The Mythology Book

T

he continent of Africa is

rich in myth, which divides

into two categories: the

mythology of ancient Egypt, which

we know from ancient inscriptions

and manuscripts; and the varied

and vigorous mythologies of sub-

Saharan Africa, which we know

from robust oral traditions that

began to be recorded in the 19th

century by anthropologists.

Egyptian mythology

The development of ancient Egypt

can be broadly arranged into three

main periods: the Old Kingdom

(2686–2181 BCE), the Middle

Kingdom (2055–1650 BCE), and the

New Kingdom (1550–1069 BCE).

Yet its roots date back to the Early

Dynastic Period starting in 3100 BCE,

and its history stretches forward

into the period of Roman rule and

the Common Era. Such a long time

period—with separate eras defined

by cultural development—would

suggest that Egyptian mythology

might also have evolved, but in fact

there is remarkable consistency

throughout Egyptian history. This

is partly because the mythology

was always very supple and

flexible, able to absorb ambiguities

and downright contradictions.

Egyptian texts speak of “tens of

thousands and thousands of gods,”

but all these gods are, in essence,

aspects of the original creator, the

“lord without limit.” Therefore, gods

could split into two, or coalesce

with other gods, as required. The

pharaoh Akhenaten (1352–1336 BCE)

tried to rationalize the overlapping

muddle of Egyptian deities and

focus all worship on the Aten,

represented by the visible disc

of the sun, regarded as the sole

creator and sustainer of the world.

This radical move threw Egypt into

turmoil. An inscription in the name

of Akhenaten’s successor, the boy

king Tutankhamun, tells how “the

temples of the gods and goddesses

fell to pieces. ... The land was

turned topsy-turvy, and the gods

turned their backs on it. ... If

anyone prayed to a god or goddess

for help, they would not come.

Their hearts were broken.”

Over the course of 3,000 years,

aspects of Egyptian myth that at

first applied only to the kings were

extended, until all Egyptians could

hope for new life after death, in the

Field of Reeds. This idealized vision

of Egyptian life in the Nile Delta

was located in the east where the

sun rises. Inscriptions of spells and

prayers that first appear in the Old

INTRODUCTION

2494 –2181 BCE

CA. 2181–1650 BCE 30 BCE 17 TH CENTURY CE

CA. 1550–50 BCE^1 ST CENTURY CE 1881–1914

The Pyramid

Texts are etched

into the tombs of 10

Egyptian rulers by

unknown scribes.

Hundreds of funerary spells

are inscribed on the tombs

of ordinary Egyptians and

are later collected as the

Coffin Texts.

With the defeat

of Mark Antony

and the death of

Cleopatra, Rome

conquers Egypt.

Greek philosopher

Plutarch revisits

the Egyptian myth

of Isis and Osiris.

European traders begin

to enslave Africans

and ship them overseas,

ultimately creating

a global diaspora.

Spells and advice to

guide people through

the Underworld are

collected in the Book

of the Dead.

In the “Scramble

for Africa,”

European powers

divide the African

continent into colonies.

264

1906

E. A. Wallis Budge

researches the realm

of the dead (Duat) in

The Egyptian Heaven

and Hell.

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M. A. Murray’s

Ancient Egyptian

Legends details 11

mythological tales

from ancient Egypt.

British anthropologists

conduct field studies

in Africa, continuing

work informally begun by

missionaries and explorers.

Paul Radin presents

a wide array of

myths in African

Folktales and

Sculpture.

Nigerian linguist

Wande Abimbola

collects poetry from

the Ifá system

of divination.

Pierre Fatumbi

Verger’s Yor u bá

Gods in Africa and

in the New World

is published.

Marcel Griaule’s

Conversations with

Ogotemmêli

transcribes Dogon

oral traditions.

In Oral Literature

of the Maasai, Naomi

Kipury elaborates on

the traditions of the

Kenyan people.

Stephen Belcher

collects origin

myths from

throughout the

African continent.

Kingdom pyramids of the pharaohs

(Pyramid Texts) were adapted for

private use in the Middle Kingdom

(Coffin Texts), and by the New

Kingdom they had been codified

in the most famous Egyptian text

of all, the Book of the Dead. Most

Egyptian myths have to be pieced

together from mentions in such

spells, but a few were written

down in narrative form, notably The

Contendings of Horus and Seth—a

violent and comic tale of trickery

and rivalry between two gods.

Sub-Saharan tales

The Akan-Ashanti trickster

Ananse, who is both a man and a

spider, is a fountainhead of comic

and violent storytelling, and

Ananse stories have spread across

West Africa, to the Caribbean and

the US. Oral storytelling is fluid and

adaptable, and can easily transfer

across boundaries in this way.

Gods and traditions of West African

peoples such as the Yorùbá and the

Fon traveled with enslaved

Africans to the New World, where

they formed the basis of new

“voodoo” religions. Legba, the Fon

equivalent of the Yoruba god Eshu,

became the Vodou god Legba.

If the system of Ifá divination

presided over by Eshu—a god who

can assume 256 different forms—

seems complicated, it is nothing

when compared to the convoluted

metaphysics of the myths of the

Dogon in Mali. Their highly

complex belief system embodies

the fundamental idea that humanity

is the “seed” of the universe, and

the human form echoes both the

first moment of creation and the

entire created universe. Each

Dogon village is laid out in the

shape of a human body, and is

regarded as a living being.

Living religions

The impact of Sub-Saharan

mythologies on people’s daily lives

is still evident. The East African

myth of En-kai creating cattle

and giving them to the Maasai laid

the cultural foundations for that

people’s way of life. The poetic

myths of the San Bushmen of the

Kalahari desert in southern Africa

tell of the doings of the Early Race

of beings who are both human and

animal, such as the creator Kaang.

Both man and mantis, Kaang

dreamed the world into being.

Today, San shamans still enter a

similar dream state to exercise

powers such as rainmaking,

healing, or hunting magic. ■

ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA

1913

CA. 1930 1953 1981 2005

1948 1977 1983

265

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