Thegoal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. Villages usually contain a single localized lineage whose dwellings are grouped around the "great house" (ginna ) of the head. In the 7th century AD, the Byzantine Empire harnessed the power of fire with the creation of Greek fire, a weapon of destruction unlike any before its time. Some of the most beautiful sights to see in China are the classical Suzhou gardens. Each village is composed of one main lineage (occasionally, multiple lineages make up a single village) traced through the male line. In conjunction with the council of elders, he makes decisions concerning public affairs. In a polygynous marriage, the wives reside in separate houses within the husband's compound. It contained only about a quarter of the full vocabulary of "Dogo so", the Dogon language. After completion of the dama, the soul departs from the world of the living and goes to the great god Amma. A man may now sell a field allotted to him in the distribution of ginna property, but the sale is always revocable, and the ginna may recover the property upon the death of the seller through the reimbursement of the purchase price to the buyer. Although the Dogon recognize the creator god Amma as the Supreme Being and address prayers and sacrifices to him, the core set of beliefs and practices focuses on ancestor worship. The principal ceremonies center around agriculture and death. The historical pattern included the murder of indigenous males by raiders and enslavement of women and children. The village of Songho has a circumcision cave ornamented with red and white rock paintings of animals and plants. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000. Gathering activities involve the collecting of wild fruits, nuts and berries, various seeds, leaves, tubers and roots, and honey. Was this German silver mine really defended by two Roman forts and a line of "spike defenses? Identification. It is obvious to any astronomer that some of the brightest objects in the night sky are the planets. Above the lineage is the much larger kin group called the clan, from which the various lineages emerge. One of its most distinctive features is the hierarchical series of occupational "castes" or status groups consisting of iron- and leatherworkers, griots (lineage genealogists), musicians, poets, and sorcerers. The cliffs and rocky terrain provided excellent protection from slave They farm, as well as hunt occasionally, and many Dogon continue to practice an indigenous polytheistic African religion. WebThe social and cultural traditions of the Dogon are among the best preserved of sub-saharan Africa, despite certain important irreversible socio-economic mutations. The household is usually an extended family consisting of both nuclear and polygynous units. [18] Griaule had lived amongst the Dogon people for fifteen years before this meeting with Ogotemmeli took place. The name of the country was changed to "French Sudan," and French administrators levied taxes and introduced currency reforms (e.g., French francs to replace the native cowrie shells). These caste groups live apart from the general population. Work activities are clearly differentiated. This was to prevent a being like the Jackal from ever being born on Earth again. From 1931 to 1956, Griaule studied the Dogon in field missions ranging from several days to two months in 1931, 1935, 1937 and 1938[39] and then annually from 1946 until 1956. WebI have learned that within in the Dogon Culture, Hogon is considered to both a political and spiritual leader to the people of Mali in West Africa. The importance of secrecy is due to the symbolic meaning behind the pieces and the process by which they are made. There are three principal All of the men in his age-set live together in a due until they marry and have children. [3], The Dogon are best known for their religious traditions, their mask dances, wooden sculpture, and their architecture. The spread of Islam throughout Africa has brought about some degree of change in the basic religious orientation of the Dogon. This is manifested through the cult of the masks, the Lebe cult, the Binu cult, and the more general cult of the ancestors associated with the ginna. Griaule encouraged the construction of a dam near Sangha and persuaded the Dogon to cultivate onions. Themes found throughout Dogon sculpture consist of figures with raised arms, superimposed bearded figures, horsemen, stools with caryatids, women with children, figures covering their faces, women grinding pearl millet, women bearing vessels on their heads, donkeys bearing cups, musicians, dogs, quadruped-shaped troughs or benches, figures bending from the waist, mirror-images, aproned figures, and standing figures (Laude, 4652). Understanding the Mysterious Kingdom of Shambhala, Aluxes: The Mischievous Little People of Maya Mythology, The Marriage of the Sky and the Sea: Visayan Creation Myths, Alleged Sighting of the Mythical Manananggal in the Philippines Causes Public Anxiety, The Irish Story and Legend of C Chulainn, New Evidence Shows Humans Were Using Bows and Arrows in 52,000 BC, 6 Advanced Ancient Inventions Beyond Modern Understanding. The yingim consists of both the sacrifice of cows, or other valuable animals, and mock combat. [19] What makes the record so important from a historical perspective is that the Dogon people were still living in their oral culture at the time their religion was recorded. Universit de Paris, Travaux et Mmoires de l'Institut d'Ethnologie, 33. Land Tenure. Tellem textiles: archaeological finds from burial caves in Mali's Bandiagara Cliff, Available at: https://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=084681896, Douglas, M. (1968). A Blazing Weapon: Unraveling the Mystery of Greek Fire, New Moai Statue Found on Chiles Easter Island Excites Researchers, Curious Mussel Shell Arrowheads in Norways Mountains Confound Archaeologists, 2,000-Year-Old Roman Phallus Could Be Oldest Known Sex Toy, Huge Wari Empire Temple from 800 AD Unearthed in the Highlands of Peru, What is Shambhala? He is elected from among the oldest men of the dominant lineage of the village. [11] Other oral histories place the origin of the Dogon to the west beyond the river Niger, or tell of the Dogon coming from the east. Masked Dancers of West Africa: The Dogon. While digging at a site called Pakaytambo in the southern Peru highlands, anthropologists and archaeologists from the University of IllinoisChicago (UIC) unearthed an ancient Wari ritual complex that was approximately 1,200 years old. Religious Beliefs. The human story begins in Africa. Circumcision is believed to eliminate the superfluous one. The increase in the number of visitors to the area in recent years has done wonders for tourism, but has sadly damaged the environment and this special cultural landscape. They speak the Dogon languages, which are considered to constitute an independent branch of the Ancient Chinese Earthquake Detector Invented 2,000 Years Ago Really Worked! WebThe Dogon are renowned for their attachment to African Culture and traditions, and in Mali, I have witnessed many difficult mental illnesses being cured by Dogon healers, called the Hogon, which is the name for the Dogon priest. Dieterlen, G., 1955. [12] See also [ edit] Pangool Mand creation myth Samay (mythology) Zin (water spirits) Traditional African religion portal Mali portal References [ edit] Translation of 5,500-Year-Old Babel Text from China Reveals Oldest Known Map of Inner Solar System, The Gristhorpe Man: A Bronze Age Skeleton with a Story to Tell, 3: The Perfect Number - Trinity Symbolism in World Religious Traditions, Evidence that Noahs Ark Landed on a Mountain 17 Miles South of Ararat, The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts, The Truth Behind the Christ Myth: Ancient Origins of the Often Used Legend Part I, Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera Part I, Two Sides to Every Story: The North American Martyrs Shrines and Indigenous/ Roman Catholic Relations, The Origins of the Faeries: Encoded in our Cultures Part I, Curse of the Buried Pearl: The Hunt for Ancient Treasures Part I, The Enigma of the Shugborough Inscription, The Dogons Extraordinary Knowledge of the Cosmos and the Cult of Nommo, Those Who Once Reigned: Experts Name Famous and Forgotten Ancient Gods, The Legend of How Mansa Abu Bakr II of Mali Gave up the Throne to Explore the Atlantic Ocean, https://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=084681896, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/dogon-cultureprofane-and-arcane/47CD44EC412C57D64B141529BD52F19B, https://journals.openedition.org/articulo/417, Petra Historic World Heritage Site Blasted By Flash Floods, The Classical Gardens of Suzhou: A Sight to Behold, Denizens of South Africas Cradle of Humankind: The First Walking Apes, The Unfinished Timurid Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, The Magnificent Citadel of Erbil - A True Archaeological Sandwich, Kunta Kinteh - The African Island at the Heart of the Slave Trade. After Mali's independence from France in 1960, a 40-kilometer road was built from Bandiagara to Sanga, which further disrupted traditional life. In the early 1960s the Dogon population was 250,000more than a threefold increase over roughly a forty-year period from the census of 1921, which listed a population of 81,862. The hogon is always a man. [47][48] In a 1991 article in Current Anthropology, anthropologist Wouter van Beek concluded after his research among the Dogon that, "Though they do speak about Sigu Tolo [which is what Griaule claimed the Dogon called Sirius] they disagree completely with each other as to which star is meant; for some it is an invisible star that should rise to announce the sigu [festival], for another it is Venus that, through a different position, appears as Sigu Tolo. The birth of human twins was celebrated in the Dogon culture in Griaule's day because it recalled the "fabulous past, when all beings came into existence in twos, symbols of the balance between humans and the divine". Their eyes were red, their tongues forked, and their arms flexible and unjointed.[21]. Dogon art revolves around religious values, ideals, and freedoms (Laude, 19). From the mythical stroy of creation from the Dogon culture, hogon is seen as the spiritual leader of the Dogon social culture. Other crops include sesame, maize, Many artifacts have been located in caves and sanctuaries in the area which are helping experts to better understand the history and the societies of the Cliff of Bandiagara. His saliva is the source of the life-giving humidity, and his foot must not touch the earth directly or the ground will dry up. They have been linked to the Mande subfamily but also to Gur. Identification. [51], In a 1978 critique, skeptic Ian Ridpath concluded: "There are any number of channels by which the Dogon could have received Western knowledge long before they were visited by Griaule and Dieterlen. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The colour white was a symbol of males. "[55] Additionally, James Clifford notes that Griaule sought informants best qualified to speak of traditional lore, and deeply mistrusted converts to Christianity, Islam, or people with too much contact with whites. About 10 percent of the Dogon are Christians. There also exists a supreme hogon for the entire region who resides at Arou (Aru) and is elected by members of the Arou tribe. A hogon is a religious figure as well as a temporal authority;[1] the hogon may be hereditary or may be chosen from among the village elderscustom varies from place to place. During this time, new masks are carved and dedicated to their ancestors. He wears white clothes and nobody is allowed to touch him. After his election, he has to follow a six-month initiation period, during which he is not allowed to shave or wash. [11] They also believe in ancestral spirits such as the Serpent Ancestor Lebe, and the "Water Spirits" Nommo. The yingim and the danyim rituals each last a few days. They were one of the last people in West Africa to lose their independence and come under French rule.[18]. A hogon is a religious figure as well as a temporal authority; the hogon may be hereditary or may be chosen from among the village elderscustom varies from place to place. Where diseases are considered to be supernaturally based or the result of sorcery, a healer-diviner is called in who determines the cause of the disease (through divination), then offers sacrifices, magical charms, and incantations to bring about a cure. Dogon society is organized by a patrilineal kinship system. The smiths have important ritual powers and are characteristically poor. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Kin Groups and Descent. [citation needed] After a couple has had children together, divorce is a rare and serious matter, and it requires the participation of the whole village. Within Dogon culture, an individuals status is determined by position within a family group according to rules of descent and age. Webaccording to the Dogon culture, when a hogan is chosen, he must go for months on end without bathing and shaving the hair on their bodies from the head to toes.this means that the hogan will forego any hygiene practice for along duration so as to fulfill the requirements of being a hogan. Masks used during the yincomoli ceremony include the Yana Gulay, Satimbe, Sirige, and Kanaga. The 'Awa' is characterized by the intricate masks worn by members during rituals. Encyclopedia.com. Industrial Arts. 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