1. World Religions, Sixth Edition Warren Matthews Chapter Two: Religions of Africa This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

2. Religions of Africa  Ancient Egyptians of the Nile River – pyramid builders and inventors of hieroglyphics, believed in complex souls and divine pharaoh  Basongye of the Congo – farmers and fishermen who viewed earth as a flat circle between water and sky, believed god was in control  Zulu Peoples of South Africa – cattle ranchers who believe that religion and life are one, that all life has religious significance  Yoruba Peoples of Nigeria – farmers as well as traders who live in urban areas, believe that spirits and ancestors are active in their lives

3. Modern Africa, Home to Many Religious Traditions

4. Ancient Egypt  Egypt is one of the founding sources of civilization  Written records in Egypt begin around 3100 BCE  Egypt centers on the Nile  Urban habitations clustered around Nile  Farming and fishing provided sustenance  Pyramids and other buildings show early skills

5. Nile Centers of Ancient Egyptian Civilization

6. Ancient Egypt  History  Long periods of internal development interspersed with chaos and external conquest  Written records date back to 3100 BCE  For over 2,500 years, various kingdoms and dynasties ruled, imposed their beliefs, and led to a more national view  From 1100 BCE on, the people were subject to foreign conquest

7. Ancient Egypt  Ancient Egyptian religion was polytheistic  One exception was seen during Early New Kingdom  King Akhenaton proclaimed monotheism, later his son-in-law, Tutankhamen, Egypt returned to polytheism  Gods were represented in the forms of animals, human beings, or combinations of the two  Temples served as locus of reverence to gods  Sky, sun, earth, and Nile conceived as a unit characterized by regular cycles

8. Characteristics of Divine/Mythic Figures  Egyptian worldview  Dependability was emphasized  Unity was expressed in service to the patron deity  Life, and life after death, were large themes in Egyptian religion  Mummification  Ka was a spiritual form that mirrored the body and needed to be maintained in afterlife  The dead were later judged

9. Tomb of Nektamun

10. Ancient Egypt  Egyptian gods  Story of Isis and Osiris  Reflected self-renewing vitality in nature  Represented key tale for Egyptian religious  Horus – son of Isis and Osiris, symbolized as a falcon  Hathor – goddess who created the earth  Mayet – goddess of order and truth, and judge of the dead  Bast – cat-headed goddess of joy and fertility

11. The Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza

12. Basongye People of the Congo  Basongye  In eastern part of Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire)  Hunting and farming society

13. An Efe Man of the Congo

14. Basongye Worldview  Earth regarded as a flat circle resting between subterranean waters and the waters of the sky  Gods  Efile Mukulu – a beneficent deity, seen as rarely intervening in earthly affairs  Kafilefile – a maleficent deity, understood to have left the earth, leaving an evil influence in his wake  A person is essentially their kikudu, or spirit, to which their body is subordinate

15. Basongye Worldview  Ancestral spirits are active and usually beneficent in human affairs  Witches and sorcerers have magical powers  Witches threaten human well-being  Sorcerers can identify the cause of people’s deaths  Mankishi figures and sacred masks are used magically to influence weather or attack others

16. Zulu Peoples of South Africa  Reasoned system explains how powers of universe affect their lives  Patterns of individual, family, and kraal (community) life are reflected in views of the universe  As there is a hierarchy of heaven, so there is a hierarchy on earth  As there are rules for dealing with human powers, so there are rules for dealing with spiritual powers  Traditional rituals and customs maintain the vital balance among the living and their relationships with their ancestors and deities

17. Zulu Peoples of South Africa  Zulu people live in kraals, or circles of houses  They do some farming and keep cattle  Circles dominate Zulu architecture  The kraal as a community is circular  Each house in a kraal is circular  Cattle corrals are circular

18. Zulu Peoples of South Africa  Each house has an umsamo, a place place to honor and consult with the ancestors  The male head of family leads in dealing with the ancestors  The kraal also has an umsamo  The chief officiates and is responsible for keeping the ancestors happy  Zulu rites of passage mark birth, puberty, marriage, and death

19. Zulu Divine/Mythic Figures  Izinyanga zezulu – storm herders who serve the sky god  Inkosazana – the Princess of Heaven, sends rains for crops and protects women and children  Inkosi Yezulu – the Lord of the Sky, sends thunder and lightning  Creator deity – a being who is remote from human life on earth

20. Traditional Rondoval Houses and Cattle Kraals of Zulu Village

21. Role of Ancestors in Zulu Society  Ancestors of the kraal intervene in their descendants’ lives  Ancestors communicate with diviners through dreams or visions  Failure to maintain a proper relationship with the ancestors can result in the increased power of witches to attack people

22. Yoruba Peoples of Nigeria  Yoruba religion channels spiritual energy for beneficial results  Deities, ancestors, and spirits all intervene in human lives  Communal festivals and sacrifice maintain good relationships among these figures and human beings  Orishas are intermediary deities of spirit and human worlds  Divination allows human beings to know their fate  Olorun/Olodumare determines fates of all persons at creation  Ife, the central Yoruba city, is where creation began

23. Yoruba People of Nigeria  Ase – divine energy  Oba – community chief who conducts religious rites  Elegun – a medium who can be possessed by divine powers  Oloogun – a medical expert who can diagnose illness and prescribe treatments  Egungun – masked dancer who represents ancestors at communal festivals

24. Common Features of Indigenous Religions in Sub-Saharan Africa  Not animistic but hold various beliefs in a deity who rules over a hierarchy of gods  World filled with energies that can be used benevolently or for harm  Good relations between humans and spirits necessary to well-being  Spirit or soul is essential part of every human and disassociates from the body after death, belief in an afterlife  Personal destiny uncovered with the help of deities, divination useful  Masks and symbols are salient elements of religious life

25. Yoruba Head Mask with Crown