which is at issue in the varying stories of the origin and rule of the Egyptian gods.

Ancient Egyptian Astronomy (Theophile Obenga)

The oldest Pharaonic astronomical texts date back to the ninth Egyptian dynasty (c.2150BC). They gave the names of thirty-six stars which rise within ten days of each other at the same time as the sun. Regarding comets, astronomers seem to have recorded under Thutmosis 111 (1504-1450) the apparition of Halley's comet. This is very possible for if comets visible to the naked eye are rare, comets which describe elliptic orbits are periodically observable: this is the case of Halley's and Encke's comets.The course of stars and planets was also a preocupation of the Egyptians. According to Chabas(1) "Four thousand years ago, the Egyptians know that the earth moved in space and they did not hesitate to attribute the knowledge of this astronomical fact to the generations who had preceded them centuries ago."In antiquity the Egyptian civil calendar was the only calendar to be based on astronomy; this Egyptian calendar is the very foundation of our present calendar. Thales, the Greek sage, received his scientific education in Egypt, where the annual calendar of 365 days had been known as early as 4200BC and where the Great Bear, a constellation of the boreal hemisphere, was well and truly identified by the Egyptians, who called it "Meskhetyou."

* This is an extract from Theophile Obenga, Ancient Egypt & Black Africa, Karnak House, London, 1992 ISBN 0-907015070-0This text is available from the US distributors of Karnak books Africa World Press Theophile Obenga is a Distinguished Scholar w

ho studied Egyptology, Linguistics and Anthropology in universities in France, USA and Switzerland. He worked with the famous Cheikh Anta Diop on various projects and has authored several texts in both English and French. For several years he served as the Director General of CICIBA, a major Center for Bantu Studies located in Gabon, Central Africa.

Misconception of African Spirituality | African Religion: Rediscovering the Way

African spirituality is often pitted against 'mainstream' religions as a culture that promotes mythical and backward teachings. In his latest column, Ceasefire's JJ Bola debunks some of the myths and lies surrounding Western perceptions of many African traditions.

From the Bantu-Kongo, the Akan, Zulu, to the Twa, the traditions of African spiritual systems have existed for thousands of years dating back to the dawn of the earliest civilisations known to (wo)man. However, since the emergence of the Abrahamic faiths, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from 100AD onwards, and the imperial conquests that followed, African spiritual systems have suffered a constant barrage of negative press, stigmatisation, and demonization to a significantly greater degree than their mainstream counterparts.

Too often have we heard negative associations made with “voodoo” or “juju” to witchcraft, or even all African spiritual practises being viewed as generally “evil” with practises being considered, for want of a better word, backward. Film director and educator Dalian Adofo, director of documentary Ancestral Voices: Esoteric African Knowledge, argues that African spirituality is often subjected to condemnation without investigation. That people are all too quick to dismiss African spirituality, without actually finding out what its fundamental precepts and principles are for themselves.

Of course, to speak of African spiritual systems as a homogenous entity is misleading and severely limiting. However there are fundamental principles found in each, such as collectivism, humanism and the reciprocal relationship between human beings and nature which connects them all.

The Bantu-Kongo are people of the Kongo kingdom. This was a prominent central African state during the medieval era with more than 60, 000 inhabitants of the capital city Mbanza Kongo alone. They believed that “God” is a balance of both feminine and masculine energy. As a reminder of this concept in the human form, the left side of the human body was named female, and the right side male. This concept of duality, of male/female, darkness/light, positive/negative, was believed to be the order upon which the universe was established and manifested through every living organism.

Dogon cave art, Mali, West Africa

Geographically, if we travel across to the Dogon people of West Africa – whose civilisation dates as far back as 3,000BC – we see the conceptualisation of this dual principle of balance or “twinness” in a different form. The Dogon believe that it was Amma, the divine creator of the universe, who ordained that all living things be manifestations of this universal principle.

The dual principle of balance dates as far back as the early civilisation of ancient Egypt. The epithet of Ma’at, a goddess that symbolised this, as well as harmony, truth, and order, is an example of how the world and the order of the universe was conceived in African spirituality, across both space and time.

One of the most widespread lies about African spirituality is the notion that they are polytheistic. That, in effect, those who observed African spiritual systems were worshipping multiple gods, and not the one true “God”, which – regardless of whether or not there is anything wrong with worshipping multiple gods – was not the case. In fact, thousands of years before the emergence of the Abrahamic faiths it was the Kemetic spiritual tradition of ancient Egypt that was the first to introduce the concept of monotheism, conceptualising the monotheistic principle of the one true “God” as “Aten” during the rule of Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) in the 18^th dynasty.

Another misconception, popular among cynics, is that statues are used as a form of idol worship.

Each religion or spiritual practise has their rituals for connecting to a higher divine source. For example, in Christianity, you have the crucifix, which is often worn around the necks of believers. In Islam prayer beads may be used to facilitate prayer. These symbolic tools are used to connect to a higher source. When they are revealed in mainstream society there is a general acceptance. However, if the same person pulled out the Orisha statue of Oshun, the Orisha of love, maternity and marriage, as practised by the Yoruba spiritual tradition, a negative reaction is all that can be expected because of prevalent stigmatisation and negative associations.

Ivory Coast, West African fertility statue

In many of the African spiritual traditions it is believed that there is one “God”. They are referred to as Nzambi’a Mpungu Tulendo in Kikongo, the central language of the Bantu-Kongo people, which is translates as the “everything in everything”. As “Amma”, among the Dogon people, or “Oludamare” among the Yoruba. There are also manifestations of “God”, the divine creator entity, in different elements of living organisms. These are seen as reflections of god, much like the ocean and a rain drop; the same substance with only a quantitative difference.

In Burkina Faso they have a saying that “50% of the people are Christian, the other 50% are Muslim, but 100% are African spiritualists (animists)”. This means that regardless of your religious beliefs, as an African, it is imperative to understand and pay homage to the beliefs and traditions that were held by those who came before you, the same traditions and beliefs that are being kept alive today.

THE 'NGAS' PEOPLE OF PLATEAU STATE NIGERIA

THE RITES OF PASSAGE OF THE NGAS PEOPLE OF PLATEAU STATE NIGERIA

RITES OF PASSAGE OF THE NGAS PEOPLE OF PLATEAU, NIGERIA

INTRODUCTION

African Traditional Religion has become part of the African lifestyle in such a way that separating one from the other is as good as annihilating the African continent and its inhabitants. This, we shall see in the way the Ngas people gave themselves to be molded, nurtured and cultured by their religion and traditions. Against this backdrop, emphasis will be made on the historical, religious and social life of the Ngas man, since we cannot separate his religious life from his social life.

For the purpose of this work, the writer will be limiting his research on one part of the Ngas people. We have the Hill Ngas and the Plain Ngas. The writer will write about the traditional religion of the Plain Ngas, inhabiting Amper, Kabwir, and other areas of Ampang East, Dawaki and Gyangyang in Kanke Local Government of Plateau State.

The beliefs and practices of the Ngas religion looks similar from one town to another, but also have some differences because the way things are done in one village varies from the other.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Ngas people are currently inhibiting the land of Pankshin and Kanke Local Government Areas in the Central Zone of Plateau State, Nigeria, some 120 kilometers and 150 kilometers respectively from Jos, the Plateau State capital. Pankshin occupies a land area of about 1523.6271 Sq. km, while kanke occupies a land area of about 926.0634 Sq. km respectively.

These people are said to have migrated from Egypt, Sudan or Chad to the Borno region. They set out of Borno, sometime between 1100 and 1350 A.D in search of a place to farm and care for their animals until they reach their current land which is called by the Ngas people Yil Ngas (Ngas land). The Plain Ngas settled in the areas of Amper, Kabwir, Dawaki, Ampang East and Gyangyang, about 600 to 800 metres above the sea level while the Hill Ngas occupies the mountains of Pankshin, Wokkos, Garam and many other places ranging from 800 to 1400 metres above the sea level.

THE CONCEPT OF A SUPREME BEING

The Ngas people believe in a Supreme Being called “Nen”. They do not have any other name that is revered as that of Nen because of his attributes. The omniscience of God is revealed in this statement, “Nen do gombi man!” meaning that God is all knowing. He is the Almighty, “Nen warang dung”, and the ever present God, “Nen gi”. He is also the God of justice and the God of the children, poor people, widows and orphans, and the sustainer of all things. However, he cannot be called upon directly, except during a serious need or when justice is denied.

THE CONCEPT OF THE SPIRIT WORLD

Spirits play a very important role in the beliefs of the Ngas religion. They are believed to have come from God to help mankind. These spirits are called “Zigol mwa” or “Kwi mwa”. The good spirits are called “Zigol rit mwa” or “Kwi rit mwa,” they bring blessings and stand between man and God. They are not and cannot be associated with evil. According to The Angas Creation Myth in a Christian Perspective, Kangdim says that “the process of multiplication started when the last spirit “Tingwut” gave birth to a son called “Kolji”. It was Kolji who was responsible for the generation of bad spirits” (T.C.N.N Reserch Buletin, number 11, November, 1981:3). These evil spirits bring about curses and all sorts of misfortune to the entire community. The evil spirits are called “Zigol bis mwa” or “Kwi bis mwa”. It was believed therefore that Nen is not the originator of evil, which is why he placed the good spirits to help mankind.

THE CONCEPT OF SALVATION

The Ngas people believe that there is life after death, where one’s spirit goes, stays for some time as the ancestor or living dead (wong) and comes back to be reincarnated or reborn.

They also believe in a concept of a ‘heaven’ called Zwal Sara (The Sara Hills). It was believed that when a person dies, what determines his life is how he gets to Sara. Rev. Dr. Gotom, in an oral interview said that, “Zwal Sara was said to be a blissful place, where they spend time enjoying and playing music”. They often say that “ngo sa bis mwa run Sara da ka!” meaning that the wicked and evil people will never get to Sara. Therefore, since the evil people cannot get to Sara, they come back as “Kapwan” (ghost) and torment people. The elders of the land are responsible for chasing the kapwan away, and his end is that he will continue to reduce in size and shape until he is finally picked up be a hawk (nkalin).

Another belief is that when a young person dies in battle or is attacked in the bush, provided women are not aware of it, the person will be called home by the elders. However, only particular sets of people are usually called home, they are called “jep rit mwa” or “gyemrit” meaning the blessed children or blessed child. But when the news of that fellow gets home before he arrives, the elders will talk to him and after which he lives to a distant land and lives his life as a normal human being. This belief is still held today, especially for those in the armed forces, which serves as a sign of security and protection in case of death in the battle field or accidents.

WORSHIP OF THE HIGH GOD

Worship is not directly to Nen because he is very remote from man. In an effort to reach him, they “wap kum” and “won mwa,” meaning the worship of idols, ancestor and divinities. Worship is usually done in the shrine “Lit”. It is in the shrine that the sacrifices and prayers that involve the whole community are carried out. This is done through the sprinkling of blood, water, mos (beer) and certain crops depending on the kind of sacrifice. Yilji captures this in the Ngas Concept of God and Spiritual Beings, a T.C.N.N Buletin as:

The Ngas traditionalists offer sacrifices to their ancestors but with the understanding that Nen who knows and sees everything will bring blessings as a result of their worship and prayers. Thus it appears as if the ancestors are not worshiped as such, but are mediators and fellow worshippers on a higher level, who also posses divine powers.(Number 16, February 1986:30-31).

However, failure to sacrifice to these ancestors and spirits will result to serious misfortune and calamity upon the whole community.

Fellowship meal (gwim) is usually prepared and the whole community partakes in it. This is to purify the community against tormenting people with evil spirits called “ne zi” or any act that is considered a taboo like stealing or adultery.

MAJOR DIVINITIES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

Kangdim in his work, The High God in African Tradition Religion mentions the following as the most important divinities in Ngas land: Tau, Yer, Kumpel, Poting, Tar, Gashi, and Fwan (T.C.N.N Research Bulletin, number 9, April, 1981:21). Worship to these divinities is marked by festivals either in the dry or rainy season.

TAU - this is a male divinity that is responsible for blessing the whole community in terms of fertility of humans, animals and farm crops. However, when sacrifices are not offered to him, or something goes wrong, he brings misfortune on the whole community.

YER-This is a female divinity responsible for the defense of the territory of the inhabitants. She also maintained peace and order in the community.

Moral purity of the people is maintained by her and she could kill a person involve who is involved in fornication, adultery and theft except the person confess and sacrifices are offered to appease her.

KUMPEL-Is responsible for the fertility of women as well as the potency of men.

POTING- This is a highly respected divinity because he brings about the riches and wealth of the community in every dimension. Individuals seeking personal fortune goes into agreement with this divinity; he promises them wealth in exchange of human’s life every year. Even though the individual becomes rich, it is usually short-lived because when he sacrifices all the members of his family, poting will also kill him in the end.

TAR- This is the moon divinity, and is responsible for the harvest and bringing in the new year (dry season). He is usually celebrated at the end of the rainy season, around October before the people harvest their farm produce.

GASHI- This is the war divinity and must be consulted before going for any battle. He also defenses the kingship against wickedness and evil intentions.

FWAN-It means rain. This rain divinity is directly responsible for the rains. Sacrifices are made before the rain, during and after the rain to avoid drought or limited rainfall.

 THE RITES OF PASSAGE OF THE NGAS PEOPLE

PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH

In the Ngas culture, when a woman takes in, serious attention is given to her because she may be carrying one of the ancestors. The pregnant woman is usually taken care of by the elderly women in the family. Just some few months or weeks to her delivery, certain herbs like “sin njamma” and “yom mwal” are giving to the woman to ease delivery. Mr. Goyin Gotus says that “once these herbs are giving to her, she will deliver without having difficulty” (interviewed in Jos). The circumstances surrounding the birth of a child determine the name that will be given to him or her. If the child is born in the night, his or her name will be “Gopar” or “Napar”, and this form the basis for naming. In some instances, Nen is used in the names giving go people, for example, Nenrot or Nenfot means God loves or God hears respectively.

Twins have special names; if they are both males, their names are Jan and Dakom; if they are both females, Ngas call them Janna and Nakom. If they are mixed, that is male and female or female and male, the first person retains the first name above while the second person retains the last name whether male or female.

CIRCUMCISION

In Ngas traditional religion, only males are circumcised. Circumcision (Vwang) is usually carried out on young adults who are getting to a new phase in their lives. This stage marks the beginning of education into the Ngas religion. The young adults are camped in a far place away from home, this rite of separation usually last for about 30 to 60 days, and many mysteries of worship, the ancestors and the spirits will be revealed to them. This is the period to test and know who is who among the young men. The brave are referred to as real men (gomis), while the weak might never get to the end. If a person dies during this period, the slogan is that “won se kora”, meaning that the ancestors have eaten him up.

No woman is allowed to see “wong” or the participants. Therefore, when wong is coming, the slogan used to inform people about his presence is “mat lammo!” meaning that all women should hide or disappear. This also holds for male children who are not circumcised because they are considered as women.

The first and most important thing for any male to be a man is circumcision. Part of the training is that you will be severely beaten to an extent that if you are not brave you will die. Another form of training is that they will introduce you to “wong mwa” (ancestors). From there, you will also be taken by night to go and see the graves of your ancestors. Before the end of the camp, you will be taken to “Lit” (shrine), and there, you will be taught how to worship the ancestors and some basics or rudiments of the traditional religious system will be revealed. Gonet says that ““Manok” or “wong gum” is concerned with the circumcision and initiation of boys” (1994:60). This “wong” instills discipline and removes fear from the young men, he also removes the women nature out of them so that they hold sacred everything that is done and this cannot be revealed to any woman, not even your mother or wife later in the future.

At the end of this initiation, the rite of incorporation into the community is marked by a festival, welcoming the warriors back home, not as the boys who left some months back but as men, tested and trusted. During this celebration, the Ngolong (chief) will come to the village square to welcome them. The families of the initiated men will also come with gifts for them. Family in Ngas land includes the father, mother, grand and great grandparents as well as uncles and everybody that is related to them. The gifts for these young warriors include: Pas (spear), banne (traditional attire), skin of wild animals and different things will be presented to them.

It is imperative to say that initiation into the traditional religion does not end after the circumcision, but that as one grows in obedience and dedication to the worship of “wong wma,” the more the person is initiated into more forms and ways of worship. The key to this is being truthful and living a morally pure life.

From this stage, you are not to engage in fornication or adultery, because you will become “ngo sa bis” an evil person and as such cut off from the shrine worship. In fact, the greatest evil that one can do is to go into sexual relationship with somebody’s wife. You will be an outcast and it will never end well with you. This is illustrated in the statement that “ngo sa bis khi rap kin” meaning that associating with this kind of person is putting yourself at risk or under attack by the ancestors.

 MARRIAGE

The first criteria for marriage in Ngas land is that the man must be circumcised, while the woman must have experienced menstruation (but le nyi). There is a kind of dance called “Nahiet” and if a man knows how to sing, dance or play the drum (kung) very well, ladies will usually rally round him. If he likes any of them, he will have to inform his parents to investigate her family and thereafter start the process. Another way of getting to know who you want to marry may be an interest of the parents; in a way of continuing with friendship, parents can organize that their children marry each other. A young man may also have interest in a lady and approach her (kwem). If she agrees, he will relate it to his parents.

After this stage, the parents of the young man will go and introduce themselves to the family of the lady, and inform them about the interest of their son. They usually go with “taba” (tobacco). Before the parents agree, the lady must be consulted first before any one smokes the tobacco. If the says yes, she is pledging and agreeing that the process of marriage should continue, but if she says no then nothing will go on again.

The next thing after the tobacco is “kin” (salt). The salt will be share to all the extended members of the family, informing them that their daughter is about to marry. After this period, the friends of the young man will snatch the girl to his home. Since they are not yet married, the girl will stay with his mother. The following day, she will be taken back to her parents with four to five goats as dowry. The man will then organize his friends to go and farm for his in-laws.

The man will build houses, usually round shape, and harvest grasses that will be used to roof the houses. The lady will in turn invite her friends to assist her in weaving the grasses for the roofing, as well as building the places for cooking and house work. She will still return home to her parents before she comes back fully as a wife.

The women in her family will then organize a send-forth for her. What they do is to educate her on how to run her family. They also tell her that this is how we do things in our clan, so if you go, do this and that.

 DEATH AND BURIAL

When a person dies, the Ngas people usually mourn (mep) for three days. This is a period of wailing, where the relatives of the deceased and the whole community come together to sympathize with each other because they are fully integrated. After three days, the mourning is concluded (mwa fat pi), but the impact of the lost remains with the community for a while.

When an elderly person dies, it is said that he has joined the ancestors, and a lot of shrine worship and sacrifices will be done before burial. Conversely, when a young person dies, the wailing is usually more because they believe that somebody must be responsible for his death. Mr. Gompil Y Bonkul said that “he will grieve his son very well because he knows that somebody or a witch is responsible for his death” (interviewed in Amper). This concept is reflected even today in the sense that when a person dies, the first consideration is who killed him.

Burial is done by digging a grave (tun), usually in the form of a well, and the deceased is placed sitting down of a stone, facing the East, and a big stone is rolled to seal the tomb. The deceased is usually dressed in the traditional attire to meet the ancestors. Very few people are allowed to see or touch the dead body, it is sacred and a taboo for children or women to touch it. Very elderly men as well as the men perform the burial rites. Sacrifices are done to send the deceased ancestor to the spirit realm where he can watch over them as the living dead.

The chief’s (Ngolong) tomb is just one, and when he dies, the tomb of the former Ngolong will be reopen, the bones of the former chief will be put aside so that the deceased chief will be buried. Burial of the chief also include rites and sacrifices to the ancestors.

 CONCLUSION

Having gone through this tribe and carefully study  it’s concept of God, spirits and the world in general, the writer will say that no matter how great these traditions seem, our final stand as Christians is the biblical concept of God, spirits, and how man can worship God in truth and in spirit. Any attempt to go out of this is going back to the traditional religion of our past ancestor.

It is mind bogging to see that the traditionalists gave themselves completely to the unknown God who is far away from them, yet committed to him in upholding purity and rites in their worship.

The way these people were able to put themselves in worship is really commendable; the scriptures made it clear that in the conscience of man, he knows that somebody somewhere who is bigger and better than him is responsible for all that is around him.

The shocking thing is that many so called ‘Christians’ today are neither Christians nor traditionalists. While thinking that they are out of traditional worship, they have not fully giving themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. Until we come to reality in Christ, we will be a lost generation who just exist without real essence or purpose in life.

The quest for God and how to worship him was the soul of Africa by African traditionalists. They tried to reach to God but could not reach him because they worked base on what their ancestors passed to them. For us Christians today, Christ has set a pattern for us to follow and unless we go after him, we may as well be chasing shadows like the people of the old.

It is my prayer that you will not just read this document and feel proud about the Rites of Passage of the Ngas People but that you will value your relationship with God even better than any other relationship.

God bless you, amen.

Raphaels Shiknet Manasseh

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gonet, Ishaya.             Angas Traditional Religious Sacrifices and its Influence on Christians in Amper district of Pankshin LGC, of Plateau State. Jos: JETS Thesis, 1994.

Kangdim, Jotham.       The High God in African Traditional Religion. Bukuru: TCNN Research Bulletin, Number 9, 1981.

_____________          The Angas Creation Myth in Christian Perspective. Bukuru: TCNN Research Bulletin, Number 11, 1981.

Yilji, Deshi.                The Ngas Concept of God and Spirit Beings. Bukuru: TCNN Research Bulletin, Number 16, 1986.

Bonkul, Gompil.         Oral interview. Amper, kanke: 3^rd October, 2009.

Gotus, Goyin.             Oral interview. Jos: 10^th October, 2009.

Rev.Dr. Musa Gotom.Oral interview. Jos: 7^th October, 2009.

Kemet & Maat : before Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Kemet: The Place of The Blacks As Symbolized In The Medu Netcher (Hieroglyphics) And Related Issues)

Kemet: The Place of The Blacks As Symbolized In The Medu Netcher (Hieroglyphics) And Related issues Legrand H. Clegg II, Editor & Publisher *
Volume II, Edition  

As clearly noted in previous issues of the Maat Newsletter, there have been many attacks on African-centered scholarship in the past few years. These not-so-subtle attempts to diffuse the spreading of more accurate information about the history of Africans in the world have ranged from personal attacks to character assassinations on such eminent scholars as Ivan Sertima and Asa G. Hilliard III. The bulk of the media and scholarly venom has been directed toward scholars who insist on placing Ancient Kemet in its proper position as an African Nation. Even those European scholars who considered an African origin for the civilization of Kemet felt the need to contribute the growth of the ancient language of Kemet to outside influence, specifically Mesopotamia. Consider this quote from Alan Gardiner (Martin Bernal�s grandfather), whose Egyptian Grammar book is considered the bible for many European egyptologists: "Unfortunately the origin of the Egyptian Language lies so far back in the uncharted past that only little that is certain can be said about it. Since it is generally agreed that the oldest population of Egypt was of African race, it might be expected that their language should be African too."(1) Gardiner goes on to say that the affinity between Semitic languages, such as Hebrew and Arabic is "equally unmistakable, if indeed not greater" than the African influence." The German scholar Adolph Erman wrote in the 19th century that: "The question of the race-origin of the Egyptians has long been a matter of dispute between the ethnologists and philologists, the former maintaining the African theory of descent, the latter the Asiatic. Ethnologists assert that nothing exists in the physical structure of the Egyptian to distinguish him from the native African, and that from the Egyptian to the negro population of tropical Africa, a series of links exists which do not admit of a break."(2) He states further: "Therefore, they say, many old customs of the ancient Egyptians are now found amongst the people of the Upper Nile. I will only instance the curious head-rest still used in the east of the Sudan to protect the wig� On the other side philologists maintain that the language of the ancient Egyptians has distinct kinship with that of the so-called Semitic nations."(3) So it seems that these two well-respected egyptologists, one English, the other German, conceded to a generally accepted view of the ancient population of Kemet as being African. The unsettled question is how an African population could develop a language with such strong "Semitic" language ties? Dr. Theophile Obenga, one of the world�s foremost linguists, has diachronic and synchronic linguistics to solve this problem. Diachronic linguistics is the study of a language and its modifications over a long period of time. Synchronic linguistics is the study of a language at any given moment. By using the interlocking studies of diachronic and synchronic linguistics, together with the comparative method of studying languages, Dr. Obenga has reached these insights: The language of ancient Kemet is not genetically linked to either the Semitic or the Berber languages. The terms "Hamito-Semitic" or Afro-Asiatic" are products of a scientific hoax. According to Dr. Obenga, "�Hamito-Semitic� or �Afro-Asiatic� reminds us of another famous scientific swindle, but this time in archaeology, the bogus discovery of the alleged remains of prehistoric man, Piltdown Man in 1912."(4) There can be shown scientifically the genetic affinities between the language of ancient Kemet and: Acoli (Nilotic) Banda (Central African Republic) Ngbandi (Central African Republic) Luganda (Uganda) Sena (Zambia) Zulu (South Africa) Baoule (Ivory Coast) Snufo (Manianka, Mali) Hausa (Nigeria) Bambara (Mali) Wolof (Senegal) and many other African languages. "The numerous morphological, syntactic, phonetic and lexicological concordances that can be clearly established between Pharaonic Egyptian, Coptic, and all modern black African languages are of an historical genetic order�"(5) Those who perpetuate the unscientific approach to Medu Netcher (hieroglyphics) by using such terms as "Hamito-Semitic" or "Afro-Asiatic" wish to place the ancient world of the Jewish people (the Hebrews) and the Pharaonic world of the Nile Valley on an equal footing, although we know that the Hebrews created no significant contribution to the development of civilization in antiquity except in [a] religion for which ancient Egypt is owed a tremendous debt."(6) This type of reasoning, though logical and well documented, tends to become buried under the endless chatter of scholars and journalists whose only mission, it seems, is to try to discredit African people. Preying in the lack of information concerning the language of Kemet among the general public, a deception has been perpetrated for years by European scholars who have distorted the meaning of the word "Kemet." Kemet is what the ancient people of the Nile Valley called what is erroneously known as "Ancient Egypt." According to European egyptologists Egypt is a Greek word, a corruption of the city name "He ka Ptah" (city of Ptah). The word Egypt was not used until 300 b.c.e., after the conquest of Kemet by Alexander, son of Phillip of Macedonia. In books by European egyptologists, Kemet is translated as "the black land," in an attempt to state that the people named their country after the soil that resulted from the annual inundation of the Nile River. This is not the translation that the texts themselves show us. Before looking at the correct meaning of the word Kemet, a brief description of the way Medu Netcher operates will be provided. Medu Netcher is a highly complex language that exists on many levels. It is pictorial (ideograms), symbolic (determinatives), and phonetic (phonograms) at the same time. Any symbol could be pictorial (used to represent itself). Determinatives are generally used at the end of words to help clarify meaning. There are three types of phonograms: monoliterals (one sign, one sound), biliterals (one sign, two sounds), and triliterals (one sign, three sounds). Monoliterals are also used as phonetic complements. A phonetic complement is used as a reading aid; it may be placed before or after a bi- or triliteral as a visual reminder or reinforcement of the pronunciation of the word shown. This is the word Kemet . The first symbol, a piece of charred wood (some say a crocodile�s spine), is the biliteral "km." The owl symbolizes the monoliteral "m," used in this instance as a phonetic complement. The third symbol is a loaf of bread, the monoliteral "t." The last symbol, a determinative, is very important for our discussion of this word. This symbol depicts an aerial view of a circular walled settlement displaying a network of roads. Here the symbol is drawn in abstract which has been reduced to the two principal axes . These types of cities have been unearthed in excavations in Upper Kemet dating from the oldest epochs of urbanization. Also this symbol has been documented on predynastic palettes. This symbol is very easily distinguished from the symbol for land, ta, which represents the flat plain of the valley that is often painted black to represent the fertile soil. It invokes the idea of Ancient Kemet, the black flood plain, the gift of the Nile; which is quite different from the concept of Kemet as the civilized Country of the Blacks, which is the literal translation of the word Kemet in Medu Netcher. One concept represents the land given to the Ancient Africans by God, and the other represents the country as a civilized unit developed by the Africans themselves. As shown in Alan Gardiners� Egyptian Grammar book, is a naturally occurring symbol, and is a man-made symbol. Therefore it is not possible to correctly state that they mean the same thing; undeveloped land is different than developed land. When the people wanted to describe themselves, they used the same symbols, Kmt, but they changed the determinative to a seated man and woman, placed in front of the plural sign (three vertical strokes), indicating a collective nominative, referring to "human beings," "people," "ethnic groups," which taken in total can only be translated as "Black People." Most Europeans translate this word as "Egyptians." It is obvious that anyone who has studied the language of Kemet and continues to translate these words as "Egypt" or "Egyptian," is purposely attempting to mislead and misinform. The proper translation of classical African languages is part of the work that must be done in order to "�construct a body of modern human sciences, in order to renovate African culture."(7) Footnotes Sir Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs, Oxford University Press, 1961, pg. 19. Adolf Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, Dover Publications, Inc., 1971, pg. 29. Ibid. pg. 30. Theophile Obenga, "Genetic Linguistic Connections of Ancient Egypt and the Rest of Africa," in African Intellectual Heritage: A Book of Sources, ed. by Molefi Kete Asante and Abu S. Abarry, Temple University Press, 1996, pg. 266. See also Theophile Obenga, Ancient Egypt and Black Africa: A Student�s Handbook for the Study of Ancient Egypt in Philosophy, Linguistics, and Gender Relations, Kamak House, 1992. Ibid. pg. 281. Ibid. pg. 271. The spiritual system of Kemet laid the foundation for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. See also Who Is This King of Glory?, by Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Kessinger Publishing Co., Christianity Before Christ, John G. Jackson, and The Book Your Church Doesn�t Want You To Read, ed. by Tim Leedom. Cheikh Anta Diop, Civilization or Barbarism: An Authentic Anthropology, Lawrence Hill Books, 1991, pg. 3. © 1998 CHEIKH ANTA DIOP INSTITUTE OF EGYPTOLOGY AND AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS